To get an education, health and care (EHC) plan, a parent, a young person aged 16 to 25, or the child's school or college asks the local authority to carry out an EHC needs assessment; if the assessment shows the child needs a plan, the local authority must issue one. The process that follows runs through several stages, each governed by its own statutory time limit, from the initial decision on whether to assess through to the issuing of the final plan.
What is an EHC plan and who is it for?
An EHC plan is for a child or young person in England, aged up to 25, who needs more support than is available through special educational needs support on its own. The duties behind it sit in the Children and Families Act and the SEND Regulations, with the SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years as the statutory guidance that local authorities must have regard to. The same legal process for requesting and carrying out an assessment applies at every age within that range.
What is the legal test for an EHC needs assessment?
The local authority must carry out the assessment if the child or young person has, or may have, special educational needs, and may need special educational provision made through an EHC plan; this two-part test comes from section 36(8) of the Children and Families Act. These are the only questions a local authority is allowed to ask. It cannot add conditions that sit outside the law, such as requiring a child to have attended a school or nursery for a set period first, or requiring the school to have already spent a set amount of money on support.
Who can ask for an assessment?
A parent can ask the local authority for an assessment at any time, and a young person aged 16 to 25 can request one themselves. The child's school or college can also make the request. Anyone else who thinks an assessment may be necessary, such as a doctor, health visitor, teacher or family friend, can bring the child to the local authority's attention.
What happens in the first 6 weeks?
The local authority must tell the parent or young person whether it will carry out the assessment within 6 weeks of receiving the request, a time limit set out in regulation 4 of the SEND Regulations. The 6 weeks run from the date the local authority actually receives the request, which is why it helps to note that date when the request is sent.
What does the assessment involve?
The assessment involves the local authority gathering advice and information from a range of sources, covering education, health and social care, before deciding whether a plan is needed.
Anyone asked for advice must usually respond within 6 weeks. A few exceptions apply, for example where the child has been absent for 4 or more continuous weeks or an appointment has been missed.
- The parent or young person
- Educational advice, usually from the head teacher or principal
- Medical advice from a healthcare professional
- Psychological advice from an educational psychologist
- Social care
- Advice on preparing for adulthood, where the child is in Year 9 or above
- Anyone else the local authority thinks appropriate
- Any person the parent reasonably requests
What happens at 16 weeks?
The local authority decides, using the advice gathered during the assessment, whether it is necessary for the child to have an EHC plan. If it decides a plan is needed, it must go ahead and issue one. If it decides a plan is not needed, it must tell the parent or young person within 16 weeks of receiving the original request.
When is the final plan due?
Once the local authority has decided to issue a plan, it sends the parent a draft EHC plan for comment. The parent has at least 15 days to respond, including the right to ask for a particular school or other institution, such as a special school, to be named in the plan. The local authority must issue the final EHC plan within 20 weeks of the date it received the original request for assessment.
What can you do if the local authority says no?
A parent can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability), known as the SEND Tribunal, if the local authority refuses to assess or reassess, refuses to issue a plan after assessment, refuses to change the education sections of a plan (sections B, F and I), or decides a plan is no longer needed.
In most cases, a parent must talk to a mediation adviser before appealing; mediation is confidential, uses an impartial mediator, and is usually quicker than a tribunal. Where the appeal is only about the school or other institution named in the plan, under section I, a parent is not required to consider mediation. The parent still needs to contact the mediation service to get a mediation certificate before appealing.
Related guides
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Frequently asked questions
- How often is an EHC plan reviewed?
- An EHC plan must be reviewed at least every 12 months. This review cycle is separate from the process of requesting an assessment and getting a plan issued, and it continues for as long as the child or young person has a plan in place.
- Can a parent ask for a new assessment if their child was assessed before and didn't get a plan?
- Yes. A new request made within 6 months of a previous assessment must still be considered by the local authority, even if the earlier assessment did not lead to a plan being issued.
- Does a parent need to use a particular form to request an assessment?
- No. There is no required form, format or method for requesting an assessment, and a local authority cannot insist that a parent uses its own form. It still helps to put the request in writing and keep a copy for your own records.
- What should be included in the request for an assessment?
- A written request is stronger if it sets out what the school already provides for the child, along with any reports or letters from professionals already involved. It also helps to keep a note of the key statutory deadlines in the process, so you know when each decision is due.
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