Phase Transfer 2027
What is Phase Transfer?
The term “Phase Transfer” applies to those children and young people with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP) who are transferring between various phases of education. These are:
- Early years to school
- Primary school to middle school
- Infant to Junior School
- Junior to Secondary School
- Middle to secondary school
- Secondary to Post 16 education
In order to transfer the EHCP from one school to another, Birmingham City Council has to go through a formal legal process. This is known as the phase transfer process.
As your child is part of the phase transfer cohort, meaning transferring to a new school in September 2027 and has an EHCP, their school allocation is administrated by the Birmingham Special Educational Needs Assessment and Review Service (SENAR).
Next Steps for Parent Carers
It is important that you start to consider which school you would like your child to attend. If you have a specific school in mind, it would be advisable to contact them and arrange a visit to discuss your child’s special educational need. They will be able to help you make an informed decision when making your preferences. It is also advisable to involve the SENCo from your child’s current school.
All schools have information that explains the curriculum, facilities and what they aim to achieve for their pupils, along with the school’s local SEND offer to pupils with identified special educational needs. The school’s website is the best place to find this information.
For more information on schools in the area, please use the link below which will take you to the Birmingham Schools directory. This link enables you to search schools by type and, if you enter your postcode, it will tell you how close the school is to your address.
Parent Carer Preferences
As the parent carer, you may express a preference for which maintained school, academy, or free school, (mainstream or special), non‑maintained special school, or Section 41 approved independent school you would like your child to attend. You can also make representations for any other type of setting such as independent schools (not S.41 approved).
When you express a preference for a setting, the local authority must name the setting in your child’s EHCP unless:
- It would be unsuitable for the age, ability, aptitude or special educational needs of the child or young person
- The attendance of the child or young person would be incompatible with the efficient education of others
- The attendance of the child or young person would be incompatible with the efficient use of resources.
As part of the process, the local authority will also consult with settings it considers appropriate for your child. This is because the local authority must consult with any setting before naming it in an EHCP and, in the event we cannot name your preferred setting, the local authority will name a setting or type of setting which it considers appropriate for your child.
If we do not receive preferences, the local authority will consult with local appropriate settings so we can name a setting or type of setting which we consider appropriate for your child by the statutory deadline – 15 February 2027. For young people transferring to Post 16 provision, the statutory deadline to name a setting or type of setting is 31 March 2027.
Where a change of placement type is requested such as from mainstream to a resource base or special school, the local authority will require updated, triangulated, professional evidence regarding your child’s needs and the provision they require. This would usually be gathered via your child’s annual review, and we would advise you to discuss this with your child’s current school. The requests for a change of type of placement will then be considered by a multi-agency and multi-professional panel.
Phase Transfer Preference Forms
As part of the process, you will be sent a link to a specific online preference form to complete, known as the SENAR Phase Transfer Preference Form for pupils with an Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP).
- Reception Phase Transfer – The letters and preference link will be sent via email directly to parent carers in July 2026.
- Junior Phase Transfer – The letters and preference link will be sent directly to parent carers via email in July 2026.
- Secondary Transfer – The letters and preference link will be sent directly to parent carers via email in July 2026.
- Key Stage 5 Transfer – The letters and preference link will be sent directly to parent carers via email in July 2026.
Where a parent carer does not use email, we will be able to send a preference form out in the post.
Preference form links for newly-finalised EHC plans will be sent to parent carers after the final EHC plan is issued. The form will contain your child’s information, such as their name, date of birth and address. It will also provide space for you to fill in up to two preferences for your choice of setting for September 2027.
Please note that, as your child has an EHCP, you do not need to complete the online preference form via the Admissions and Appeals process. Any preferences logged via the online process may not be counted, so it is important that you use the specific SENAR online form provided instead.
Once completed the online form will automatically link back to SENAR with preferences stated. The deadline for sending us your preferences is 31st October 2026. For newly issued plans following an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment, it will be 14 days after you receive the link for Sept 2027 placement.
If you would like to request a preference form link, please send an email to your child’s allocated Case Officer. Please include your child’s full name, date of birth and the school setting they are currently attending.
Contact
If you have any queries in relation to the September 2027 Phase Transfer Process, you can send an email to your child’s allocated Case Officer, who can be found using this link: SENAR – Local Offer Birmingham