A look at Education Other Than at School (EOTAS)

What is EOTAS?

EOTAS stands for Education Other Than at School. It is a legal arrangement that sees a child with special education needs receive a special education outside of a formal school setting.

It is provided and funded by the local authority, and, unlike elective home education, the child’s education remains the responsibility of the local authority.

It is only provided when it can be proved that school is not a suitable learning environment for a child. It is usually a temporary measure until an appropriate educational setting is identified or until barriers to accessing education are removed. It can, however, be the only route to education for some children with special educational needs.

When is EOTAS needed?

There are lots of reasons why a child or young person might not be able to attend school or college.

It could be because a school placement has broken down, or is likely to break down, or it could be that the provision the child needs simply cannot be met at any available school.  It may be that they physically cannot attend school due to a physical disability or medical treatment.

Many children with complex special educational needs or mental health difficulties, like anxiety or depression, can also find formal education settings too overwhelming or too challenging for them, leaving them simply unable to attend school, even specialist schools.

Parents have a legal duty to ensure that their child receives an education and elective home education is often not an option for many families. Families should never feel pressured into elective home education if school is not an option for their child.

Local authorities have no obligation to provide an EOTAS package. However, they do have a duty to provide your child with a suitable education, so if you can prove that school as a concept is not suitable and/or the local authority cannot name a suitable school, including a specialist school, in the EHCP plan, they must provide an EOTAS package.

What can an EOTAS package look like?

An EOTAS package is the name given to the full education provision a child receives when having Education Other Than at School.

This package could be delivered at home or in an external setting that is not educational, or a mixture of the two.

Some examples of EOTAS include:

• Home tuition
• Online education
• Tuition centres
• Hospital schooling
• Work placements
• Educational trips
• Speech and language therapy
• Occupational therapy

How to get an EOTAS package?

An EOTAS package must be written into a child’s Education Health Care Plan (EHC plan or EHCP). An Education Health Care Plan is available for children and young people up to age 25 who need more support at school/college/university than is available through special educational needs support. These legally binding documents identify their educational, health and social needs and set out the additional support that must be provided to meet those needs.

It is written by their local authority, with input from the child and their family, and it is the legal responsibility of the local authority to ensure all stated provisions are provided.

If your child doesn’t have an EHCP and you believe they need additional support, you can request for your local authority to carry out an Education Health Care needs assessment. If they agree and additional needs are identified, they will draft an EHCP for them. As part of this, you can request an EOTAS package, if you can prove that your child’s needs cannot be met at any school setting.

If your child already has an EHCP, you can request for a reassessment of your child’s needs for an EHCP and you do not need to wait for its annual review to do so.

Things to consider

• Getting an EOTAS package is not an easy task and, unfortunately, they can take a long time to get in place.
• You will need to provide a fully costed list of all the provisions your child needs, including a timetable of subjects, number of hours, any therapies and the names of providers. This is a big job and needs to be detailed and carefully thought through.
• You will need expert evidence to support your claim that your child cannot attend school, usually including an Educational Psychologist Report
• EOTAS packages are reviewed every 12 months and on-going evidence will be needed to prove its success and that school is still not a suitable setting for them.

For more information and to hear us chat about EOTAS, listen to episode 12 of our SEN Talks podcast.

Please talk to our experienced SEN team if you need support in requesting EOTAS for your child.