Summary: The Council was not at fault in its efforts to secure an exam location for Ms X’s child, Y. It tried to secure a location once it finalised Y’s Education, Health and Care Plan. However, the Council was at fault for a delay securing a laptop for Y, causing Ms X frustration. The Council will apologise to Ms X.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council failed to secure the provision in her son, Y’s, Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan following a Tribunal order. In particular she says the Council delayed arranging Y’s GCSEs and failed to provide the laptop specified in the Plan. Ms X says this meant Y was unable to sit his GCSE’s and disrupted his education. She wants the Council to acknowledge its failings, apologise and pay compensation for the impact on Y.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. The First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) considers appeals against council decisions regarding special educational needs. We refer to it as the Tribunal in this decision statement.
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(1), as amended)
5. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered evidence provided by Ms X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
7. Ms X and the Council have had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans

8. A child or young person with special educational needs may have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. This document sets out the child’s needs and what arrangements should be made to meet them. The EHC Plan is set out in sections which include: 

• Section B: Special educational needs.  
• Section F: The special educational provision needed by the child or the young person. 
• Section I: The name and/or type of educational placement 

9. There is a right of appeal to the Tribunal against a council’s:

• Description of a child or young person’s SEN, the special educational provision specified, the school or placement or that no school or other placement is specified in their EHC Plan;
• Amendment to these elements of an EHC Plan; and
• Decision not to amend an EHC Plan following a review or reassessment.

10. The council has a duty to make sure the child or young person receives the special educational provision set out in section F of an EHC Plan (Section 42 Children and Families Act). The Courts have said the duty to arrange this provision is owed personally to the child.

What happened

11. Ms X’s child, Y, had an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. Ms X decided to educate Y at home in 2020. In early 2024, following a review of Y’s EHC Plan, Ms X appealed sections B, F and I of Y’s EHC Plan to the Tribunal. She wanted an Education Other Than At School (EOTAS) package of home tuition for Y.
12. In August 2024 the Tribunal ordered the Council to either specify a placement for Y or confirm it agreed to EOTAS. The Council met with Ms X in September 2024 to discuss amending Y’s EHC Plan. At the meeting the Council agreed to an EOTAS tuition package. The Council notes from the meeting show that Ms X said she had an agreement with a local school for Y to sit their GCSEs there. The Council confirmed it would fund the costs of the exams. It also confirmed it would fund a laptop for Y. The noted actions from the meeting included:
• Ms X to confirm what laptop Y needed;
• The Council to look into exam arrangements and Ms X to confirm arrangements with the school; and
• The Council to explore tuition arrangements.
13. At the end of October 2024 Ms X emailed the Council. She said she had been in touch with the school, as agreed, but the school had decided Y could no longer sit exams there.
14. Over the next couple of months, the Council and Ms X continued to discuss amendments to Y’s EHC Plan. The Council confirmed it has identified a tutoring agency, and all parties agreed a draft EHC Plan. The Tribunal issued a consent order on 19 December 2024 ordering the Council to issue an amended EHC Plan within two weeks.
15. The Council issued Y’s amended final EHC Plan on 19 December 2024. Provision in the EHC Plan included:
• Tutoring 3 hours a day for 4 days a week, working towards GCSEs;
• A laptop for Y;
• Y to sit GCSE exams with an external provider;
• The Council to meet the costs of Y’s exams;
• Y to have access to an individual exam room and be given time to visit the room before taking any exam; and
• Y to receive extra time when sitting exams and be able to use their laptop.
16. In January 2024 Ms X emailed Officer A from the Council’s SEND team to check the Council had noted that Y would not be able to sit their GCSEs at the local school. Ms X said she would select a laptop that would match the ones in use in the exam room once the Council confirmed where Y would sit their GCSEs.
17. Ms X emailed Officer A again two weeks later to reiterate the Council needed to find an exam location for Y. The deadline for GCSE entry was 21 February 2025. Officer A said they were liaising with the Council’s home-schooling team. The records show Officer A seeking advice from the home-schooling team and continuing to explore exam locations.
18. Y’s tuition started in late January 2025. In early February 2025 Ms X specified the make and model of laptop Y needed and chased the location for Y’s exams. Officer A replied saying they were finding it difficult to locate an exam centre which supported Y’s exams. They suggested Y swap to a different syllabus. Ms X said Y had been studying for the exams since September 2023 and could not swap.
19. The records show Officer A made extensive attempts to arrange an exam location for Y in February 2025. They liaised with several different centres and private schools, giving details of Y’s needs. No centre or school could accommodate Y.
20. In early March 2025 Ms X chased the Council for Y’s laptop. Ms X said while they would have preferred Y take their GCSEs in summer, a backup was to look at Y taking their GCSEs in November 2025. Ms X complained to the Council on
    5 March 2025. She said it had failed to arrange Y’s exams following the meeting in September 2024 and failed to provide a laptop for Y. She was also unhappy with the Council’s communication with her.
21. On 13 March 2025 the Council liaised with an IT supplier over Y’s laptop. It met with Ms X at the same time to discuss her complaint as part of its early resolution process. Following the meeting Ms X emailed the Council with a summary of what they had discussed. She confirmed the new plan for Y to sit their GCSEs in November 2025. The Council confirmed it was ordering Y a laptop as a matter of urgency. The Council agreed Ms X's summary reflected what was discussed in the meeting. Ms X told the Council she intended to continue pursuing her complaint on 15 March 2025.
22. The Council continued to liaise with exam centres. At the end of March 2025, it told Ms X that Y’s laptop had arrived and its team were setting it up for use. The Council responded to Ms X’s complaint on 15 April 2025. The Council accepted Ms X had told it the local school could no longer accommodate Y’s exams in October 2024 but said its focus at the time had been completing Y’s amended EHC Plan. It accepted there were gaps in communication but said it had approached several settings to try and arrange Y’s exams. The Council apologised. Ms X remained unhappy and asked the Council to escalate her complaint to stage two of its complaint procedure. She said she was still waiting on the laptop.
23. The Council responded at stage two of its complaint procedure on 29 May 2025. It delivered Y’s laptop the same day and said it had purchased the Maths package. It confirmed it would meet the accommodation costs. Ms X remained unhappy and complained to the Ombudsman.
24. The Council booked Y’s November GCSEs in June 2025. The Council carried out an interim review of Y’s EHC Plan in October 2025 and decided not to amend the Plan. Y sat their GCSEs in November 2025.

My findings

25. The Council was under a duty to secure the provision in Y’s EHC Plan. This included Y sitting GCSE exams with an external provider. Ms X says the Council should have started exploring exam centres from September 2024. While it is clear Y’s exams were discussed at this time, the EHC Plan remained in draft stage. The Council issued Y’s final EHC Plan on 19 December 2024 and began exploring exam centres from January 2025. While it would have been best practice for the Council to begin this process sooner, it was not under a duty to do so until it had finalised Y’s EHC Plan.
26. The records show that once the Council issued the final EHC Plan, it made extensive attempts to secure an exam centre that met Y’s needs. While it was unable to secure an exam location before the deadline for summer GCSE entry, this was not as a result of fault by the Council. The Council was not at fault. Ms X has since secured an exam location for Y to sit their exams at the next available opportunity in November 2025.
27. Y’s EHC Plan also included a duty to provide Y with a laptop. The Council says it did not do this immediately as Ms X wanted to specify the make and model of the laptop. This was true initially, but Ms X had provided this information by February 2025. The Council did not provide the laptop until 29 May 2025. This was fault. While some time was required to acquire and set up the laptop, the Council received the laptop at the end of March but took a further two months to deliver it to Ms X. This caused Ms X frustration. There is no evidence it resulted in a significant impact on Y’s tuition or learning.

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Action

28. Within one month of the final decision the Council has agreed to apologise to Ms X for the frustration caused by its delay securing a laptop for Y. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology.
29. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

30. I find fault causing injustice which the Council has agreed to remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman