26/10/2026
Right… EOTAS.
Because until you desperately need it, chances are nobody even tells you it exists.
EOTAS stands for Education Otherwise Than At School.
It is NOT elective home education. It isn’t a parent simply deciding to homeschool and it definitely isn’t the easy option.
From what I understand (and please know I am not an expert) I am learning more every single day…
EOTAS is for children whose needs mean it would be inappropriate for their special educational provision to be delivered in a school or college.
Their education can then be built around what they can actually access. This could include specialist tuition, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, therapeutic support, mentoring, outdoor learning or life skills, depending on the individual child and what is written into their EHCP.
The local authority remains responsible for arranging that provision. Parents aren’t supposed to be handed a child and left to figure it all out alone. 🙄
I am still fighting through Tribunal for EOTAS for Fifi.
Not because I don’t want her educated.
Not because keeping her at home is easier.
And definitely not because I’m asking for less.
I’m fighting for an education she can actually access without it repeatedly destroying her mental health and nervous system.
Trust me, this is not the easy route. Easy route, my arse.
She is watched, assessed and scrutinised by professional after professional just so I can continue proving what we already live every single day.
Every visit brings anxiety beforehand and dysregulation afterwards.
And recently, I discovered that some professionals working directly with children didn’t even know what EOTAS was.
That isn’t me attacking them. It just shows how poorly understood this option still is.
But if professionals don’t know it exists, how the hell are exhausted parents supposed to know about it?
I’m still trying to understand it all myself. I’m scared I’ll get something wrong, miss something important or fail to fight for something Fifi needs.
So if you’ve managed to secure EOTAS, especially without having to go all the way to Tribunal, please tell me what helped. I genuinely need all the advice I can get.
EOTAS isn’t less education.
It’s education delivered differently because children are different.
Not every education has to look the same and that is fu***ng okay.
And don’t even get me started on the proposed SEND reforms and what they could mean for all of this… my brain genuinely cannot handle going down that rabbit hole today.
