What a Personal Education Plan (PEP) is, what happens at PEP meetings, PEP forms and how we monitor PEP quality.
What a Personal Education Plan (PEP) is
A PEP is part of a young person's care plan. It's a record of how they're doing in their education. It also shows how the professionals working with the young person are supporting them in their education.
A PEP includes information about:
- how the young person thinks and feels about education
- the young person's educational progress
- how to help the young person progress
- their attendance
- any support they're getting in their education setting
- the difference previous Pupil Premium spending has made, up to Year 11
- future Pupil Premium funding needs, up to Year 11
- 16 to 19 Bursary Fund spending for post 16 students
Children in care should have a PEP from 2 years old, if they're in an education setting, to the age of 18.
PEP meetings
To begin the PEP process, the child's social worker must organise a PEP meeting with the child's education setting.
We ask the designated teacher to chair the meeting. The PEP form is discussed and completed at the meeting.
PEP meetings should also happen if a young person is not in education, including if they're post 16 and not in education, employment or training (NEET). GOV.UK has some statutory guidance Go to https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-the-education-of-looked-after-children (opens new window) about supporting children and young people in care and care leavers to do well in their education.
The PEP meeting will include the:
- child or young person
- carer
- social worker
- designated teacher or someone else from the education setting
What the child thinks is really important. If they can't go to the meeting, someone should go through the form with them before the meeting so their views are included.
As the lead professional for the care plan, the child's social worker must be at the meeting. If the social worker can't attend, they need to send a replacement. If they can't send a replacement, they should reschedule the meeting.
The social worker should invite the young person's lead from The HOPE. We can't go to every meeting, but we prioritise first PEP meetings and meetings for young people having difficulties in their education.
The social worker may invite other people to the meeting, like:
- other professionals, such as the child's carer's supervising social worker
- the child's parents
Meetings are held:
- within 28 calendar days of a child first coming into care
- within 3 months of the first PEP, and then every 6 months after that
The timings of the PEP meetings are set so that the latest PEP can be reviewed at each Child in Care Review.
See the pdf Bristol PEP process (76 KB) .
After the PEP meeting
The school will email the completed form to attendees, who should do the actions they agreed to.
A PEP review should take place every 3 months. The designated teacher reviews the PEP each term to make sure it's up to date with the child's current educational progress and needs. The child, their social worker and their carer are also involved in the review. You can use our document PEP review form (398 KB) for the meeting.
PEP forms
Bristol has separate PEP forms for the early years, primary, secondary and post 16 stage.
Early Years and Foundation stage
The document Early Years PEP form (237 KB) is for children aged from 2 years and in a funded education place, up to 5 years and 11 months, which is usually the end of Reception.
Early years education can be through a:
- childminder
- children's centre
- independent day nursery
- playgroup
- local authority nursery
- nursery or Reception class attached to a school
See our pdf guidance (277 KB) on using the early years PEP form. We also have a pdf template with further guidance (519 KB) . You may also find the document ECAT monitoring tool (84 KB) helpful.
Primary and secondary
There are different PEP forms for primary and secondary school children and young people:
- document Primary Personal Education Plan form (107 KB)
- document Secondary Personal Education Plan form (444 KB)
- pdf Guidance for the primary and secondary forms (478 KB)
- pdf Glossary for primary and secondary PEP forms (335 KB)
Post 16
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
A good PEP is essential to support looked after children with SEND. The class teacher, teaching assistants and SENDCo should go to the PEP meetings.
There are two PEP forms for children with complex SEND:
Personal Education Plan quality monitoring
We monitor PEPs using our PEP descriptors documents. They show you how we judge if a PEP is outstanding, good, requires improvement or is inadequate.
Descriptors documents:
- pdf EYFS PEP descriptors (107 KB)
- pdf Primary and secondary PEP descriptors (232 KB)
- pdf Post 16 PEP descriptors (108 KB)
We email the completed monitoring form to the designated teacher or tutor to give them feedback.
Example PEP forms
We have some examples of what a good PEP form should look like. The forms don't relate to real young people.
More PEP guidance
Information about PEPs for:
Funding for children in care and care leavers.
