Choosing the right school

Mainstream schools

Most pupils with additional support needs attend mainstream schools that are run by a local authority. These schools can cater for pupils with a wide range of support needs. They have a duty to provide support to pupils who need it and should make sure all pupils are included in all aspects of school life.

Mainstream private or independent schools can also cater for pupils with additional support needs, but they do not have the same legal duties to provide support. Our factsheet Independent schools and additional support for learning explains more about this.

Special schools

Special schools offer a range of specialist services that aren’t usually available in mainstream schools. They provide specific help to pupils with particular support needs. They usually have specialist teachers and offer a range of services, facilities and therapies. Classes tend to be smaller than in mainstream schools.

Some special schools have a residential option, where pupils spent all or part of the week staying at the school.

Some special schools are run by local authorities, others receive grants from the Scottish Government (‘grant-aided’), and some are independent. Independent special schools are all funded differently, for example by charities, donors, or other organisations. Local authorities can place pupils with additional support needs at any of these types of special school.

Support units or bases

Some mainstream schools have specialist support units or bases as part of their campus. These are run quite differently at different schools, for example, pupils might:

Other options

Some children have a split placement between different schools. This usually means spending part of the week in mainstream school, and part of the week in special school.

Some older pupils might attend school some of the time, and fill the rest of their timetable with a college placement or vocational opportunity.

If a pupil is unable to attend their usual school due to ill health, the local authority must make alternative arrangements so that they can continue learning. This may mean being educated out of school, for example at home, or in a hospital or hospice if they have been admitted for a period of time.

Every mainstream Scottish school has a ‘catchment area’ fixed by the local authority. The default is that your child will attend the catchment school for where you live. If everyone agrees this isn’t suitable for them, then the local authority might place them in a different school. You should be involved in any decisions about your child’s school placement.

If you don’t feel that the catchment school (or another school that has been offered) is the right school for your child, you also have the right to make a ‘placing request’. Here are some key facts about placing requests:

Our factsheet ‘School placements’ has a lot of information about how to make a placing request, the reasons why they can be refused, and appeals.

If you think your child needs a place at a special school, this might be able to be arranged without needing to make a placing request. See ‘I think my child would be best going to a special school, or a specialist support unit or base’ below.

Choosing the right school for your child will always be a very personal decision, with individual considerations depending on their support needs. It’s important to take time to consider their options, so that you feel confident that your child’s needs will be met and you’ll be able to work well with the staff.

Here is some advice based on what families have told us:

When you’re visiting a potential school, here are some things you might want to think about or ask:

In Scotland, there’s a ‘presumption of mainstreaming’ – this means that local authorities must educate children in mainstream schools, unless certain exceptions apply. These are where:

If one or more of these apply, the local authority should consider placing your child in a specialist school or base/unit.

Usually the decision is made through a placements panel or group (which have different names in different local authority areas) at your local authority. If the local authority has information about your child and has been informed that they may need a specialist placement (sometimes called an ‘alternative pathway’), this group will look at their needs and decide whether they could be met in a mainstream school, or whether a specialist placement would be better (and if so, which school they should attend).

There are generally two routes through which your child might move into a special school placement.

The first would be where everyone agrees that mainstream is unable to meet their needs. In this case, someone from the current school (or a professional like an educational psychologist) may be able to make a referral to the local authority’s placements panel. These panels or groups are called different things in different local authority areas. The panel would look at the information that has been submitted about your child, and make a decision about what should happen next. This could be that your child should go to a mainstream school (or stay in their current school, if they’re already enrolled somewhere) with support. Or it could be that they should move into a specialist placement and if so, which school they should go to. 

Parents also have the right to make a ‘placing request’ which is a formal written request to a specific school of their choice. Placing requests are usually used when parents don’t agree with the placement that’s been offered to their child, or if they have a particular preference of school. There are some key facts about placing requests under ‘What rights do I have to choose which school my child goes to?’ above, and much more is also explained in our factsheet School placements.

If you’re thinking about special school for your child, a good place to start is talking to their current school or nursery. You can find out whether they’re in agreement that a specialist placement might be best for them, and if so whether they’re able to make a referral for them.

It can be really difficult to find out that a request for your child to go to a special school has been turned down. Your options for what you can do next depend a bit on how the request was made, but in any situation there are things that you can try if you disagree with the decision. We’ve summarised these below, but this area is complicated and our helpline team are always happy to give advice if you need it.

It’s also important to know that even if you decide to appeal, if ultimately the outcome is not what you are hoping for, your child will still have the right to get the support that they need. If they go to a mainstream school, there are many ways in which they can be supported, and there are steps you can take if you aren’t happy with their support at any point.

If a request was made on your child’s behalf by someone from their school or nursery (or an educational psychologist)

When you were told the outcome of the local authority’s decision, they may have told you whether there is an option to appeal. If there is, they should have told you how to do this. If you aren’t sure, write to your local authority’s contact for additional support for learning and ask if they’d be willing to reconsider their decision. If this isn’t successful or if you’re told you can’t appeal:

In some cases you may also be able to appeal directly to the tribunal, if the request made for your child fits certain legal criteria. Contact our helpline team for more advice about this.

If you made a ‘placing request’ yourself directly to the local authority

You have a legal right to appeal the decision. For placing requests to a special school or support base/unit, appeals go to the Additional Support Needs Tribunal. You have a deadline of two months to appeal from when you received the refusal letter. Our factsheet about the tribunal explains how you can appeal, and how the process works.

If you’re concerned about the support your child is getting at their current school, it’s understandable that you might be questioning whether to try somewhere different. It’s often worth considering first of all whether there are things that could be tried that might improve things where they are. Moving schools is a big change and while it can be a positive experience, there are also risks. It’s important to weigh up the options carefully and give the current school the opportunity to try and address your concerns.

We’d suggest starting by raising your concerns with the person with lead responsibility for support for learning at the school. For primary, that’s usually a deputy head or the head teacher. At secondary, it’s usually a deputy head or principal teacher. If you’re not satisfied with their response, you can escalate things to the head teacher. There are also further steps you can take beyond that, like getting in touch with the contact for additional support for learning at your local authority. Our Solving problems with school page has lots of advice on trying to resolve any issues.

If you continue to feel that the current school isn’t right for your child, speak to the people that work with them about their options. If they agree that a different placement might be better, someone from their current school or an educational psychologist may be able to make a referral to the local authority for them. If you’re not able to agree on a way forward, you also have the right to make a placing request as we’ve explained above.