We are happy to share that we have just finalised our SENDIAS Annual Report for April 2025 – March 2026: SENDIAS Annual Reports
In our report, you will find information about the service, our achievements over the last year, service-related statistics, and what we hope to accomplish this coming year.
We hope this is helpful and welcome any feedback you have on the report: send.ias@westsussex.gov.uk
As many of you are aware, the SEND White Paper has been released today, and contains proposals for reforming the SEND system in England, along with a public consultation.
It is important to note that this is still very early on in the process, and these are still just proposals at this stage.
Here are the most important things to know:
Once the White Paper has been published, there will be a 12-week consultation. This gives families, charities and professionals the opportunity to respond and influence what happens next.
Once the consultation is closed, any proposed changes still have to go through the legal process before they come into force.
For now, nothing should change (including EHC needs Assessments, EHC Plans or SEN Support). If you are told differently, then this would be incorrect.
If you are concerned, want to receive updates, or would like to know how you can be involved with the consultation, you can:
You may also find this guide from the Council for Disabled Children helpful, in understanding the process of how a law gets made.
West Sussex SENDIAS will also send further updates, once there is more to report.
Didn’t get the exam results you were hoping for…?
Want to know more about study and work options once you leave school…?
The Child and Young Person Advisers from the SEND Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIAS) have put together a short video to help you think about the different options you have once you leave school: Child and Young Person (CYP) Home Page – West Sussex SENDIAS Service
If you still have further questions, then please do not hesitate to get in contact with the SENDIAS Service:
Tel: 0330 222 8555 or Email: cyp.sendias@westsussex.gov.uk
We need to let you know that SENDIAS have been experiencing some difficulties with our email inboxes recently.
Apparently, some of our emails have been incorrectly “quarantined” by the email defence system as possible spam and unfortunately, we had no idea this was happening until some families told us that they had emailed us and not had a reply.
When we investigated we found we had not received the emails and went to our IT department for help to sort out this issue. We have now managed to retrieve from ‘quarantine’ the missing emails from the past 30 days and any future emails should now reach us safely.
We are also working through a list of email addresses, supplied to us from IT, for the past 3 months and contacting families whose emails may be missing and who may still need our assistance. Unfortunately this is adding to the already busy workload of our Advisers and will take some time to complete.
If you are / were expecting a response from us and it has been over 7 working days (or the date specified by the Adviser), please contact us again if you still need any information or advice and we will be in touch as soon as possible.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused by these missing emails and hope to be back on track, giving information and advice to as many families as possible in the next week or two.
Thank you for your understanding,
The SENDIAS Team
Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) are visiting West Sussex to assess how effective the local area partnership’s commissioning arrangements are at identifying and meeting the needs of children and young people with SEND.
Your views are important to this process and will help inspectors understand your child’s and your experience of the arrangements within your area.
There are 2 different surveys to choose from (and an easy read Parent Carer one).
You can access them through this link or select the individual ones below.
Please return the completed paper survey to data.areasend@ofsted.gov.uk by 3pm on 20 November 2023. For the online survey, please complete by 9am on 21 November 2023.
This survey is for children and young people between 11 to 25 years old with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
You can find the children & young people online survey for your local area using this link or by completing the paper survey which can be downloaded here:
This survey is for parents and carers of children or young people between 0 to 25 years old with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
You can find the parent carer online survey for your local area using this link or by completing the paper survey which can be downloaded here:
This Easy Read survey is for parents and carers of children or young people between 0 to 25 years old with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
You can find the Easy Read parent carer online survey for your local area using this link or by completing the paper survey which can be downloaded here:
We are very happy to share that we have just published some new guides to our resources pages.
One is about how to choose a placement when your child or young person has an EHCP. This can be found on the Education, Health & Care Plans page.
What is an Annual Review and how should it work
Check our FAQs for some brief answers.
How do I choose a placement and what do I need to consider?
The rest of our newly published guides are around Appeals, Mediation, Disagreement Resolution and complaints.
This is the page you will see when you click on the link above. We haven’t managed to complete all of them yet but do keep checking back as we are aiming to do these as quickly as we can. In the meantime do continue to contact us if you cannot find what you are looking for in our resources.
You may have heard recently that appeals to the SEND Tribunal are being severely delayed due to the increased number being received. At the time of writing this (Nov 2022), Face to Face Hearings are taking up to 50 weeks to be held, with no sign of this changing for the foreseeable future.
It is worth noting that paper only hearings like ‘refusal to assess’ appeals seem to be taking approximately 3 months at this time.
Our helpline is receiving an increasing number of calls from parents who are really struggling to decide how to move forward due to this delay especially where change of placement is wanted or needed because of their age.
Whilst this blog will not be able to help everyone, due to the complexities of each individual situation, we hope that it will offer some options that you may not have considered.
You can only appeal to the SEND Tribunal where the LA have completed certain parts of the statutory process that open up your ‘right of appeal’ and you disagree with their decision.
The SEND Tribunal is responsible for handling appeals against local authority decisions regarding special educational needs, including a refusal to:
You may be in the situation where the LA are still trying to obtain a school place or deciding whether to make amendments etc but you are aware that time is moving on with perhaps no resolution in sight. Whilst we would still encourage you to keep communicating with your Planning Coordinator (PC), if you are waiting on a decision in writing so that you can obtain your right of Appeal to the SEND Tribunal, we would advise you to obtain this as soon as possible (from your PC). This is the only way you can start the appeal and avoid the process taking even longer than the current 50 weeks. Please note: even if you start the appeal, it will be possible for negotiations to continue informally with the LA (your PC) and you can withdraw your appeal should an agreement be reached before the cut off date.
Whilst there are no easy remedies with appeals being so delayed, the following may provide some options to speeding up the appeal date or possible options to consider.
The SEND Tribunal are trying to prioritise those cases where there are time sensitive conditions such as:
These are transfers from one stage of education to another where a new school will be required. For example, from:
If your child or young person already has an EHCP, then there are deadlines that the LA must meet for issuing an amended EHCP naming the new school or institution. This is 31st March for secondary school to post-16 placements and 15th February for all the others.
For an amended Final EHC plan to be issued, there should be an Annual Review (sometimes known as a Phase Transfer Review). It will be important in light of the delay in appeals being heard, that this review is done as early in the Autumn as possible.
It would be hoped that by having the review in good time, the amended EHC plan could then be issued earlier than the statutory cut off date to allow an appeal hearing to be held in good time.
This applies for those who are without an educational placement whilst the appeal is ongoing.
If your child is unable to attend school due to exclusion, mental health difficulties or other reasons, the local authority have a duty to provide a suitable alternative education. If your child is to be out of education for some time whilst the appeal is ongoing and the local authority are not offering any support you can ask them to enforce this right by writing a letter if formal discussion have not worked. You can find more information about this in Section 19 of the Education Act 1996.
Whilst the Tribunal will do their best to identify any of these conditions it is helpful to them for you to make this as clear as possible.
If you have already submitted your appeal and are worried that decisions wont be made in time, please ensure the Tribunal are aware that your child or young person meets one or more of these conditions. You can make this request by submitting a Request for Change to bring the hearing date forward, setting out the reason(s) why the case is urgent and a priority. More details about the Request for Change will be in the Hearing Pack you received from the Tribunal.
If you are about to submit your appeal then please make it clear in your SEND35 / SEND 35a appeal form. Please also make it clear in the subject line of the email when you submit your form.
Whether your child or young person does or doesn’t meet the conditions above you may also want to consider these other options:
Tribunal hearings that are being requested to be considered on the papers only are being considered sooner than those that a require a live hearing. With a paper hearing you will not attend the Tribunal and a decision will be made by the Tribunal only on the papers within the Hearing Bundle. This would mean that you would not get chance to explain, expand or have time before the Judge and SEN expert. Proceeding with only a paper hearing needs to be considered very carefully. However, it is an option to consider.
Refusal to Assess hearings are usually done on paper only anyway, and therefore likely to take place earlier than other appeals because of this.
For all appeals (other than Section I – Placement only appeals) mediation must be considered . This does not mean you have to have a mediation meeting, but you do need to have considered it. A mediation certificate will be required (in West Sussex this would be obtained from ‘Global Mediation’) to evidence this before you can submit your appeal.
An advantage of mediation is that you can influence the final outcome in that you don’t have to accept any agreement that you are not happy with. The mediator does not make any rulings or decisions like at a tribunal but should try and help both parties reach an agreement. It can be helpful to sit down and discuss your concerns with the LA where a trained mediator facilitates this.
Mediation should be arranged within 30 days of you requesting it and therefore it may be possible to avoid appeal altogether if an agreement is reached during mediation. Usually if an agreement is made, the LA will adhere to this.
If you do have mediation but you are not happy with the outcome, then of course you can continue to appeal to the SEND Tribunal.
Even if you have requested mediation, or already submitted your appeal, you may be offered a meeting with the LA and the school to discuss your concerns around the decision (especially if it is a refusal to assess decision). Because school is also involved, this can often be a very helpful meeting where all views and concerns can be shared, understanding reached and a plan decided on.
Whilst we would encourage any discussions that help facilitate the sharing of concerns and ideas to move forward, these are NOT formal mediation meetings. This means there will be no trained mediator facilitating the meeting, and no mediation certificate sent to you afterwards so that you can appeal should you still wish to.
We have had several calls from parents thinking that they had attended a mediation meeting only to find that they had missed the deadline for submitting their appeal. (Thankfully the court was very understanding).
Remember mediation must be discussed with Global Mediation (in West Sussex) within 2 months of the formal decision by the LA (unless this is a placement only appeal). An appeal must then be submitted within 2 months of the letter or 1 month of the mediation certificate, whichever is the latter.
If despite the above, you are still having to wait for the appeal hearing, there are some things that you can do in the meantime. These can get a little complicated depending on your individual situation and these are only a selection of options mentioned here. Please contact SENDIAS if you feel you need to talk over your particular situation.
Whilst your PC may still not be able or willing to name another school, add a therapy to the EHCP etc without the appeal, it is important that they are made aware of any significant changes such as a new diagnosis, exclusions, part time timetables being suggested by the school and so on. They may be able to arrange someone from their team to look at what other support etc could be implemented whilst you wait.
If your child or young person is currently in a setting (and will not need to change due to an impending age phase transfer) then keep talking with the Senco and teacher(s) about support and notify them of any significant changes as well.
It is likely that your child or young person is on SEN support (or has an EHCP) and therefore there should already be regular reviews in place to discuss these changes.
You can continue to collect evidence that supports your appeal and submit this to tribunal before the cut off date.
Even if you feel that another school is required to meet needs, until the Tribunal rules differently, your child or young person will either need to attend the school named on the EHCP (or current school if awaiting an EHC needs assessment) or you will need to consider home educating.
You may want to talk this through with a SENDIAS adviser so do make contact with us.
As time goes on, you may find that you have additional evidence that may help your appeal. You will have received guidance on how to submit additional evidence in the hearing pack you received. Just be aware of any cut off dates as you will need to approach the judge directly if it is after this.
If as a result of the delay in the appeal hearing, your child or young person meets any of the conditions above for a priority hearing, then do get in touch with the Tribunal and ‘Request a Change’ for consideration of an earlier hearing date. You must let the SENAT legal team know as well that you are requesting this.
If you are not sure what your options are especially where a change of placement is involved then please do give us a call or email and we will help you navigate the various options for your situation.
If your young person has taken GCSEs this year you will be aware that results are available tomorrow (25th August). They may already have a plan and know what is happening come Sept, but for some, their results may not be as expected. This blog explores the different options available.
A young person can legally leave school at the end of the school year in which they turn 16 (normally the end of year 11). However, all young people must be in some kind of education, employment or training until the age of 18. This can be combined with paid or voluntary work.
Below is a list of the different grades your young person may receive.
Regardless of the grades they receive, there are several Post-16 options available. These options have been separated into 3 pathways :
There are 2 main options:
The following list are the different levels of education that could be available. Please click on each one to read more.
No previous qualifications are needed to do this level and these courses are often called work skills, life skills or step-up programmes. They are for young people who do not have GCSEs or have low grades or just need more time to settle into college. They could still work their way up to GCSE and even A levels if they are capable of this.
A young person will need at least 2 GCSEs at grade 1/G or above, preferably including English and maths, or Entry 3 English and maths
A young person will need at least 3 GCSEs at grade 3/ D or above, including English and maths or a Level 1 qualification (with a suitable level of English or Maths at key skills or Functional Skills).
At least 4 GCSEs at grade 4/C including English and Maths or a relevant Level 2 qualification with at least 80% Merit profile, including English and Maths requirements. But look at individual college course entry requirements for more guidance.
These are an alternative to A levels, apprenticeships and other 16 to 19 courses and are equivalent to 3 A levels. A ‘T Level’ focuses on vocational skills and can help students into skilled employment, higher study or apprenticeships. 80% of the time is in the classroom and 20% in the workplace with a 45 day industry placement. More information about T Levels
Young people with more complex SEN will often start at foundation Level or Level 1. Once completed, there may be opportunity to move onto the next level.
Those with lower grades in GCSE who have not achieved English & Maths could look to do a Level 1 or 2 vocational course while retaking English and maths GCSE or completing functional skills qualifications in English and maths.
There are Vocational courses as well as the academic courses across the various levels.
LA will not fund ‘leisure courses’ such as part time drama or art courses of a few hours a week.
All 16 to 18-year-olds will receive funding for their first level 2 or 3 course. Most, but not all 19 to23-year-olds will also receive funding for their first level 2 or 3 course. Check with the college to find out if you are unsure.
Young people with EHCPs will receive funding if there is an educational pathway (up to 25 years old) and there is still progression towards outcomes. The LA won’t usually fund repeat courses at the same level unless there is a clear indication of progression and need for this.
For those who have reached their limit of progression in college courses but require additional support to move into a work placement. The college or provider oversees the placement and provides supplementary learning in college, usually for one day a week, to support the placement. Students who take a Supported Internship must have and EHCP to be eligible.
For those young people who need work experience and some support preparing for a Level 2 apprenticeship, work or voluntary work.
Vocational work skills and experience are supported by completing Functional Skills qualifications in maths and English outside the placement to achieve qualifications and develop employability.
Work based qualifications with a day release to a local College. There is a wide range of vocational areas for Apprenticeships, and these are provided at Level 2 and Level 3, with some offering further progression to degree level and beyond.
For Level 2 and 3 there are entry requirements. Some employers will show flexibility about the entry criteria on an individual basis, and there can be flexibility regarding having or doing a Functional Skills qualification in maths or English instead of GCSEs if the YP has an EHCP. The EHCP covers support for the college part but adjustments should be made by the employer for work based needs.
There is a national website for apprenticeships which cover the whole country and further information on the West Sussex apprenticeship website Apprenticeships – West Sussex County Council
There are a number of different routes and sources of support for finding both employment, supported employment and voluntary work.
Work Experience may be offered through school, or could be arranged informally outside school.
Link Courses are sometimes provided by schools in year 11. These are one day spent at college whilst still attending school to encourage interest in different courses and areas of work.
Voluntary work can be researched through websites, or local contacts and is often a useful start to investigating an interest, learning work skills and making a contribution. Volunteering website for young people:
vInspired
Do It
Skill Share West Sussex – Match your skills with volunteering
The Careers Team can provide information, advice, guidance and support if you live in West Sussex and are aged 16 to 25 and aren’t in education, employment or training. They can help you think about next steps, recognise your skills, strengths and ambitions, find out about opportunities, including education, apprenticeships, employment, traineeships, training and volunteering. Careers Team West Sussex County Council | West Sussex Local Offer (local-offer.org)
Princes Trust provides short courses for preparation for work. These include work experience, functional skills, team building, a residential element and support for next steps.
The National Citizen Service is a national initiative for young people aimed at promoting social inclusion and fostering life skills in preparation for adult life. Young people can take part in social action projects and build skills for work and life. There is a residential aspect to take part in a team project that will help the community.
Job Searches can be supported in Education and Training placements or through the ‘Your Space’ Website Work – West Sussex County Council.
Find It Out Centres in your local area can support with looking for vacancies, writing a CV and making applications for education, training and employment FindItOut centres – West Sussex County Council.
For those with EHC plans, post 16 options should be discussed as part of the annual review. Your child’s needs and wishes are important and the options should be chosen based on their aspirations and interests.
Once your young person has chosen a suitable college, their school should work with the new setting to ensure a smooth transition into the next stage of their study.
For young people with more complex needs, a residential provision may be available. You will need to show the YP needs education provision for the whole of the day rather than just school hours.
If you are unsure about what is going to happen, please contact your planning coordinator in SENAT and discuss the options with them.
Free help with transport for post 16 provision is not an automatic right for young people, even if they have had transport before. The aim is to gradually enable them to become more independent in their travelling. If there is an EHC plan in place, transport to post 16 provision should be discussed as part of the annual review. Please contact your planning coordinator in SENAT for more information. You can find out more about whether transport will be provided from West Sussex’s transport Policy
This can often be an overwhelming time for young people, especially if they did not do as well in their exams as they hoped. The following are some tips to help:
West Sussex County Council (WSCC) have careers advisors who can provide free, one-to-one advice following results. Chat with them by calling 0330 222 2700 or email careersadvice@westsussex.gov.uk.
YOUR MIND MATTERS – for students who feel stressed or anxious after opening their grades and need advice and support
We are pleased to be able to share our new, recently published SENDIAS Annual Report with you.
This report will show how we are starting to adjust to the continued increase in demand to the service and ensure that we can find different ways to offer quality information and advice to empower parent carers, giving more intense help and support to those who are unable to move the situation forward for themselves.
To view this and our other annual reports on our webpage, follow this link: https://westsussexsendias.org/annual-reports/
We are excited to announce that we have added some new guide pages to our website.
These guides build on our existing leaflets to provide more in depth information and advice on various SEN & EHC Plan related topics as well as new ones that we have not previously covered.
When you call or email our service looking for information and advice, we work hard to provide this as quickly as possible. However, we are aware that it can sometimes take a few days before we are able to contact you and we know that this can be frustrating, especially if you are just wanting to know something quickly (for example, what your options are, check information you are being given is correct or how to go about doing something specific).
These pages have been created with this in mind – to empower you by giving access to information and advice without having to wait for an adviser to contact you. Of course, if you feel that these are not for you or you need some specific advice about your situation that these pages do not cover, then you can continue to contact us directly.
You can access the pages via ‘Guides’ (under our ‘Resources’ tab).
As always, the information we provide is based on the what the Law and Statutory Guidance says, but in addition, (depending on the subject), we will also provide some local information and practical tips that we hope will be of help (such as how to write a parental EHC needs assessment request or appeal, how to check your draft EHC plan or how to share concerns about your child’s SEN with your school).
New pages will continue to be added and existing ones will be updated as time allows so please let us know if we haven’t covered anything that you think would be helpful.
Please note: As we want to create a website that is accessible and as helpful as possible, we welcome any comments or feedback from you that will help us achieve this. If there are any areas of the website that you feel we can improve on, please do let us know by either commenting on the page, or contacting us directly.
Thank you from the SENDIASS team here in West Sussex.