The workbook belongs to the local authority. The deadline still belongs on the school's calendar.
If an in-scope school expects a different number of funded high needs places in 2027/28, it needs to discuss the change with its provider local authority now. The authority must submit its return on 6 November 2026. If no change is requested, the 2026/27 place number normally rolls forward.
Key points: In-scope schools should check their current funded places, expected continuing pupils, planned admissions and any expansion or reduction with the provider local authority. Agree the proposed 2027/28 total in writing, preserve the commissioning evidence and work to the earlier 5pm deadline published by DfE for 6 November 2026.
What is the 2027/28 high needs place change process?
The Department for Education's place change guidance is the annual route used by provider local authorities to notify DfE of changes to funded high needs places at eligible schools and colleges.
This is about provider-level place numbers. It is not an EHCP application, a top-up funding request for one pupil or a general forecast of all SEND need in an area.
The provider local authority is usually the authority where the school or college is located. It submits the workbook. Schools and colleges should agree the 2027/28 figure with that authority, including places commissioned by other local authorities, and retain the evidence behind the decision.
Which schools and colleges are in scope?
The DfE process covers settings whose place funding is deducted from a local authority's dedicated schools grant. That includes:
- mainstream academies and free schools with SEN units, resourced provision or sixth forms;
- special academies and special free schools from their second academic year;
- alternative provision academies;
- further education colleges and independent learning providers;
- certain new special post-16 institutions seeking direct DfE place funding for the first time.
Most maintained schools are outside this particular DfE notification process because the maintaining local authority funds their place changes directly. Maintained schools converting to academy status by 1 January 2027 can fall within the process. The full scope and exceptions are set out in the DfE guidance.
If the school's status is unclear, ask the provider local authority whether it appears in the workbook.
What should a school agree with its local authority?
A useful school-side pack is short, numerical and traceable.
1. The current funded number
Start with the published or pre-populated 2026/27 figure and check it against the school's funding information.
2. Recent and current placements
Show occupied places, pupils expected to continue and recent movement. Include placements commissioned by other authorities.
3. The expected position for September 2027
Record the proposed total, planned admissions, leavers and approved expansion or reduction. Separate confirmed placements from forecasts.
4. The status of organisational changes
A new SEN unit, resourced provision or age range at an academy may need the significant change process and a deed of variation. The DfE academy-change guidance explains the approval route.
For the initial March 2027 allocation, the place-change guidance says the signed deed of variation must reach DfE by 4 December 2026. A later deadline of 9 April 2027 may allow a revised allocation by the end of August 2027.
5. The written agreement or disagreement
The local authority and school should record the number agreed. If agreement is not possible before submission, the authority can mark the request as not agreed, state the number it is prepared to fund and record the school's preferred number in the notes.
Keep the evidence behind both positions. A recorded disagreement is safer than a verbal assumption nobody can reconstruct in January.
What time is the deadline on 6 November?
Two official DfE pages give different times.
The main place-change process says completed workbooks are due by 11:59pm on Friday 6 November 2026. The digital form guidance says local authorities must submit by 5pm on the same day.
Use 5pm as the operational deadline. It is the earlier time and appears in the guidance for the submission service itself. Send the proposed total and supporting note well before then, with a date and named contact.
What happens if no change is requested?
The 2026/27 place number normally rolls forward into 2027/28. That is a problem if occupancy, planned growth or a reduction has changed materially and nobody raises it.
The DfE process guidance warns that a significant increase omitted from the workbook and January outcomes may need a separate local agreement for 2027/28. The provider local authority may then have to fund additional places locally at the relevant unit value.
The process does not increase the authority's high needs allocation before deductions. It changes provider-level numbers and the deductions used to fund them.
How should schools build the evidence without creating another spreadsheet?
Start with the records already used to run support:
- the current funded-place figure;
- current occupancy and commissioning authority;
- the latest approved plan and review decision for pupils expected to continue;
- known leavers, transitions and agreed admissions;
- planned changes to the unit, resourced provision or age range;
- the named source and date for every aggregate figure.
Do not send a bundle of pupil plans as though document volume proves demand. The authority needs an aggregate commissioning case with a source trail. The school must explain how pupil-level records produce the proposed total.
MeritDocs keeps current plans, approved versions and review context connected to the pupil record, helping leaders separate live information from superseded paperwork. It does not determine funded place numbers or submit the local authority return.
Schools that also need to test whether provision and cost records agree should use the costed provision map checklist. For the wider 2026/27 funding position, see the high needs funding checklist for mainstream schools.
What should schools check in January 2027?
DfE expects to publish outcomes in January 2027, followed by a two-week enquiry window. The published timeline gives 29 January 2027 as the closing date.
When the outcomes appear, check:
- whether the school is listed where a change was expected;
- whether the published total matches the agreed figure;
- how any not-agreed request was treated;
- whether other commissioning authorities' places were included;
- whether a deed of variation or other approval remains outstanding.
A school or college can raise an enquiry and must copy in the relevant local authority. The window is mainly for changes already recorded in the workbook and outcomes.
MeritDocs keeps the evidence, current version and review history together for authorised staff, so the January check can start from the November record.
Frequently asked questions
Does the school submit the workbook?
No. The provider local authority submits it. An in-scope school should check its places, discuss the proposed total and keep the written evidence.
What if the school and local authority do not agree?
The authority should mark the request as not agreed, state the number it will fund and note the school's preferred figure. Keep the evidence. Outcome rules differ by provider type, so neither figure automatically wins.
Does every mainstream school need to act?
No. It applies to specific providers, including mainstream academies and free schools with SEN units, resourced provision or sixth forms. Having pupils with SEND does not by itself bring ordinary mainstream provision into scope.
Does a new SEN unit need separate approval?
At a mainstream academy, a new SEN unit or resourced provision may require the significant change process and a deed of variation to the funding agreement. The place request and academy approval should move together. One does not silently replace the other.
The school decision this week
Confirm whether the school is in scope. Ask the provider local authority for the current funded number and named contact. Compare that figure with continuing placements, planned admissions and agreed organisational changes. Then record the proposed 2027/28 total and the evidence behind it.
Do that before the local authority is validating its workbook on 6 November. A rolled-forward number is still a decision, even when nobody meant to make it.
Status note: Published 8 October 2026. This article uses the current DfE place-change guidance for 2027/28 and distinguishes the live submission process from later funding guidance that has not yet been published. Check the linked official sources below for confirmed dates and any updates.