Placing Requests
The Tribunal also has the power to hear references about placing requests in certain circumstances.
These also include circumstances where the Education Authority has written to the parent refusing the placing request for a special school anywhere in Scotland, England, Wales or Northern Ireland.
OR
The parent made a placing request and has not had a decision (this is only valid within a specified timeframe*)
Placing requests can also be made in the following circumstances:
The Education Authority has written to the parent refusing a placing request for a mainstream school.
OR
The parent made a placing request and has not had a decision (this is only valid within a specified timeframe*)
AND
On that date (or the deemed refusal date*) one of the following applied
- A Co-ordinated Support Plan was in place for the child
- A Co-ordinated Support Plan has not been prepared but the education authority has confirmed that the child requires a plan or is in the process of preparing one.
- The Education Authority has informed the parent of their proposal to establish whether a Co-ordinated Support Plan is required
- The Education Authority had decided that the child needed a Co-ordinated Support Plan and was in the process of preparing one.
- The Education Authority has decided that the child does not require a Co-ordinated Support Plan and the decision has been referred to the Tribunal.
*If a placing request is made on or before 15 March for the child to start at a specified school on the first day of term in the next school year AND a decision is not received by 30 April, that placing request is ‘deemed’ to have been refused. For a placing request at any other point in the school year, if a decision is not received within 2 months of a placing request, it is deemed to have been refused.
The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 Section 18(4)(c) & Section 18(6)