If your child is due to start a new school in September and their Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) still is not finalised, take a breath. You have not missed the boat, and you are not the only parent in this position. Every autumn, thousands of families reach the last few weeks of the summer holidays with a plan that is still in draft, still being amended, or still stuck in a queue at the local authority. This is a system problem, not a sign that you have done anything wrong.
Here is what to do this week, in plain steps, to protect your child's placement and their support.
First, know where your plan actually is
There are only a few places your EHCP can be right now, and the right next move depends on which one it is:
- Draft plan issued, waiting for your comments. The local authority has sent you a draft and you have a window to respond. This is the moment to name the school you want and to challenge anything in the plan that is wrong or too vague.
- Final plan issued, but the named school is wrong or blank. The plan is legally in force, but Section I (the section that names the school) does not say what you expected.
- No new plan yet, and the old one still names the previous school. Your child is moving phase (for example, primary to secondary) and the amended plan has not arrived.
If you are not sure which of these applies, that is the first thing to pin down. Email your caseworker today and ask, in one line, for the current status and the date any final plan was or will be issued. Ask for it in writing. You will need that date.
The date of issue is the clock that matters
Once a final EHCP is issued, two things start:
- Your child's right to the provision in Section F (the special educational support) becomes something the local authority must deliver, by law, from that date.
- Your right to appeal to the SEND Tribunal opens, and it runs for two months from the date the final plan is issued, or one month from a mediation certificate, whichever is later.
So the date on the plan is not just admin. It is the start of your appeal window. If the named school is wrong, blank, or a setting you do not agree with, you do not have to accept it. You can appeal Section I (the school) and, if needed, Sections B and F (the description of needs and the support). Do not let the summer holidays run the clock down without noticing.
For phase transfers, the deadline was meant to be 15 February
If your child is moving from one phase of education to the next this September, for example infant to junior, primary to secondary, or into a post-16 setting, the local authority is supposed to have issued the amended final EHCP naming the new school by a fixed legal deadline. For most phase transfers into a new school in September that deadline is 15 February of the same year. For young people moving into post-16 provision it is 31 March.
If that deadline has already passed and you still do not have a finalised plan naming the September school, the local authority is out of time. That matters because caseload pressure is not a lawful reason to miss it. The duty to issue is not optional and it does not pause because the team is busy. You are within your rights to put that in writing and ask them to resolve it as a priority.
What to do this week, in order
- Email your caseworker for the current status and the date of issue. Keep it short. Ask for a written reply.
- Check Section I names the right school. If it is blank or wrong, say so in writing and state the school you want.
- Diarise your appeal deadline. Two months from the date of the final plan. Put it in your calendar the day you receive the plan, not the week it runs out.
- Ask the September school what they have received. Sometimes the plan is finalised but has not reached the school's special educational needs coordinator. A quick call closes that gap.
- Keep everything in writing. Every phone call gets followed up with a short email summarising what was said. This is your record if things go wrong.
If the placement itself is at risk
If September is days away and there is genuinely no confirmed, funded place, this is the point to escalate rather than wait. Put a clear written request to the local authority asking them to confirm the placement and the arrangements for the first day of term. If you are not getting answers, that is exactly the situation mediation and, if needed, a Tribunal appeal exist for. A plan that leaves a child without a school place on the first day of term is not a plan working as intended, and you are allowed to say so firmly.
You are not asking for a favour
The single most useful thing to hold onto this week is this: the support in an EHCP is a legal entitlement, not a goodwill gesture. You are not asking the local authority to be kind. You are asking them to do the thing the law already requires. Calm, written, dated, and specific is the tone that moves things, and it is the tone that protects your child if the matter has to go further.
If you want the exact wording for any of the emails above, our letter templates cover the status request, the wrong-school challenge, and the missed-deadline escalation, ready to adapt with your child's details.
Last updated: 29 July 2026. This guide is general information, not legal advice. For advice on your specific situation, contact a SEND adviser or a solicitor who specialises in education law.