How to Get a Co-ordinated Support Plan in Scotland

Only about 1,400 pupils across all of Scotland currently hold a Co-ordinated Support Plan. That is roughly 0.2% of the school population, in a country where 43% of pupils have an identified Additional Support Need. The gap is not because most children do not qualify. It is because education authorities resist issuing them, and most parents do not know how to force the issue.

A Co-ordinated Support Plan (CSP) is the highest tier of statutory protection available to a child with additional support needs in Scotland. Unlike an Individualised Educational Programme, a CSP is legally binding and directly enforceable through the Additional Support Needs Tribunal. Getting one requires understanding the legal test, making a formal written request, and being prepared to challenge a refusal.

The Legal Test for a CSP

Under Section 2(1) of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, a CSP is legally required when all four of the following criteria are met:

1. The education authority is responsible for the child's school education
2. The additional support needs arise from complex or multiple factors
3. Those needs are likely to continue for more than one year
4. The needs require significant additional support from the education authority and from at least one other "appropriate agency" — such as an NHS Board, Social Work, or Skills Development Scotland

The sticking point is almost always criterion four: what counts as "significant" support from an outside agency. Authorities frequently argue that while NHS Speech and Language Therapy or Occupational Therapy is involved, the input is not significant enough to meet the test.

The Inner House Court of Session settled the meaning of "significant" in the case of JT v Stirling Council. The court ruled that significance must be assessed across four dimensions: the frequency of the support, its nature, its intensity, and its duration. Authorities that simply point to occasional CAMHS contact or termly review visits from an NHS therapist and call it insignificant are on legally weak ground if the therapy is regular, targeted, and directly tied to educational outcomes.

Who Can Make the Request?

Parents, young people over 16, and eligible children aged 12 to 15 all have a statutory right under Section 6 of the ASL Act to request that the education authority assess whether a CSP is required. The request does not go to the school. It goes directly to the education authority — the council's education department.

What Your Request Letter Must Include

A verbal request to the headteacher is legally insufficient. The request must be in writing and must be directed to the education authority. A legally robust request should include:

Explicit statutory reference: State in your opening paragraph that this is a formal request under Section 6 of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004. This triggers the statutory timeline immediately and makes clear you know your rights.

Your child's details: Full legal name, date of birth, and current school.

Description of the additional support needs: Set out the specific barriers to learning your child experiences. Be concrete — not "struggles in class" but "unable to access written work without 1:1 scribing support; requires sensory breaks every 45 minutes; currently receiving NHS Occupational Therapy twice monthly to address sensory processing difficulties that directly impair classroom participation."

Multi-agency involvement: Name the outside agencies currently involved and describe what support they provide. This is what establishes the fourth criterion. If CAMHS, NHS Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, or Social Work are involved, say so and describe the frequency and nature of their input.

Statutory timeline acknowledgement: Close by noting that you expect a formal written response within the eight-week statutory timeframe.

What Happens After You Request?

The education authority has eight weeks to decide whether to carry out a full assessment. They must write to tell you their decision. If they agree to assess, they have a total of 16 weeks from the date of your request to complete the assessment and issue the CSP, if the test is met.

During the assessment, the authority gathers information from the school and from relevant outside agencies. They are obliged to consult with you and with your child throughout.

When the Authority Refuses

Refusal to assess — or refusal to issue a CSP following assessment — generates an immediate right of appeal (called a "reference") to the Additional Support Needs Tribunal for Scotland. You have two months from the date of the refusal letter to lodge the reference.

Authorities that refuse often rely on three arguments:

"The outside agency support isn't significant." Counter this by documenting the frequency, nature, intensity, and duration of every NHS or Social Work input — this is the four-part test from JT v Stirling Council.

"Your child's needs don't arise from complex or multiple factors." Counter this with evidence of multiple diagnoses or multiple interacting barriers: autism combined with severe anxiety, for example, or a physical disability combined with speech and language difficulties. Multiple diagnoses or factors that interact and compound each other satisfy this criterion.

"The needs won't last more than a year." Counter this with clinical evidence from specialists confirming the enduring nature of the condition.

Even if the authority asserts that your child does not meet the full four-part test for a CSP, they still have strict duties under Section 4 of the ASL Act to provide adequate and efficient provision for whatever additional support needs your child has. This is a separate enforceable obligation, and it applies regardless of whether a CSP exists.

If You Reach the Tribunal

The Tribunal has the power to order the education authority to carry out an assessment or to establish a CSP. When placing request cases go to a Tribunal hearing, parents win a substantial majority. CSP references follow a similar pattern: the more evidence you bring of multi-agency involvement linked to educational barriers, the stronger your case.

Our Scotland ASN Appeals Playbook includes a model CSP request letter with the exact statutory wording, a checklist for documenting multi-agency support, and a step-by-step guide to the Tribunal process if the authority refuses.

Keep Copies of Everything

From the day you decide to request a CSP, create a dedicated folder — physical or digital — containing every letter, email, report, and meeting note related to your child's support. Authorities frequently lose track of correspondence. You cannot afford to. A clear, chronological paper trail is the foundation of every successful Tribunal reference.

The CSP threshold is high by design, and authorities exploit that. But the law is clear about when a CSP is required, and the Tribunal has repeatedly ordered councils to issue them when parents have built proper cases. Start the paper trail today, write the request formally, and be ready to escalate.

See more United Kingdom homeschool guides →