Empowering People, Launching lives
Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) are used to support students with special educational needs. They are personalised to meet the needs of a person aged 0–25 years and every plan is unique to the individual.
Plans are provided by the Local Authority and delivered by an individual service such as school or college. Reviews take place annually and are managed by an EHCP Coordinator at Local Authority level and the school/college’s SENDCo (Special Educational Needs and Disability Coordinator).
In 2019, 14.9% of all students in education have a special educational need. 3.1% of all students have an EHCP¹.
An EHCP will run until the age of 25, unless:
Requesting an EHC assessment
A request can be made by a parent or carer, the individual themselves (if aged between 16–25) or anyone who thinks it is necessary, this could be friends, doctors or Teachers.
If an assessment is carried out, Local Authorities may request:
The Local Authority then has 16 weeks to state if they intend to issue a plan.
Creating an EHCP
The Local Authority will draft a plan based on the assessment which will be shared with the individual or parent/carer. There is an opportunity to respond to the draft or request a specialist school or college. For information about the professionals involved and how they help click here.
A Local Authority has 20 weeks from the date they received the assessment request to issue the final EHCP. If you are unhappy with the decision, Local Authorities can be challenged around four areas:
If disputes cannot be resolved directly, you can appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal. More information about tribunals can be found here.
Different sections of the EHCP
All EHCPs have the same format and sections. Click here for more detail on each section.
|A||The views, interests and aspirations of the child and their parents, or of the young person|
|B||The child or young person’s special educational needs (SEND)|
|C||The child or young person’s health needs which relate to their SEND|
|D||The child or young person’s social care needs which relate to their SEND|
|E||The outcomes sought for the child or the young person|
|F||The special educational provision required by the child or the young person|
|G||Any health care provision reasonably required by the learning difficulties or disabilities which result in the child or young person having SEND|
|H||Any social care provision reasonably required by the learning difficulties or disabilities which result in the child or young person having SEND|
|I||The name of the school or other institution to be attended by the child or young person, and the type of that institution (or just the type if no specific institution is named)|
|J||Details of any direct payment which will be made|
|K||The advice and information gathered during the EHC needs assessment|