What happens after you submit a referral

Written for: Schools, local authorities and other professionals referring a young person to an alternative provision.

When you submit a referral through a provision’s referral link, you get a receipt straight away. The provision then reviews your referral and decides what happens next. This guide explains the receipt, how the provision might contact you, and how to answer a placement proposal if it sends you one.

To make a referral, see Refer a pupil to an alternative provision.

Your receipt

After you click Submit referral, the form is replaced by Referral received and the message “The submission was recorded. Keep the receipt for your records; it does not confirm when the provision will review or respond.”

Under it is your Receipt reference, which starts with AP-.

1. Click Copy to copy the reference. The button changes to Copied.
2. Paste it somewhere safe, such as your case notes, before you close the page.

Quote the reference if you contact the provision about the referral. The receipt confirms that the referral was recorded. It doesn’t confirm an assessment, a response or a placement.

If the provision shares a Referral & due diligence pack, you can still download its documents from the receipt page.

What the provision does

Your referral arrives at the provision as a new referral. The details you gave haven’t been verified, so staff check them first. They then work through their own referral process, which might include asking for more information, assessments and visits.

You can’t track the referral through the link. If you need an update, contact the provision and quote your receipt reference.

How the provision might contact you

The provision uses the email address and phone number you gave in Referrer details. Some provisions send emails through Student Radar, for example:

• to tell you about a decision on the referral
• to arrange a visit, or to tell you a visit has moved or been cancelled
• to send you a placement proposal to accept or decline

Answer a placement proposal

If the provision offers a placement, it might email you a link to answer its proposal.

1. Open the link in the email. You’ll see Verify before continuing.
2. Click Email me a code. A six-digit code is sent to your email address. It expires after 10 minutes.
3. Type the code into Six-digit access code and click Continue securely. If the code doesn’t arrive, click Send a new code.
4. Read the proposal. The page is headed with the young person’s name. It shows any message from the provision and the proposed placement, such as the hours, sessions, start date, review date and who’s responsible for what. It also shows the date to answer by.
5. Choose whether you accept or decline the proposal. You can add notes for the referral team.
6. Click Submit form. You’ll see Form submitted.

The provision’s staff then confirm your answer. Student Radar staff will never ask you for your code, so don’t share it with anyone.

After the placement starts

If the placement goes ahead, the provision can share updates about it with a named person, such as the young person’s attendance at the provision and their timetable.

• If your school uses Student Radar, the updates appear in your school’s own Student Radar.
• If you’re at a local authority, or at a school that doesn’t use Student Radar, you sign in to the Placement updates page. See Sign in to see placement updates.

If something doesn’t work

What you see	What to do
You closed the page without keeping the receipt	Contact the provision. Give them your name, the young person’s name and the date you submitted the referral.
“Enter the six-digit code from the email.”	Type all six digits of the code from the most recent email.
“Form could not be opened”	Click Try again. If it still doesn’t open, the link may have expired or already been used. Ask the provision to email you a new link.
“This form is closed”	The date to answer by has passed. Contact the provision.