What does the law actually say about EHCPs and home education?
That the EHCP belongs to the child, not the school, and that home education does not extinguish it.
The Children and Families Act 2014 established the EHCP as a document attached to the child, setting out their special educational needs, the provision required to meet those needs and the educational outcomes. When a child moves from a school to home education, the EHCP continues. The LA retains a duty under the Act to secure the provision specified in the plan, as far as that provision can be secured in the home-education context.
Nothing in the Act or in Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 prevents a parent from choosing home education for a child with an EHCP. LAs that imply otherwise are misstating the law. The 2019 DfE guidance on elective home education is explicit on this point; the 2015 SEND Code of Practice handles the continuing EHCP duties.
When is LA consent required?
In one specific case: a child at a special school named in the EHCP.
The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 set out when a child's name can be removed from a school's admission register. For mainstream schools, a parent's written notification that the child is being educated otherwise than at school is enough. For special schools, Regulation 8(2) adds a consent requirement: the child's name cannot be removed unless the LA has given written consent.
This means three different scenarios, with three different processes.
Mainstream school, with or without an EHCP
Standard deregistration. Write to the head teacher, the school is obliged to remove the child from the roll under Regulation 8(1)(d). The EHCP continues. Request an annual review. No LA consent is required for the removal itself.
Special school without an EHCP, or EHCP naming a different placement
Standard deregistration, as above. The "special school named in the EHCP" is the trigger for the consent requirement; a child at a special school on a non-EHCP basis, or whose EHCP names a different placement, can be deregistered in the normal way.
Special school named in the EHCP
LA consent required, in writing, before deregistration. Sending the head-teacher letter without consent risks the removal being invalid and the child being treated as not attending. Apply to the LA's SEND team in writing, usually with a short account of why home education will better meet the child's needs, and wait for written consent before sending the head-teacher letter. IPSEA is the first call throughout this process.
How do you apply for LA consent?
A written request to the SEND team, usually one to two pages, covering three things.
First, a short statement of why home education will meet your child's needs better than the current special-school placement. Be specific, factual, non-adversarial. "The school has done its best; the day is too long and sensory overwhelm has returned; we want to try a quieter home-based provision with the specified therapies continued" reads much better than a long list of school grievances.
Second, how you will provide the specified provision in the EHCP. Name the therapies (SALT, OT, specialist teaching) and say how you plan to continue them (via the LA directly, via private provision, via specialist tutors). The EHCP provision follows the child; the LA's job is to make sure it still happens.
Third, a request for consent under Regulation 8(2) of the 2006 Regulations by a specific date, plus a proposed annual-review date. The specific date is important; open-ended requests tend to sit in in-trays.
Most LAs consent within four to eight weeks, sometimes after follow-up questions. Unreasonable refusals can be appealed via the SEND Tribunal. IPSEA and SOS!SEN handle these appeals routinely.
What happens to the EHCP after home education starts?
It continues. The annual review continues. The provision specified should continue, adapted for the home context. The LA's duty under the Children and Families Act 2014 does not stop because the child is no longer at a school.
Request the next annual review promptly after deregistration; this is the moment to lock in what provision will continue, how and at whose cost. Bring IPSEA or a SEND advocate to the review if you can. Ask for the review record to specify which therapies continue, who provides them and how the LA will fund them.
The practical experience is that some LAs handle this diligently and some need repeated pressure. The therapies that were running in school (speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, counselling) are often the hardest to keep going; the LA may try to treat them as school-delivered services that end when school does. They do not end. The EHCP specifies them; the LA is required to secure them.
A real family with an EHCP and a special school
A family we will call the Ahmeds had a nine-year-old son with an EHCP naming a special school forty minutes' drive from their home. The school was well-intentioned but the day was exhausting, shutdowns had escalated over two terms and the family wanted to try home-based provision with the EHCP-funded SALT and OT continued.
They rang IPSEA the day they decided. IPSEA walked them through the Regulation 8(2) consent requirement and reviewed a draft consent letter. They submitted a two-page application to the LA in the second week of January requesting consent under Regulation 8(2), by the start of the spring half-term, proposing an April annual review and naming the therapies to continue. The LA asked two follow-up questions in February, consented in early March. The Ahmeds sent the head-teacher letter the next day. The annual review happened in mid-April and specified that SALT would continue via the same therapist (now visiting home) and OT would continue via an LA-commissioned service twice a term.
Six months in, the son is visibly calmer. The EHCP is still in force. This is a median-to-good outcome for a child moving from a named special school to home education; it required IPSEA and patience, and it worked.
This article is information, not legal advice. EHCP-related cases can escalate quickly; if LA consent is refused, a SEND Tribunal hearing is in prospect or a social worker is involved, ring IPSEA or contact a SEND solicitor.
Frequently asked.
- Can I home educate a child with an EHCP?
- Yes. There is no legal bar to home educating a child with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). LAs are not allowed to refuse on the grounds of the EHCP alone. The process depends on whether the child is at a mainstream school or a special school.
- Do I need LA consent if my child is at a mainstream school with an EHCP?
- No. Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 and the standard deregistration process apply: write to the head teacher, the school removes the child from the roll. The EHCP continues unchanged.
- Do I need LA consent if my child is at a special school named in the EHCP?
- Yes. The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 require the LA's written consent before a child at a special school can be deregistered. Submit the written request to the LA; most consent to home education within a month or two when the application is sound.
- What happens to the EHCP after deregistration?
- The EHCP continues. It follows the child rather than the school. The LA retains its duties under the Children and Families Act 2014 to secure the provision in the EHCP as far as it can at home. Request an annual review and specify what provision you want continued.
- Will the EHCP-funded therapies (SALT, OT) continue at home?
- They should continue where the EHCP specifies them. In practice this varies by LA; some are diligent, others need reminding. An early conversation with the case officer before deregistration, or the first annual review after, is the right place to pin this down.
- What is Element 2 / Element 3 funding?
- Elements 2 and 3 are the two main funding layers for SEND in the English system. Element 2 is the notional £6,000 per pupil per year that a mainstream school is expected to allocate for SEN from its general budget; Element 3 is the top-up funding the LA adds for children with higher needs. Once a child is home educated, Element 2 falls away (no school) and Element 3 can be used to fund specified provision at home or via the LA directly. The specifics are case-by-case; IPSEA can help you negotiate.