Provision panels
Gathering evidence for panel
Your EHC Coordinator will help you in gathering evidence to support your request. This can be a lengthy process and gathering all the information needed from different professionals can take time. This evidence includes: evidence from professionals, assessments from school, and copies of work children have done either supported or on their own. It is important that the evidence gathered is as thorough and detailed as possible so that the panel has all they need to make a decision. If the evidence isn't good enough the panel may reject the request which can delay the process further.
Provision panels happen once a month and your EHC Coordinator can tell you when your child's case will be presented to the panel.
The decision of the panel
The provision panel, made up of professionals across all areas, considers all the evidence for your request, as well as the information from the school's consultation, and will make a decision on the type of setting which will best meet the needs of your child.
The panel's decision will normally be issued a few days after the panel takes place and your EHC Coordinator will write to you to let you know the outcome. They will tell you the type of setting that the panel has identified to best meet your child's needs and, where possible, the name of the setting your child will go to.
They will give you information on the reasons for the panel's decision and will tell you what the next steps are in the process. They will also inform your child's current school of the panel's decision.
If you haven't heard about the outcome from the panel, you can contact your EHC Coordinator. Alternatively (if you haven't had a response from your EHC Coordinator), you can contact the team by sending an email to ehcp@hertfordshire.gov.uk.
How provision panels make a decision
When making a decision, the provision panel consider all the evidence of your child's areas and level of need which your EHC Coordinator has gathered to support your request. They will also consider the responses from the schools' consultations.
There are different types of special schools, and each type has its own guidance for who they will take. We've described the different types of special schools we have in Hertfordshire:
The panel use this special schools admissions guidance (PDF 291kb) Opening a new window as guidance for making a decision about whether a child or young person would be suitably placed in that type of school. (If you need an accessible version of this document, please email localoffer@hertfordshire.gov.uk)
If you are applying for a Year 7 place in a secondary school, assessment information from Year 5 will be reviewed because this is the information that will be featured in the annual review report used to inform the decision about secondary school placement.