PDA and EOTAS

Many autistic children and young people, with PDA profiles, face intense difficulties in school. Our  Being Misunderstood Report found that 70% of PDAers were either out of school or struggled with regular attendance.

Education Otherwise Than at School (EOTAS) can be a good option for those who can’t attend. This section of our site aims to help parents and carers who are considering EOTAS and would like to know more.

EOTAS (Education Otherwise Than at School) is educational provision for children and young people who, for whatever reason, are unable to attend school and who have an EHCP.

When a local authority (LA) decides that any school setting isn’t suitable for meeting a child or young person’s special educational needs, it can choose to provide that support in an alternative setting, such as the home. In such cases, the LA is responsible for arranging and funding the necessary provision.

Although EOTAS and EHE may seem alike-both involving learning outside of a school setting-the responsibility for funding and arranging differs. With EOTAS, the local authority is responsible for the child or young person’s education, as well as any special educational provision detailed in the EHCP. In EHE, that responsibility falls entirely to parents or carers.

Some parents and carers may feel that there is no suitable educational setting which can deliver the special educational provision required. In this case, they can ask their LA to consider EOTAS.

EOTAS can only be agreed with the Local Authority via an EHC needs assessment, ECHP annual review, an emergency review, or via a reassessment of needs.

If you want an EOTAS package for your child, you will need to evidence why no educational setting would be appropriate for them. This might include professional reports (e.g. OT, SALT and Educational Psychologist), any evidence which shows your child isn’t able to attend school, and yours and your child or young person’s views.

The LA may turn down an EOTAS request for various reasons, including deeming the proposed alternative provision or setting to be unsuitable or incompatible with effective use of public resources. If the LA doesn’t agree to EOTAS, you have the right of appeal (at SEND Tribunal) in the following circumstances:

• A final plan is issued after an EHC needs assessment.
• A final amended EHCP is issued following annual review.
• A final amended EHCP is issued after reassessment.
• The LA refuses to reassess.
• The LA refuses to amend an EHCP after annual review.
• Appealing against a plan being ceased.

If the LA agrees it is inappropriate for any provision to be delivered in a school or FE setting, section I of your child’s EHCP should be blank. Section F will need to describe the specific special educational provision to be offered to your child to support their needs laid out in Sections B, C and D, so they can meet their outcomes detailed in Section E.

It is important for the provisions listed in Section F to be detailed and clearly explained. For example: what is the provision? How often will it take place? When and where will this take place? How long will the session be? How will the child access the provision?

Examples of the types of activities which could be included in Section F are as follows (this is not an exhaustive list but gives some ideas):

• Therapeutic interventions (e.g. OT, SALT, art therapy).
• Online tutoring.
• Physical education (such as swimming or gym membership).
• Tutoring at home.
• Alternative provisions, such as animal centres, forest schools or vocational courses for older children.
• Tuition or training at a specialist centre.
• Hospital schooling.
• Life skills.
• And much more!

It is also important to consider who will arrange and oversee the package. This is the responsibility of the LA, but it is often the case that they don’t have the resource or expertise. The burden can fall on the parents to organise this in the absence of anyone else. To avoid this, you can include someone to perform this role as part of your package request.

EOTAS can help you to provide a highly tailored educational experience for your child in the best way and at the right pace for them. 

EOTAS can be a challenging task for the parent(s) or carer(s). It means that your child is at home with you a lot of the time, and you may need to be present during sessions with tutors or professionals for safeguarding reasons. Whilst it is possible to ask for a personal assistant as part of the package, this can often be rejected by LA’s or the child themselves.

It can fall on the parent or carer to come up with new ideas to keep their child engaged and source them.

If funding is provided via Personal Budget (PB), an entirely separate bank account is needed. Full financial records need to be kept and shown to the LA as they request.

There can be a significant amount of co-ordination and paperwork involved with EOTAS.

It’s crucial to make sure that the right needs and provisions are identified in your EHCP as that gives EOTAS the best chance of working well for your child. Plans are usually reviewed once per year. But if you, or your child, feel it isn’t working, you can request an emergency annual review to discuss alternative options with the LA and involved professionals.

For more detailed information about EOTAS, you can visit the IPSEA website here: https://www.ipsea.org.uk/choosing-a-schoolcollege-with-an-ehc-plan

We can help. If you’re looking for ideas that actually help, our parent carer training could be for you. It’s built by people with lived experience, and is full of practical tips. Families tell us that after our training they better understand what is going on for their child, why they are struggling and what they can do to help.