You are therefore very welcome to share what you think is positive and any concerns you may have here.

Please note that we can only include feedback that is relevant to the consultation questions in our response.

However, understanding your wider experiences and views is still really helpful for informing our work.

This space is for Parent Carers who live in Essex (excluding Southend and Thurrock) to share their views on the EOTAS Consultation

Your feedback will help us understand parent carer views and will be used to inform Essex Family Forum’s response to the national EOTAS consultation. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.

⚠️ Important Information

This is a public platform, so please do not share personal or identifying information about yourself, your child, or other families.

Please share general views rather than detailed personal experiences.

⚠️Consent

Your feedback will help Essex Family Forum understand and represent the views of local families. We may use the information shared anonymously to:

• inform our formal consultation response
• support our work with Essex County Council, NHS Essex ICB and other key local partners and stakeholders, representing parent and carer views locally
• share key themes and views with the National Network of Parent Carer Forums (NNPCF), who are working directly with the Department for Education and representing the views of Parent Carer Forums and their members nationally

By posting on this board, you agree that Essex Family Forum may use the information you share anonymously for these purposes.

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The Department for Education is currently consulting on proposed changes to Education Otherwise Than at School (EOTAS) and other arrangements for children and young people who are unable to attend school.

This consultation is particularly important for parents and carers of children and young people with SEND, including those who:

• currently receive EOTAS through an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)
• may need EOTAS in the future
• are unable to attend school because of physical or mental health needs and receive alternative education
• access online or other alternative provision

The proposals look at how EOTAS should work in the future, including who should have responsibility for arranging and overseeing provision, quality standards, accountability, links with schools and colleges, and how decisions can be challenged.

⚠️ It is important to distinguish between EOTAS and education provided because a child cannot attend school.

EOTAS is special educational provision arranged through an EHCP, currently under section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014

Children who cannot attend school because of illness or other reasons may instead receive education arranged by their local authority under section 19 of the Education Act 1996.

The Government says no decisions have yet been made, and any changes would not come into effect before September 2030 at the earliest.

The consultation closes on 18 September 2026.

🔗 Read the parent and carer information:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/send-reform-education-otherwise-than-at-school/send-reform-education-otherwise-than-at-school-what-parents-and-carers-of-children-and-young-people-need-to-know

🔗 Read the full consultation and supporting documents:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/send-reform-education-otherwise-than-at-school

🔗 Respond directly to the Department for Education consultation:
https://consult.education.gov.uk/accountability-and-special-schools/send-reform-education-other-than-at-school/

The consultation covers two different legal routes, and it is important that we hear experiences of both:

🔹 EOTAS – Education Otherwise Than At School
This is for children and young people with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) where the local authority agrees that it would be inappropriate for their special educational provision to be delivered in a school or college.

EOTAS sits within the Children and Families Act 2014, section 61.

🔹 Education for children unable to attend school because of health needs or other reasons
A child does not need an EHCP for this duty to apply.

Under section 19 of the Education Act 1996, the local authority has a duty to arrange suitable education for a compulsory-school-age child who, because of illness, exclusion or other reasons, would otherwise not receive suitable education.

💬 We want to hear from families who have experience of either route:

👉 What has worked well?

👉 What has been difficult or missing?

👉 What parts of the current system must be protected?

👉 If you could change one thing, what would it be?

You do not need to know the legislation or consultation wording to respond — we want to hear about your family's experience.

Please share your thoughts by commenting below

EOTAS is not simply education taking place away from school.

EOTAS is a specific arrangement under section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014, where a child or young person has an EHCP and the local authority is satisfied that it would be inappropriate for their special educational provision to be delivered in a school or college.

The Government is considering whether children and young people receiving EOTAS should be linked to a named school or college, which could have a role in overseeing their provision.

💬 What do Essex families think?

👉 Would being linked to a named school or college provide useful support and accountability, or would you have concerns?

👉 What should that school or college actually be responsible for?

👉 How much say should the child, young person and their parent carers have over which setting is named?

👉 Who should decide whether EOTAS remains the right provision?

👉 What safeguards would be needed to make sure decisions remain based on the individual child's needs?

Tell us what you think below. 👇

EOTAS is not simply education taking place away from school.

EOTAS is a specific arrangement under section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014, where a child or young person has an EHCP and the local authority is satisfied that it would be inappropriate for their special educational provision to be delivered in a school or college.

The Government is considering whether children and young people receiving EOTAS should be linked to a named school or college, which could have a role in overseeing their provision. This would generally be a specialist setting that has not previously supported the child or young person, and not a setting where previous difficulties or a placement breakdown occurred.

💬 What do Essex families think?

👉 Would being linked to a named school or college provide useful support and accountability, or would you have concerns?

👉 What should that school or college actually be responsible for?

👉 How much say should the child, young person and their parent carers have over which setting is named?

👉 Who should decide whether EOTAS remains the right provision?

👉 What safeguards would be needed to make sure decisions remain based on the individual child's needs?

Tell us what you think below. 👇

EOTAS is special educational provision arranged outside a school or college under section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014.

The Government is considering introducing clearer standards and quality assurance for EOTAS provision.

We want Essex families to help us understand what those standards should look like.

💬 Thinking about your experiences:

👉 What should every child or young person receiving EOTAS be able to expect?

👉 What should a good EOTAS package include — education, qualifications, therapies, social opportunities, preparation for adulthood or something else?

👉 How should we know whether an EOTAS package is working?

👉 Who should be responsible for checking the quality of provision?

👉 What should happen when provision in an EHCP is not actually being delivered?

And importantly:

👉 Should successful EOTAS always be measured by a child returning to school or college, or can successful EOTAS have a different long-term outcome?

We would really like to hear your views. 👇

This is different from EOTAS.

A child does not need an EHCP to have a right to suitable education when they cannot attend school.

Under section 19 of the Education Act 1996, local authorities are responsible for arranging suitable education for compulsory-school-age children who, because of illness, exclusion or other reasons, would otherwise not receive suitable education.

For children unable to attend because of health needs, current statutory guidance says local authorities should be ready to arrange provision when it is clear a child will be away for 15 school days or more, whether those days are consecutive or cumulative.

💬 We want to understand families' experiences:

👉 How easy or difficult has it been to get education put in place when your child could not attend school?

👉 How quickly should support begin?

👉 Have you ever been told your child cannot receive alternative education because they do not have an EHCP?

👉 What should suitable education look like for a child who is currently unable to attend?

👉 How should schools, health services and the local authority work together?

👉 Where online education is offered, when does it work well — and when is it not enough?

Your experience can help shape what Essex Family Forum says in its consultation response. 👇

The current consultation includes both:

🔹 EOTAS – special educational provision for a child or young person with an EHCP, under section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014

and

🔹 Alternative education for children unable to attend school – including because of physical or mental health needs, under section 19 of the Education Act 1996, where an EHCP is not required.

The Government is considering changes to how these arrangements are delivered and overseen.

💬 Our questions for Essex families on these points are:

👉 How involved should children, young people and parent carers be in decisions about their education?

👉 What rights should families have when they disagree with a decision?

👉 What safeguards are needed to prevent provision being reduced or ended before a child is ready?

👉 If a return to school or college is being considered, what should a genuinely supported transition look like?

👉 How do we make sure decisions are based on the child's individual needs rather than what provision happens to be available?

Please share your thoughts below. 👇

It’s exhausting trying to get the appropriate help AND looking after a complex SEN child.

This is how to destroy parents mental health.

The section 19 was also refused saying as my daughter was starting a new secondary school she would be fine with the school supporting her. Unfortunately she refuses to go to school so not possible for me to get her there as she just won’t attend.

I just want some help so that she has an education, I am trying to find her some work to do but I find things hard, I have just been diagnosed with Autism and awaiting for an ADHD assessment.

The people that are meant to help you, just don’t want to help, if I could get her to school I would, it just isn’t that simple.

Mum to girl age 11