Phase transfer information

When a child or young person moves from one stage of education to another, this is called a phase transfer. Phase transfers happen whenever a child or young person makes the following transitions in their educational journey:

• Early years setting to school
• Infant school to junior school
• Primary to secondary school
• Secondary school onto post 16/further education

What happens during phase transfer?

Moving to a new school or further education setting can be both an exciting and anxious experience for all children, young people and their families. However, when your child has an Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP), the process may feel particularly daunting. You might not understand the purpose of a phase transfer, especially if your young person hasn’t had a plan for very long. You may be worried how your child/young person will manage a transition into a new environment and be unsure how a new setting will meet your child’s needs.

The 0-25 SEND Service Team, also referred to as the local authority, is here to help. They will guide you through the transfer process and answer any questions you may have. When it becomes time to think about moving on, your caseworker from the 0-25 SEND Service Team will follow the processes explained in the following sections. There are also some useful support tools to help aid your understanding on this on the Southampton SENDIASS website. A free and impartial support service for families of children and young people with SEN.

Timescales and who does what?

All phase transfers, with the exception of secondary transfer to post-16 education, must ensure that the EHC Plan is reviewed and amended by 15 February in the year that the transfer takes place. This is to ensure that if the local authority does not name the school/setting the parents want, the parents have time to appeal the decision before the transfer takes place and the new school/setting starts in the September. It also provides sufficient time for effective transition planning to take place.

For a phase transfer from secondary education to post-16 education, the deadline is the 31 March in the year that the transfer takes place. The rest of the process is the same.

To make this process work in a timely fashion, the annual review must take place in the autumn term (at the latest) in the calendar year before the transfer takes place. Often this process will start earlier.

The process should take place in the following steps:

Summer Term

The local authority tells your child/young person’s school or setting when the Phase Transfer Annual Review has to be completed by. Although schools are very well experienced with when this needs to be done by the local authority will also send you a letter advising that your child is due to have a phase transfer review. They will ask you to submit your preferences for your child or young person’s next school/setting and will provide you with a deadline date for this.

We understand this deadline date often seems very premature and early, please do not panic. You have up until February to agree a final decision on the placement with the local authority. The local authority simply need your preferences early to consider your child for specialist placement if this is your desire.

Summer to Autumn term

Phase Transfer Annual Review takes place at the school/setting. The school/setting should discuss with you which professionals you would like to be invited to the review meeting and invitations to the review will then be sent out to these people. There may also be a need to request professionals working with your child to provide a report for the annual review. This will aid us in amending the EHCP to be as accurate and suitable for your child/young person as possible and include all relevant and any new information. The school/setting will make this request on your behalf, however, you are also welcome to bring any new reports.

The school/setting will give you and other attendees at least two weeks notice and distribute all the papers that will be discussed at the review. If you do not receive this, please talk to your school/setting SENCO.

After the Phase Transfer Annual Review

Following the annual review, the school/setting will submit the paperwork to the local authority, this will usually be within two weeks of the annual review taking place.

The local authority aims to issue all draft Phase Transfer EHCP’s before the Christmas break.

Issue of amended EHC Plan

Parents/the young person have 15 days from the date of the draft amended EHC Plan being issued to respond with comments on the content and to name the preferred placement for phase transfer. However, often if you need slightly longer than this, please discuss this with your SEN Case Officer at the local authority who can agree a slightly longer consultation period for you. By 15 February for primary phase transfer and 31 March for secondary phase transfers, the local authority should issue the final amended EHC Plan, naming the placement for phase transfer or naming the type of placement if a specific placement is yet to be identified. 

If parents and/or the young person do not agree with the contents of the EHC Plan or the named placement in Section I, they have two months from the date of the final amended EHC Plan to lodge an appeal, or a month from when they get their mediation certificate However the local authority would like the opportunity to meet with families prior to this, to try to come to some form of resolution and explain the reasoning behind the decision to aid further clarity. Often the local authority can come to some compromise with relation to Sections B and F of the EHCP ahead of an appeal.

Mediation information and advice

You have a right to appeal to SEND if you can't reach an agreement with the local authority over:

• The placement or type of placement named in an EHCP under Section I
• The content of an EHCP under Section B (strengths and needs), Section C (health needs), D (social care), Section F (provisions), G (health provisions) and H (social care provisions)

The SEND Tribunal is an independent first-tier tribunal. They will hear and decide parents or young peoples’ appeals against the decisions of the local authority in relation to special educational needs.

To register an appeal, you must first contact an Independent Mediation Adviser. You will need a certificate to prove that you have done so. The Mediation Adviser will provide you with factual information about mediation. You don't have to have mediation advice if your appeal is only about placement, the health and social care elements of an EHCP or if it is a disability discrimination claim.

You can contact the Global Mediation’s Mediation Adviser on 0800 064 4488. This service is free of charge and your conversation is confidential.

Once you have received mediation advice it is up to you to decide whether you want to go to mediation before any appeal you might make to the tribunal.

If you do not want to try mediation, the Mediation Adviser will issue you with a certificate so that you can register your appeal.

If you do want to try mediation, our SEN Case Manager will make all the arrangements for you. The local authority are on a journey to provide more restorative resolution work with families and would welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss your concerns to avoid an appeal where possible.

Your right to appeal is not affected if you do not have mediation first. No inference will be drawn by the tribunal if you have not used the mediation services.

By lodging a tribunal appeal, you will need to submit your evidence as to why you disagree with the local authorities decision. The appeal form will ask if you would like your hearing to be scheduled for you to attend or based on paper evidence only. If you request for this to be in person, it is held virtually, and you will need to attend the hearing to represent your views. You are welcome to bring a representative should you wish, and any professional witnesses to support your case, you would need to inform the tribunal and the local authority of this intention. The local authority then have the choice of who they would bring as a witness, this would usually be the school being proposed to be named, the Educational Psychologist and any NHS Solent therapists involved. More information on appeals and how they work will be supplied to you by SENDIST Tribunal services once your appeal is lodged. This would include specific deadlines for you to submit your evidence and a hearing date.

What to do if you need some help and advice during the phase transfer process?

Your caseworker from the 0-25 SEND Service Team will co-ordinate this process and guide you through the phase transfer process.

If you need any independent advice, you can contact Southampton SENDIASS who can give you advice and support during this process. They also have some useful factsheets, that are free and accessible online.

Have a look at the Transition information for top tips and information about Transition through the different stages of education.