Applying for an EHCP

A good point to start would be to discuss your concerns with the Class Teacher.

They will be able to explain what support is being put in place to meet your child's needs.

The teacher or the parent can arrange to meet the Inclusion Manager/Senco if it is felt additional support is required. If it is decided that the SEND support that is required will not be sufficient to meet a pupil's special educational needs or disability a request for an ehcp needs assessment will be considered.

General Information

An education, health and care (EHC) plan is for children and young people aged up to 25 who need more support than is available through special educational needs support.

EHC plans identify educational, health and social needs and set out the additional support to meet those needs.

Requesting an EHC assessment

You can ask your local authority to carry out an assessment if you think your child needs an EHC plan.

A request can also be made by anyone else who thinks an assessment may be necessary, including doctors, health visitors, teachers, parents and family friends.

If they decide to carry out an assessment you may be asked for:

• any reports from your child’s school, nursery or childminder
• doctors’ assessments of your child
• a letter from you about your child’s needs

The local authority will normally tell you within 16 weeks whether an EHC plan is going to be made for your child.

Creating an EHC plan

1. Your local authority will create a draft EHC plan and send you a copy.
2. You have 15 days to comment, including if you want to ask that your child goes to a specialist needs school or specialist college.
3. Your local authority normally has 20 weeks from the date they receive the request for the assessment to give you the final EHC plan.

Disagreeing with a decision

You can challenge your local authority about:

• their decision to not carry out an assessment
• their decision to not create an EHC plan
• the special educational support in the EHC plan
• the school named in the EHC plan

If you cannot resolve the problem with your local authority, you can appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Tribunal.