Special Educational Needs: School Choice

(asked on 23rd May 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the SEND review, what steps he is taking to ensure that the tailored list of school placements does not limit choice for families.


Answered by
Will Quince Portrait
Will Quince
This question was answered on 26th May 2022

One of the key aims of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and Alternative Provision Green Paper is to provide parents and carers with a clearer understanding of the support that should be available to meet their child’s needs and support them to make an informed choice about which school they would like their child to attend.

Where specialist provision is required, the department is consulting on proposals for a simplified process where parents and carers will be supported to express an informed preference for a suitable placement from a tailored list of schools that are appropriate to meet their child’s needs. The expectation is that all schools on the tailored list will be able to meet the child’s special educational needs as identified in their education, health and care needs assessments.

This aims to give parents and carers clarity on what is available locally which may still include mainstream, special, independent or out of borough provision where appropriate in order to meet the child’s needs. The department’s intention is that this will lead to greater transparency about what is available for children and young people, including offering to parents and carers options they may not have otherwise considered.

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