SEND Reform: EOTAS

The Department for Education is consulting on Education Otherwise Than At School (EOTAS). Responses are due by 11.59 pm on 18 September 2026.
The Government intends to legislate through their Education for All Bill, with changes expected from 2029/30.

For those entering the system, EOTAS would be available to children and young people with the most complex SEND who were assessed as needing an EHCP and a Specialist Provision Package (SPP). An SPP would describe support for groups with similar needs rather than diagnoses.

A further decision would determine whether some or all of the package should be delivered through EOTAS to meet needs and support long-term outcomes. No definitive replacement for the section 61 test is yet set out.
The child or young person would be placed on the roll of a named school or further education setting, which would oversee the package.

This would differ from the current framework. Under section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014, a local authority may arrange EOTAS where it would be inappropriate for the required provision to be made in any school or post-16 institution, or at a relevant early years setting. At present, the SEND Tribunal can consider SEN, required provision, placement and whether provision should be made otherwise than at school.

Under the proposals, parents and young people could appeal against decisions about:

a) needs assessment;
b) eligibility for an EHCP;
c) the Specialist Provision Package or Packages;
d) the named placement; and
e) changes made, or not made, to the EHCP following review.

There would no longer be separate appeals about individual SEN or special educational provision in the EHCP. Those matters could still be considered in an appeal about the SPP or named placement, with further detail recorded in an Individual Support Plan. There would also be no specific appeal about whether EOTAS should be provided.

If a school or further education setting proposed changing or ending EOTAS, the parent or young person could request an early EHCP review. The family/ young person would be involved, but there would be no SEND Tribunal appeal against the local authority’s decision.

The consultation asks whether families should be able to trigger an early review when changes to EOTAS are proposed (Department for Education, SEND reform: education otherwise than at school, pp. 22–23).

For those already receiving EOTAS in secondary or post-16 education when the reforms begin, arrangements and legal protections would continue. Different proposals would apply in early years and primary education.

Find out more and take part:

https://consult.education.gov.uk/accountability-and-special-schools/send-reform-education-other-than-at-school/

This is a neutral summary.

Sean Kennedy