September brings the same ritual to every Year 6 parent.
Open evening flyers on the fridge. A shortlist of secondary schools within reach. A list of questions for the tour.
If your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), you’re running a second ritual too. It’s quieter, and it asks a different question: does choosing a secondary school even work the same way for your family this year?
It doesn’t, not entirely. Most parents and carers apply for a secondary place through the ordinary admissions system. They never think about it twice.
If your child has an EHCP, there’s a second, statutory route instead. It’s built around your child’s annual review, not a form on the council’s website. Confusing the two costs families real time they don’t have.
If your child is on SEN Support without an EHCP, you apply through the normal admissions round, closing 31 October. If your child has an EHCP, the school is named through the phase-transfer annual review instead, with the amended plan due by 15 February. Which one applies depends entirely on whether your child already has a plan.
This guide covers England only. Both routes rest on English admissions law and the Children and Families Act 2014. Scotland and Wales run different systems entirely.
Key facts
- Normal secondary applications for a September Year 7 start close on 31 October the year before, with places offered on National Offer Day, 1 March.
- If your child’s EHCP is transferring between school phases, the amended final plan must name the school before 15 February in the calendar year of transfer, under regulation 18 of the SEND Regulations 2014.
- You have a statutory right under section 39 of the Children and Families Act 2014 to ask for a specific school, and the council must agree unless it can prove one of three narrow grounds.
- Section I appeals to the SEND Tribunal don’t need mediation first, and in 2024/25, 99% of decided SEND appeals went in the family’s favour.
Which route applies to your child?
The fork in the road is simple, even if the two paths look nothing alike. Say your child gets SEN Support at their current school, with no EHCP. You go through exactly the same admissions system as every other family in Year 6.
You’ll fill in your council’s common application form, list schools in your order of preference, and wait for an offer like anyone else.
If your child has a finalised EHCP, that form doesn’t decide the school at all. Section I of the plan does. Section I gets updated through the annual review, which happens every year regardless of a school move.
You still get a real say in which school is named. It just happens on a different calendar, with different paperwork, and a different body to appeal to.
There’s a middle case worth naming, because it catches people out. Say an EHC needs assessment is still underway when normal applications open, with no plan yet. Apply through the ordinary system anyway.
It costs you nothing, and it’s a genuine safety net. Your child isn’t left with no application if the assessment timeline slips past October.
Still working out whether your child needs an EHCP at all? Our guide on what an EHCP is and whether your child needs one is the place to start.
Two routes, side by side
Because these two processes share almost no machinery, it helps to see them next to each other rather than read about them one at a time. The table below lines up what matters at each stage: who it’s for, what the law actually says, the deadline that counts, and where you go if it goes wrong.
| Aspect | Normal admissions (SEN Support) | EHCP naming (phase transfer) |
|---|---|---|
| Who it’s for | Any child applying for a Year 7 place, including those on SEN Support | A child with a finalised EHCP transferring between school phases |
| Legal basis | School Standards and Framework Act 1998, section 86 and section 94 | Section 39 of the Children and Families Act 2014; regulation 18 of the SEND Regulations 2014 |
| How you express a preference | List schools in order on your council’s common application form | Name your preferred school in writing during the annual review’s 15-day representation period |
| Key deadline | 31 October to apply; 1 March for the offer | 15 February for the final amended plan naming the school |
| If you’re refused | Appeal to an independent appeal panel, which weighs prejudice to your child against prejudice to the school | The council must prove one of three narrow grounds; the burden of proof sits with the council, not you |
| Appeal route | Independent appeal panel under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, binding on the school, only overturned by judicial review | SEND Tribunal, Section I appeal, no mediation certificate required |
The two routes don’t just use different forms. They lead to entirely different rooms if things go wrong: one an appeal panel convened by the admission authority, the other the SEND Tribunal. Knowing which room you’re heading for before you need it saves weeks later.
How do you actually choose a secondary school?
Open evenings and taster days mostly run through September and October, right when applications are also due. The calendar is unkind about giving you time to think. Use the visits for more than a feel of the corridors and the food hall.
Ask to speak to the SENCO directly, not just a tour guide. Ask a specific question, not a general one: how would the school support a child with needs like your child’s, right now, in an actual classroom?
Ask whether the school has a resource base or specialist unit attached. That’s extra support built into mainstream lessons for part of the week.
Ask what transition support exists for Year 6 children moving up. A good transition programme in June and July matters as much as anything on the prospectus.
There’s no single official list of “SEND secondary schools near me,” frustrating as that is when it’s exactly what you’re searching for. What exists instead is scattered across a few places.
Your council’s Local Offer is one. Every local authority must publish it under section 30 of the Children and Families Act 2014, and many list SEND provision at individual schools too.
The school’s own Ofsted report is another. It usually says something about how well the school includes children with additional needs.
Then there are other parents and carers at the school gate. They often know more about a school’s real day-to-day inclusion than any document does.
Ask your child’s current SENCO for a short transition letter summarising what’s worked this year, before the open evenings even start. It’s useful whichever route you’re on, and it’s one less thing to write later under time pressure.
A short list is worth keeping in your bag on the day, because a good tour can make you forget half of what you meant to ask.
- Ask for the SENCO, not just a tour guide - and ask how they’d support your child specifically, not SEND in general
- Ask about a resource base or specialist unit - if one exists, what proportion of the week is spent there versus mainstream lessons
- Ask about the Year 6 to 7 transition programme - extra visits, a key adult, a photo book of the building
- Check the Local Offer entry for the school - it should describe SEND provision, not just list a SENCO’s name
- Talk to other parents and carers - lived experience of a school’s inclusion often beats the prospectus
How does the normal admissions route work?
If your child doesn’t have an EHCP, you’re on the same clock as every family in England. You must apply for a secondary school place by 31 October the year before your child starts.
Do it through your home local authority’s common application form, listing schools in your order of preference. Offers go out on what’s widely known as National Offer Day, 1 March, or the next working day if that falls on a weekend.
A missing EHCP doesn’t buy you extra time on this deadline. If your child is mid-assessment and no plan exists yet, you still apply by 31 October like everyone else. Use your genuine preferences, and update the council later if a plan changes things.
If your preferred school refuses your child a place, you can appeal to an independent appeal panel. This route sits in section 86 and section 94 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.
The panel weighs prejudice to your child from not attending against prejudice to the school from admitting one more pupil. You must be given at least 20 school days to lodge your appeal after the refusal letter, with hearings held within 40 school days of that deadline.
The panel’s decision is binding on the school. Only a court, through judicial review, can overturn it.
The strict 30-pupil infant class size limit that makes some Reception and Year 1 appeals so hard to win doesn’t apply here. Year 7 appeals get the ordinary, more generous balancing test, so your child’s individual circumstances carry real weight.
If you’re on this route at all, one date sits above all the others on your calendar.
When must the council name your child’s secondary school?
If your child is transferring from primary to secondary with an EHCP, the amended plan must name the school before 15 February in the calendar year of transfer. That’s under regulation 18(1)(b) of the SEND Regulations 2014. It’s a statutory deadline, not a target the council can slide because it’s had a busy term.
The route to it runs through the annual review your child would have anyway. It’s held in the autumn term of Year 6, not through the ordinary application form.
That’s the moment to name your preferred school in writing, under section 39(1) of the Children and Families Act 2014. Treat it with the same seriousness as any other appeal deadline, because in practice, it is one.
- Autumn annual review meetingName your preferred secondary school in writing under section 39(1), with evidence of why it fits your child’s needs
- Decision noticeThe council must tell you within 4 weeks whether it will keep, amend, or cease the plan
- Draft amendment and your representationsYou get at least 15 days to comment and repeat your school request if needed
- Final amended plan naming the schoolMust be issued before 15 February in the year of transfer
None of this happens by magic on the council’s side. It happens because you asked, in writing, at the review meeting.
You need a reason why this particular school fits your child’s needs, not just that you’d prefer it. Our guide on preparing for an annual review covers gathering that evidence in full.
If it’s already autumn and no annual review has been booked for a child due to transfer next September, ask for one in writing now. If 15 February arrives with nothing named, don’t wait quietly. Our guide on what to do when the council misses an EHCP deadline sets out exactly how to chase it.
What if the council won’t name your preferred school?
The council can only refuse your requested school on one of three narrow grounds, and it carries the burden of proving whichever one it picks. The school can be unsuitable for your child’s age, ability, aptitude, or needs.
Attendance there can be incompatible with the efficient education of other pupils. Or it can be incompatible with the efficient use of resources. That’s the whole list, under section 39(4) of the Children and Families Act 2014.
You only have to show the school is suitable. The council has to affirmatively prove its ground applies, and the courts have set a genuinely high bar for what counts. “The school is full” or “it’s not on our framework” doesn’t meet that bar on its own, however final it sounds when a school office says it.
If the council does refuse, you can appeal straight to the SEND Tribunal, without mediation first. Placement-only disputes are exempt, under section 55 of the Children and Families Act 2014. You have two months from the decision letter.
It’s a genuinely good route to be on. In 2024/25, 99% of decided SEND appeals went in the family’s favour.
Our guide on when no school is named on your child’s EHCP covers the full breakdown. It goes deeper on the three refusal grounds, what “type only” naming means, and the school’s own duty to admit once it’s named.
Getting help
You don’t have to work through either route alone. A handful of organisations give free, specialist advice on school choice and EHCPs.
IPSEA (Independent Provider of Special Education Advice) publishes a guide to choosing a school or college with an EHCP, alongside template letters for requesting a school and challenging a refusal.
Your local SEND Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) gives free, impartial, confidential advice in your area, including help preparing your annual review representation. Find your nearest service through the Council for Disabled Children.
Contact supports families of disabled children with practical information and a free helpline, including guidance on school transitions and admissions.