Getting SEN funding for a mainstream private school

Arguments are also often more successful when parents can evidence that they have already tried to make their child’s placement at a maintained mainstream school work, but this has not happened, even with additional support, despite ability and potential. Some other things which parents successfully argue are:

School size

Maintained mainstream schools are often larger than independent ones, which may be important in enabling a child or young person to attend school (for example, they may have organisational or sensory issues);

Class sizes

Mainstream independent schools usually have smaller classes than their maintained counterparts (so, for example, if a child or young person has attention difficulties, or perhaps a hearing or visual impairment, they may need to be educated in smaller classes);

Environment and peer group

Parents sometimes argue that placing a child in the wrong environment/within an inappropriate peer group can have a significant impact on their self-esteem and emotional wellbeing and evidence that the child needs the social aspect and academic challenge of being in a mainstream school, but also needs environmental/peer group features described above.

Parents can still be successful though. While there is no getting around the fact that there is the significant cost of annual fees for private schools, parents sometimes successfully persuade an LA to come to a contributory funding arrangement with them, whereby, for example, the LA agrees to pay for the additional SEN provision that they would have had to provide in their preferred maintained mainstream school, on the basis that the parents will then agree to pay for the school fees and transport costs at their preferred independent mainstream school.

This kind of agreement can also be reached before or during an appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal.

While tribunal panels cannot order contributory funding arrangements, sometimes, agreements are only reached during the course of an appeal (especially when a Tribunal hearing is looming).

Sometimes LAs tell parents that it is unlawful for them to make contributory funding agreements. However, there is nothing in the Children and Families Act 2014 or the SEN Code of Practice (CoP) 2015 which prevents an LA from reaching a contributory funding arrangement with parents.

In fact, the CoP actually makes reference to such arrangements being possible!

The CoP even states that, if the LA is not satisfied that the parents’ alternative arrangements are suitable (for example, if increased specialist support is needed to be brought in for the child, such as weekly occupational therapy sessions), then the LA can ‘choose to assist the child’s parent or the young person in making their arrangements suitable, including through a financial contribution’ (although they are under no obligation to do so).

Another way parents can achieve similar results to a contributory funding arrangement, might be for them to request that any quantifiable support in an EHC plan is set out as a Personal Budget (PB) by the LA. PBs are where the LA equates the provision in a child’s EHC plan to a sum of money. PBs are only available under EHCPs.

Parents can request (though the LA are not obligated to provide) Direct Payments, where the LA provides the money for their child’s support directly to the parents and they are then responsible/free to choose and source the support. Whilst parents cannot spend this on school fees, they could fund the school fees privately and then use the Direct Payments to fund specialist support (eg speech and language therapy or occupational therapy) for their child.

This would then effectively achieve a similar result as a contributory funding arrangement, without actually having reached one with the LA.

Since January 2025, all private school fees in the UK have been subject to VAT. The only scenario where private school fees for a child with an EHCP will not incur VAT is when the private school is the sole named placement on an EHCP and the associated cost is footed by the local authority.