Evidencing EOTAS in a Working Document

What Parents Need to Evidence and How Sections Should Reflect Therapeutic Input

by SEN Parent Support Group

When a parent is seeking EOTAS, the tribunal is not interested in opinions, preferences or “EOTAS would be nice”.

It is interested in evidence of need, evidence of why school cannot meet those needs, and evidence of what provision is required instead. The Working Document is where this becomes visible. Every line must link via need to provision to evidence.

A parent preparing for tribunal should gather evidence that shows three things clearly:

1. The child’s needs cannot be met in a school environment, even with reasonable adjustments, even with specialist placement.
2. The child’s needs can be met through EOTAS because the provision can be delivered safely, consistently and lawfully outside school.
3. The child’s therapeutic, educational and care needs are interlinked, and the EOTAS package is the only way to deliver the Section F provision required to meet Section B needs.

This evidence normally includes;

EP reports describing sensory, cognitive, emotional regulation, trauma linked or anxiety linked barriers to school attendance.

CAMHS or paediatric letters confirming the impact of school on mental health, functioning, or safety.

SALT/OT reports detailing environmental requirements that cannot be replicated in school.

Attendance records, exclusion data, behaviour logs, safeguarding concerns.

Parent diaries showing deterioration linked to school attempts.

Any failed reintegration plans, reduced timetables, or school‑based interventions that did not work.

Evidence of progress when learning outside school (home learning, tutoring, therapy based learning).

The Working Document must reflect this evidence precisely. Section B should not describe the child as “anxious” or “struggling with school”. It must describe the actual needs that make school unsuitable. For example:

Needs for low‑arousal, predictable environments with no sensory overload.

Needs for trauma‑informed relational support delivered 1:1 by a consistent adult.

Needs for therapeutic input embedded into learning, not bolted on.

Needs for flexible pacing, movement breaks, and non‑classroom‑based learning.

Needs for co‑regulation and emotional safety that cannot be provided in a busy school.

Needs for specialist SALT/OT programmes delivered in a quiet space with controlled stimuli.

Needs for alternative communication approaches that require uninterrupted 1:1 modelling.

Section F must then specify the provision that meets those needs.

For EOTAS, this means:

Named tutors or specialist teachers delivering structured learning at home or in community settings.

Quantified therapeutic programmes (SALT, OT, mental health support) delivered outside school.

Trauma‑informed mentoring or key‑worker support delivered daily.

Sensory‑based interventions delivered in a controlled environment.

A timetable that reflects the child’s regulation profile, not school hours.

Multi‑disciplinary oversight to ensure progress and safety.

Any specialist equipment or technology required for learning at home.

Section F must be fully quantified: hours, frequency, duration, qualifications, setting. “Access to” or “opportunities for” is unlawful. EOTAS provision must be enforceable.

Parents often ask where therapeutic input goes. This is where the Working Document must be exact.

Section C: Health needs. This is where diagnoses, mental health conditions, sensory processing disorder, trauma‑related needs, and therapy‑linked needs sit. Anything requiring a health professional belongs here.

Section D: Social care needs. This includes needs relating to safety, supervision, emotional regulation, self‑care, independence, and any risks that arise from the child’s condition. If the child cannot attend school safely, that is a social care need.

Section F: Educational provision. Therapeutic input that is required to enable learning belongs here. If SALT, OT, or mental health support is needed to access education, it must be in Section F even if delivered by health professionals. This is crucial for EOTAS because it makes the therapy enforceable under s.42 CFA 2014.

Section G: Health provision. This is where purely medical or clinical therapy goes anything not required for education but required for health. For example, medication management, medical monitoring, or clinical therapy not linked to learning.

Section H1/H2: Social care provision. H1 is short‑term; H2 is long‑term. If the child needs support at home because they are out of school, or needs supervision, respite, or community support, this goes here.

The key rule: If the therapy is needed for the child to learn, regulate, communicate or access education, it belongs in Section F. If the therapy is purely medical, it belongs in Section G. If the therapy relates to safety, supervision or daily living, it belongs in Section H.

For EOTAS, most therapeutic input ends up in Section F because it is part of the educational package. This is what makes it enforceable and funded.

A parent preparing a Working Document should ensure:

Section B describes needs that make school unsuitable.

Section F provides the EOTAS package that meets those needs.

Section C and D describe the health and care needs that underpin the EOTAS rationale.

Section G and H contain any additional health or care provision required outside education.

Every need in B has a matching provision in F.

Every health need in C has a matching provision in G or F.

Every care need in D has a matching provision in H.

Tribunal panels look for coherence. When the Working Document shows that school cannot meet the needs, and EOTAS can, the legal test is met.

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