Children with Special Educational Needs (SEN)
A parent's right to educate their child at home applies equally where a child has SEN. This right is irrespective of whether the child has an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or not. Where a child has an EHC plan and is home educated, it remains our duty to ensure that the child's needs are met.
We must have regard to the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice. Although this document primarily covers special educational needs in the school and early years' settings, it does give information about children and young people with SEN educated at home (paragraphs 10.30 - 10.38). The Code of Practice emphasises the importance of local authorities and other providers working in partnership with parents.
The Code of Practice is statutory guidance and schools, local authorities and others to whom it applies must have regard to it. This means that, apart from the references to the law, these bodies do not have to follow the Code to the letter but they must be able to justify any departure from its guidance. The foreword states that the Code is designed to help these bodies to "make effective decisions but it does not - and could not - tell them what to do in each individual case".
Even if we are satisfied that parents are making suitable arrangements, we remain under a duty to maintain the EHC plan and review it annually, following procedures set out in chapter 9 of the SEN Code of Practice. In some circumstances the child's special educational needs identified in the EHC plan will have been related to the school setting and the child's needs may readily be met at home by the parents without Local Authority supervision. It may be appropriate, once it is established that a child's special needs are being met without any additional support from us, to consider ceasing to maintain the EHC plan. This would usually be following the recommendation of an annual review.
Where the EHC plan is reviewed it should be made clear to parents that they are welcome to attend, but they are not obliged to do so. Where we are satisfied that the child's parents have made suitable arrangements it does not have to name a school or college in Section I of the child's EHC plan. If the local authority and parents agree that home education is the right provision for the child or young person, the EHC plan should make clear that they will be educated at home and we must arrange the special educational provision set out in the plan. If the EHC plan does name a school or type of school and parents decide to educate at home, the local authority is not under a duty to make the special educational provision set out in the EHC plan as long as we are satisfied that arrangements made by parents are suitable.
In some cases a local authority will conclude that, even after considering its power to provide support to home-educating parents, the provision that is or could be made for a child or young person with an EHC plan does not meet their special educational needs. The local authority is required to intervene through the school attendance order framework 'if it appears that a child of compulsory school age is not receiving suitable education'. This is a last resort if all attempts to improve provision are unsuccessful. 'Suitable education' means efficient full-time education suitable to the child or young person's age, ability and aptitude and to any SEN he or she may have.
The EHC plan should also specify any provision that we have agreed to make under section 319 of the Education Act 1996 to help parents to provide suitable education for their child at home. If the child who is to be withdrawn from the school is a pupil at a special school, the local authority must give consent for the child's name to be removed from the school roll and before amending Section I of the EHC plan.
Parents may also home educate children who have SEN but do not have EHC plans. As with children and young people with EHC plan, local authorities should work with parents and consider whether to provide support in the home to help the parents make suitable provision. Information about the right to request an EHC needs assessment and the right to appeal is available to all parents including those who are considering home education because they feel that the special educational support being provided in the school is insufficient to meet the child or young person's needs. However local authorities to not have a duty under section 22 of the Children and Families Act 2014 to assess every home educated child to see whether or not they have SEN.
Young people may also be educated at home in order to meet the requirement to participate in education and training until the age of 18. Local authorities should involve parents, as appropriate, in the reviews of EHC plans of home-educated young people who are over compulsory school age.