Research consistently reports an educational disadvantage of being looked after. There is a lack of literature pertaining specifically to young people who are placed out of their local authority. The following research reports on an investigation of educational psychologists' views on the educational implications of non-local authority residential placements for 12 young people. The findings show that non-local authority residential placements were usually precipitated by care crises and tended to have a negative impact on the extent to which educational needs were met. One non-local authority residential placement which allowed continuation of the local authority educational placement had positive educational implications. Action implications for local authorities and educational psychology services are given regarding casework, working with other agencies, local commissioning of establishments and areas for further research. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)