Children with EHCPs moving to a new phase of education
If your child/young person does not have an educational health care plan (or if you are in the education health and care needs assessment process) refer to the school admissions information page.
If you are a parent or carer of a child with an education health and care plan (EHCP) and they are moving educational setting due to a change of phase such as moving from primary school to secondary school we want to hear from you. This is an important milestone in your child's education, we want to work with you to secure a suitable placement for your child.
The current setting will arrange an EHCP review meeting which will be held early in the Autumn term. If your child is not currently in an education setting, Cheshire East's Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND) Team will be in contact to organise a review meeting. As part of this review meeting, you will have the opportunity to discuss the options available, and following the meeting you will be asked to formally confirm which settings you would like us to consult with.
If you already know which settings you would like (your parental preference) it is really helpful if you let the SEND Team know as soon as possible. To make this easier, you can submit your choices using the Sharing your school place preferences form.
Before submitting the form it is important to know
- This form is for children with an EHCP in place. All other applications must be completed via Mainstream Admissions.
- This form is used for both primary and secondary transfers so please make sure you select the correct option. For post 16 phase transfers refer to the information below in the Post 16 section.
Advice for parents/carers on completing the form
- If you move house between submitting the form - You must notify the SEND team of any change of home address.
- If you do not complete the preference form - You will have the opportunity to provide these as part of your child’s autumn term annual review.
- If you do not have a preferred school, you are not required to do anything else - We will consult with the nearest local provision to your home address.
When you will find out where your child has a place - Following your child’s annual review, a final EHCP will be issued by 15 February in the year of the transfer, naming the setting for the next phase of your child’s education. This is the local authority’s formal confirmation of school place.
Useful school information
- Information about school open days is available on the individual school’s website, as is information on how to contact the school Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo). Consider contacting the SENCo at your current setting.
- The Cheshire East Information, Advice and Support team (CEIAS) offers free confidential and impartial information, advice and support to parents and carers of young people aged 0 - 25 who have special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) as well as young people themselves. They can be contacted on 0300 123 5166.
Post 16
This information is related to young people that will be reaching the end of year 11 by the end of this academic year. This is an important milestone in your young person’s education and we want to offer help and support to you and your young person to secure the right place for them in post 16 education or training.
In order for us to support you and make preparations for a smooth transition to the next placement, it would be helpful for you to tell us (in order) which course and school/college/training provider your young person is intending to apply for. We will use this information to support the undertaking of consultations with education and training providers. Your young person’s current setting should arrange the annual review in the Autumn term, ideally before the end of November.
If your young person is not in a setting SEND team will be in contact to organise the annual review.
The statutory deadline for naming the placement in Section I of the EHCP is 31st March in the year of the transfer.
If your young person will be leaving their current educational setting they still need to apply directly for a place on their intended course with the education provider, for example, the college/training provider they are considering.
If your young person is planning to stay at their current school and move into the 6th Form, do let us know so that we can make the necessary arrangements.
This information is only relevant for those young people with an EHCP
To find out how we use your information see our privacy notice (opens in a new window).
Follow this link to Notify us of intention to apply for a post-16 school or college place
Useful information for Post 16
If you are unsure which is your preferred educational preference, the following information may be of use:
- Information about college open days are available on the individual college’s websites, as is information from the college’s SEND support teams. Consider contacting the SENDCo at your current school.
- Information about colleges and training providers can be found on the Cheshire East Local Offer Site - Live Well
- Information about the annual review process for transition years can be found Annual reviews of EHC plans page.
- The Cheshire East Information, Advice and Support team (CEIAS) offers free confidential and impartial information, advice and support to parents and carers of young people aged 0 - 25 who have special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) as well as young people themselves. They can be contacted on 0300 123 5166 or via the CEIAS website.
Additional transition resources
Contact the SEND team
Page last reviewed: 04 September 2025
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