You must have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) to apply to a special school.
Special schools can focus on 1 of the 4 areas of special educational needs:
- communication and interaction
- cognition and learning
- social, emotional and mental health
- sensory and physical needs
Schools can further specialise within these categories. For example, autism, blindness and vision loss, or speech, language and communication needs.
We place children in Essex special schools, not Independent or non-maintained schools. Independents are only used if there are no available spaces at an Essex special school.
If you are not eligible to apply for a special school
If you do not have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), and cannot apply to a special school, other types of support are available.