EOTAS · education otherwise than at school
When school isn't possible, education still is.
EOTAS is the legal route to an education built around your child, outside a school, arranged and funded by the local authority. Here's how it works, how packages get agreed, and the 1:1 tutoring hours that can sit inside one.
s.61
Children & Families Act 2014: the law that makes the local authority responsible when school can't meet your child's needs.
What it actually is
Not home schooling.An education the LA still owns.
EOTAS exists for children whose needs make a school placement genuinely inappropriate: after school avoidance, a placement breakdown, exclusion, or a long wait for the right school. Three things set it apart.
The LA arranges it
EOTAS is provision your local authority puts in place when school genuinely can't meet your child's needs.
The LA funds it
Unlike home education, you don't pay. Funding can flow through a Section J personal budget you help direct.
The EHCP stays live
Your child keeps their plan, the provision is written into Section F, and the LA remains legally responsible.
EOTAS or elective home education?
Schools and even some LAs blur these two. Don't: one keeps the local authority responsible for your child's education, the other hands everything to you.
Education otherwise than at school
- Who decides
- You and the local authority, through the EHCP.
- Who pays
- The local authority. A Section J personal budget can give you a say in how.
- Who teaches
- The tutors, therapists and providers the package names.
- The EHCP
- Stays live. Provision in Section F is legally enforceable.
Home schooling by your own choice
- Who decides
- You. You deregister your child from school yourself.
- Who pays
- You. There is no funding for elective home education.
- Who teaches
- You, plus any tutors you choose to hire privately.
- The EHCP
- The LA's duty to arrange provision largely shifts to you.
Sound like your child?
Two minutes on the phone beats two hours of reading. Tell us what's going on and a specialist will call you — or grab a free consultation slot now.
No registration fee · no minimum number of hours
The route
How an EOTAS package gets agreed
Five milestones. Slow in places, winnable in all of them, and at every one there's an £80 session with someone who has walked it before.
It starts with the EHCP
EOTAS is agreed through an Education, Health and Care Plan. No plan yet? That's the first fight, and it's one we help parents with every week.
Ask for EOTAS
Raise it at the annual review, request an emergency review, or push for it while a draft plan is on the table. In writing, with evidence.
The LA decides
The legal test in Section 61: it would be inappropriate for provision to be made in a school. Evidence of what school does to your child is what carries this.
If they say no
A refusal is not the end. Mediation and the SEND tribunal follow, and most parents who appeal succeed.
Section F makes it real
The package is written into the plan: specific, quantified, deliverable. Vague wording is where packages quietly fail, so this step matters most.
What a package can look like
One child's week, rebuilt
An example EOTAS package week for a child recovering from school avoidance: short 1:1 tutoring hours, therapies, real rest, and learning hung off the things they love. A shape, not a template; every package is built around one child.
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Tue
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Fri
Want a week like this for your child?
Tell us what your child needs and we'll say honestly what the tutoring hours could look like — and what to put in front of the local authority.
No registration fee · no minimum number of hours
Section J · personal budgets
Where the money comes from
When EOTAS is agreed, the funding is the local authority's. A personal budget under Section J of the EHCP can put some of that funding under your direction, so you choose the tutors and providers who actually suit your child.
- Ask for a personal budget when the package is being agreed, not after.
- Provision must still be specified in Section F: named, quantified, deliverable.
- Simple, transparent hourly rates make a parent's proposal much easier for an LA to say yes to.
We can't promise funding, and we won't pretend to. Whether a personal budget covers tutoring hours is your local authority's decision. What we can do is give you a clean number to put in front of them: £60 an hour online, £80 in person, no registration fee, no minimum, and a written record after every visit.
Our part in the package
The 1:1 tutoring hours
Vetted, Enhanced-DBS SEND tutors, online (£60 an hour) or at your home (£80 an hour). Gentle, interest-led hours for a child who has been out of school, building back up at their pace. We provide the hours; package coordination stays with you and the LA, and we'll always say so rather than overpromise.
Building an EOTAS package?
Tell us your postcode and what your child needs. We'll say honestly whether we have the right tutor near you, and what the hours would look like.
No registration fee · no minimum number of hours
Vetted before they ever meet your child
Enhanced DBS, qualifications verified against the awarding body, identity confirmed in person.
Common questions
What is EOTAS?
The EOTAS meaning is simple: Education Otherwise Than At School, from Section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014. When a local authority is satisfied that it would be inappropriate for a child's provision to be made in a school, it must arrange education elsewhere: at home, in the community, one-to-one. The LA arranges and funds it, and the EHCP stays live.
Is EOTAS the same as home schooling?
No, and the difference matters enormously. With elective home education you deregister, take full responsibility and pay for everything yourself. With EOTAS the local authority remains responsible: it funds the package, the EHCP continues, and the provision in Section F is legally enforceable.
Who can get EOTAS?
Children and young people whose special educational needs mean school placement would be inappropriate: often after school avoidance, placement breakdown, exclusion or a long wait for a suitable school. It's almost always agreed through an EHCP. We can't promise any outcome, but we can help you make the strongest case.
How do I ask for an EOTAS package?
In writing, through the EHCP: at the annual review, by requesting an emergency review, or while a draft plan is being negotiated. Evidence is everything. A £80 session with one of our EHCP specialists helps you work out the case, the wording and the next step.
What can a package include?
Whatever the plan says your child needs: 1:1 tutoring, therapies such as OT or speech and language, wellbeing activities like swimming or forest school, exam access arrangements. The example week on this page shows the shape; every real package is built around one child.
Can Remarkable Minds run the whole package?
No, and we'd rather tell you that plainly than overpromise. We provide the 1:1 tutoring hours inside a package (£60 an hour online or £80 at home, vetted Enhanced-DBS SEND tutors) and £80 specialist sessions for parents building the case. Coordination of the overall package sits with you and the local authority.
Can a personal budget pay for your tutoring hours?
Many families fund tutoring through a Section J personal budget. Whether your budget can is agreed with your local authority, so we can't promise it, but the hours are priced simply (£60 an hour online, £80 in person, no registration fee) which makes them easy to put in front of an LA.
What if we don't have an EHCP yet?
Start there. Our free EHCP checker gives you a read on your draft or your case, and an £80 EHCP application session gives you the plan, the evidence list and the wording. EOTAS without an EHCP is rare; the plan is the doorway.
The hours are the easy part. Let's sort them.
One enquiry, a hand-picked SEND tutor, and a clean number for your package or personal budget: £60 an hour online, £80 in person.
No registration fee · no minimum number of hours