SENDIASS
EOTISC stands for education other than in school or college
EOTISC is educational provision for children with SEND that does not take place in a nursery, school or post-16 setting. It is arranged to meet a child’s needs, as detailed in their EHCP. Further information on EOTISC can be found here.
EOTISC is not the same as alternative provision, which is education for any pupil, with or without SEND, who because of exclusion, illness, or other reasons would not otherwise receive suitable education at school.
EOTISC is not the same as Elective Home Education (EHE). If parents choose to home educate, the local authority is not responsible for meeting any of the costs of education or providing any support. The parents become responsible for providing the child’s educational provision. More information on EHE can be found here.
Parents typically consider EOTISC if:
When thinking about the rules, the key words are inappropriate and necessary. For EOTISC to be arranged, the child or young person must have SEND and be in the process of getting an EHCP or already have one in place.
The assessment or reassessment part of the EHCP process is used to establish the child or young person’s needs.
The local authority then issues a draft or redraft of the EHCP and consult with settings. The consultation explores whether the child’s needs can be met in a nursery, school or post-16 setting. If the local authority cannot find a setting that can meet the child or young person’s needs, then provision in a setting would be deemed inappropriate meaning that it is necessary for provision to be made through EOTISC.
If the Local Authority have found that EOTISC is necessary, they are responsible for arranging it. This is referred to in Section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014.
The law does not allow for the parent or young person to request EOTISC. It only allows for EOTISC to be arranged where it is necessary to do so. This means that when a parent or young person is asked to name their preferred setting, the local authority is only obliged to consult settings that are maintained nurseries, schools, academies, FE institutions, post-16 settings, non-maintained special schools, or Section 41 schools.
In practice, when there are concerns that the settings listed above may not be able to meet a child or young person’s needs it would be appropriate for the parent or young person to suggest EOTISC provision and to expect the local authority to take their views seriously. The appropriate time to suggest EOTISC is through the EHCP or annual review processes, at the point when a draft plan is issued.
If the local authority agrees that EOTISC is necessary, then they must arrange for the provision to be delivered in one of two ways:
Section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places the local authority under a duty to make sure that all the provision in the EHC Plan is in place. Therefore, the EOTISC package detailed in Section F is legally treated in exactly the same way as provision which is delivered within an education setting.
The EOTISC package is managed through the normal annual review process, by the local authority EHC Co-ordinator.
There is no legal duty to provide transport (or help with transport costs) from home to EOTISC settings. However, the local authority’s school transport team can consider applications for support with home to setting transport on a case-by-case basis.
Applications for school transport should be made via the local authority’s transport team. Some disabled children can also access help with transport through social services.
Under their Local Government Act duties, the local authority is responsible for a child or young person’s transport between EOTISC settings. These arrangements should be discussed with the local authority.
You can find further information on from your local authority. Click here for links and resources from I.P.S.E.A