The short version
The school-to-school service: how to transfer information exists to help schools move information between settings without turning handover into guesswork.
For SEND teams, that matters because the value is not in sending more files. It is in sending the right record, in a form the next school can use quickly.
If the handover is stale, oversized, or split across inboxes and shared drives, the transfer service just moves confusion faster.
The practical rule is simple. Transfer the current record, not the whole history.
That is also where good records discipline starts to pay off. MeritDocs keeps SEND documents in one searchable hub, so staff can filter by pupil, see what is current, and export when needed. When the live record is easy to find, the handover is easier to trust.
Why this guidance matters now
Most schools already know that SEND handover gets harder in the busy parts of the year.
Year group moves, staff changes, exams, transition reviews, and leavers all create pressure. The record has to travel with the pupil, but it also has to be useful when it arrives.
That is the problem the school-to-school service is meant to support.
It is not a magic fix. It does not clean up a messy record for you. But it does give schools a reason to be more deliberate about what they send, how they name it, and who owns it.
If the record is strong, the service helps.
If the record is weak, the service simply makes the weakness arrive sooner.
What a good SEND handover should do
A good handover should answer three questions quickly:
What is current right now?
What support has actually worked?
What does the next adult need to do next?
If the document cannot answer those questions, it is too broad.
The next school does not need an archive dump. It needs a clear working picture.
That usually means the handover should include:
the current SEND support plan or equivalent working record
the most recent assess, plan, do, review note
the latest review outcomes and next actions
reasonable adjustments that are live now
exam access arrangements, where relevant
attendance barriers or patterns that affect learning
pupil voice in plain language
parent or carer views that changed the plan
relevant professional advice that shaped the current support
the named person who owns the next step
the date the record was last checked
That is enough for the next school to act.
It is also enough to avoid the common trap of passing on too much and too little at the same time.
What not to send
A lot of bad handover practice comes from fear.
Staff worry that if they leave something out, the next school will miss it. So they send everything.
That sounds safe. It is not.
Sending everything usually creates three problems.
1. Nobody knows what matters
If the folder contains years of old notes, multiple versions of the same plan, and long email trails, the useful bit disappears inside the noise.
2. The next school loses time
The receiving SENCO or inclusion lead has to work out which version is current before they can do anything useful with it.
3. The pupil gets described by the past
A good handover should explain what support is needed now, not keep replaying old problems that no longer drive the plan.
That is why the transfer should be selective.
Keep the current record. Keep the reason behind it. Keep the next step. Leave the rest in the archive.
A simple way to prepare the transfer
You do not need a giant process to do this well. You need a repeatable one.
Step 1: Pull the live version
Start with the current plan, the latest review note, and the newest agreed actions.
Do not start from a staff member’s memory. Do not start from old emails.
Step 2: Cut duplicate versions
If the same point appears in three places, keep the clearest version once.
The goal is clarity, not volume.
Step 3: Write a short cover note
Use plain English.
A cover note should explain:
who the pupil is
what support is live now
what has helped
what has not helped
what the next school should watch for first
That note is often the most useful part of the whole handover.
Step 4: Check the next owner
A handover is only complete when someone knows what happens next.
Who owns the follow-up? Who should the next school contact? When should the first review happen?
If those answers are missing, the transfer is unfinished.
Where schools lose the thread
The biggest problem is usually fragmentation.
One version lives in a shared drive. Another is in a teacher’s inbox. A third is in a paper folder. A fourth is in someone’s head.
None of those people are usually careless. The school just does not have one dependable version of the truth.
That is where patchwork systems start to fail.
Shared drives, old Word documents, email attachments, and handwritten notes can keep a school going for a while. They are much less good at giving staff one reliable record when a pupil moves on.
MeritDocs helps schools run this properly by keeping SEND documents in one place, with current information easier to find, review dates visible, and exports straightforward. That means the record is not rebuilt every time a pupil changes setting.
What the receiving school actually needs
A receiving school rarely needs every detail.
It needs the details that change what adults do on day one.
That usually means:
what the pupil needs to feel settled
what support should happen immediately
what routine issues are likely to appear first
what adjustment should not be lost in the move
what warning signs tell staff the plan is slipping
This is where a clean record matters most.
If the next school can read the handover and understand the support in two minutes, the transfer has done its job.
If it takes half an hour to work out what is current, the school-to-school service has not failed. The record has.
A useful summary for busy staff
The school-to-school service is a route, not a remedy.
For SEND handovers, the school should send the current record, a short note on what works, and a clear next step. It should not send the whole archive. The aim is to help the next school act quickly, not reconstruct the past.
Frequently asked questions
Is the school-to-school service the same as a transition pack?
No. The service is the method for transferring information. The transition pack is the content you choose to send.
Should we send every SEND document?
Usually not. Send the current record and the information the next school needs to support the pupil properly.
What if our SEND information is spread across lots of places?
That is a sign the school needs one current source of truth before transfer time arrives. MeritDocs keeps SEND documents in one searchable hub, so staff can filter by pupil, see what is current, and export when needed.
What should be kept back for internal use?
Old versions, duplicate notes, and background material that does not change the current support plan can stay in the archive.
Final thought
The best SEND handover is not the biggest one.
It is the one that tells the next school what is current, what has worked, and what needs to happen next.
If the current record is easy to find, that job gets much easier. If it is not, the transfer service just moves the problem along.