Frequently Asked Questions

We are an independent SEND Advisory service that supports parents, carers and professionals through the SEND Education system and processes. You can find out more about us by reading our About Us page and our Meet the Team Page. You can see the services we offer on our Services and Pricing Page.

The company name was designed and developed by the Director Liz Stanley and uses the pun re: to mean regarding, hence 'Regarding SEND', re:SEND! Unfortunately you cannot use special characters in website names or at Companies House so the registered name of the company is RESEND CIC. 

Here at reSEND we believe that justice and support should be available to everyone, regardless of how much money they have. We keep our prices as low as possible to make the service more accessible and we provide payment plans to help spread the cost of the service. Our staff receive a fair wage for their work and we all work from home offices to keep overheads as low as possible. All profits are returned to the company and being a CIC (Community Interest Company) enables us to work with other social interest companies and charities. We are aiming to offer a means tested pro bono service in the near future. We also provide a lot of free information which can be downloaded here.

This is always a difficult question for outsiders to answer. EHCPs are issued to a child who requires over and above what a typical school in English should provide through their SEN Support processes. EHCP's are usually issued when a school is not able to meet a child's needs within their nominal SEND Budget. 

Some indicators that your child may need an EHCP are: that they are unable to access their education despite reasonable adjustments being made, being on a part time timetable, experiencing overload throughout the school day, limited progress is being made academically or socially.

When you apply for an EHCP you are actually applying for an Assessment of Needs. This assessment should detail all of your child's needs and the provision required to meet those needs. An EHCP is then issued if these provisions are above traditional SEND Support.

No, the application for a needs assessment is needs led and you do not need a diagnosis to apply. You will list all your child's needs in the application.

Maybe. Not every child with SEND will require an EHCP. EHCPs are issued to children who require support over and above what a typical school in England should provide for a child with SEND. Your Local Authority should have details of their SEND in Schools Policy on their Local Offer website.

Yes, if your child is unable to access their education to the same level as their peers then you may require an EHCP. A needs assessment will establish if a plan is required.

No. Academics are only part of a child's profile. The EHCP process looks at the child as a whole and identifies needs in all the Broad Areas of Need as defined in the SEND Code of Practice. See the document below titled SEN areas of need CoP for more details on the areas of need.

EHCPs are not issued on levels of severity and schools do not make the final decision on whether or not they are issued. You can make a Parental request for an EHC Needs Assessment. See the documents below for more information and guidance.

Yes, EHCPs can be issued from birth up to the term after the young person's 25th birthday.

No. EHCPs can be issued up to the term following a young person's 25th birthday. They are issued when a young person remains in some form of education or training so attending a college would be included in this. Apprenticeships are also included but Universities are not.

Yes, although the EHCP process is very evidence based and you will need to show evidence of the child's needs.

Yes, although EHCPs are usually for children attending an educational setting. If you have chosen to Home Educate then you have chosen an Alternative form of education and the LA lose their duty of care to provide education for that child.

Your request for an assessment must be made in writing to the Local Authority of residence. You can send an email or a letter. You can complete the model letter on the IPSEA website or you can complete your LA's application form.

At reSEND we encourage the completion of the application form purely because it gives the LA all the information they need to make an informed decision on whether or not to assess. The danger of just sending the letter with reports is that the LA can claim that they do not have enough information to make a decision, so they refuse to assess.

You can use the reSEND EHCNA Parental Request form to request an assessment or log onto your Local Authority's website and search for their application form. 

reSEND offer a number of packages to support the application for an EHC Needs Assessment. 

We offer a Complete Application Package which includes multiple meetings between an Independent SEND Adviser (ISA) and parent carers to establish the needs of the child. The application is then written and sent to you for review. We write applications using relevant keywords and phrases to ensure the strongest application possible. All our ISAs are familiar with needs such as Autism, ADHD, Anxiety, EDS, Hypermobility, Dyspraxia, Dyslexia, Dyscalculia and many more so know which questions to ask and how these conditions can impact children and adults on a daily basis.

We also offer a Review Application Package whereby we would review an application that has already been written and then offer advise and suggestions for improvement. The application is returned with our suggestions and then reviewed again after any amendments have been made.

For more details on these packages including pricing please see the Services and Pricing page of this website.

You can appeal this decision by lodging an appeal against a Refusal to Assess at the SEND Tribunal. This is usually a paper based process. 

The legal criteria for a statutory assessment is detailed in Section 36(8) of the Children’s and Families Act 2014. This states:  

The local authority must secure an EHC needs assessment for the child or young person if, after having regard to any views expressed and evidence submitted under subsection (7), the authority is of the opinion that—  

a) the child or young person has or may have special educational needs, and 

b) it may be necessary for special educational provision to be made for the child or young person in accordance with an EHC plan. 

Therefore, if a child has SEND and may need a special provision (anything that 'Johnny Typical' wouldn't need) made for them then they should have an EHC Needs Assessment and you should appeal the decision.

Yes! We can review the draft plan and all your assessment reports and will make amendments to the Draft plan to ensure all the relevant information is included. We also check the document for clarity and remove or amend any 'weasel words'.

No! LAs must have 'due regard' to private reports and they cannot seek further advise if everyone is in agreement that the report is valid and sufficient for the needs of the EHCP. If the LA's service use information from a private report, such as needs, then the whole report is considered 'accepted' by the LA. They should then include anything from that report rather than just 'cherry pick' the parts they want to include. However, most LAs will accept the needs from a report but then water down the provision they write into Section F. This can be challenged at Tribunal.

You can challenge this decision at the SEND Tribunal. You would lodge an appeal against Refusal to Issue. 

An EHCP does not guarantee that you will get a place in your chosen school. The LA must name Parental Preference school unless it is unsuitable for age, ability or aptitude of the pupil; eg Primary aged children cannot be placed in Secondary schools, a child without a learning difficulty cannot attend a school designed for those with Learning Difficulties.

They can also refuse to place a child in a school if it would result in inefficient use of resources; eg Placement in an Independent School when a state school can provide the same level of support, or a school much further away therefore travel costs become an encumbrance.

The third reason to refuse Parental Preference is if placing the child at that school would result in ineffective teaching of others. This means that the addition of this child means that they will be unable to teach the other children in the class effectively. This is often used when a school is 'full' but it is very difficult for a school to show how the addition of one single child means that they are unable to teach all the other children. 

Generally a school being full is not a legal reason to refuse placement. However, there is a severe shortage of Specialist Placement across the country and some schools have been forced to create waiting lists of 2 years or more. This is not lawful but schools are fit to burst and Health and Safety means that you cannot physically get more children and staff into a classroom. 

You name the school you want for your child. You are entitled to name any school in the country and do not need to name a mainstream school. 

If you name a mainstream alongside naming a special placement you may lose your right to appeal the placement as you have received the school you named. Therefore, only ever name the school you want for your child. 

The Annual Review is a statutory process that must happen within 12 months of the previous EHCP issue. You should receive progress reports from the educational setting and all professionals involved with your child, at least two weeks before the Annual Review meeting. 

There should then be a meeting with parent carers and the educational setting to review the plan and to ensure it is still fit for purpose. Amendments should include any newly identified needs, outcomes and provisions that will be required for the following year/key stage. 

This information is then submitted to the LA for review. The LA will then contact you within 4 weeks of the meeting to advise whether they are Amending, Maintaining or Ceasing the plan. 

Please see the Annual Review Timeline in the Free Resources section for more details. 

You can request a change of placement at any time. You will need to contact the responsible LA and they will process the request. This usually takes the form of an Emergency Annual Review.

First you should visit as many Secondary schools/Colleges/Post-16 options as you can to find the one that best suits your child. All children suit different schools and you may need to visit a lot before you find the one that fits! Ask to speak to someone regarding the SEND Provision at the school and take your child's EHCP with you. 

If your child is in a Phase Transfer period (primary - secondary, infant - junior, first - middle, middle - High) then the Annual Review should be completed and finalised by 15th Feb in the final year of that placement. If your child is approaching a Post-16 placement, the Annual Review must be completed by 31st March. This is ensure you have time to attend Tribunal if you are not happy with the school/College that has been named. 

Once you have decided which school you wish your child to attend you need to inform the LA of your choice. If your child has an EHCP you do not need to complete the traditional school/college application processes. 

An LA may decide to cease to maintain an EHC plan at any time, but they can only do so on certain grounds:

©IPSEA 

If the LA is no longer responsible for the child or young person; 

or 

If it is no longer necessary to maintain it. 

These are the only legal reasons for ceasing to maintain an EHC plan (they are set out in section 45 of the Children and Families Act 2014).  An LA would no longer be responsible if: 

• the young person has taken up paid employment (excluding apprenticeships); 
• the young person has started higher education (university); 
• a young person aged 18 or over has left education and no longer wishes to engage in further learning; 
• the young person has turned 25; or the child or young person has moved to a different LA. 

If the LA has decided the plan is no longer 'necessary' you may be able to appeal that decision at the SEND Tribunal. Please see the IPSEA page for more information: https://www.ipsea.org.uk/if-your-la-takes-away-your-ehc-plan

You can watch this video that details what happens at video hearings at the SEND Tribunal. https://youtu.be/PNrguwNen64