Education, health and care (EHC) plans and annual reviews

What is an Education, health and care plan (EHC) plan?

An education, health and care EHC plan is a legal document which describes a child or young person's (aged up to 25) special educational needs, the support they need, and the outcomes they would like to achieve.

An EHC plan:

• makes special educational provision to the meet the special educational needs of the child / young person

• secures the best possible outcomes for them across education, health and social care

• prepares them for adulthood

An EHC plan includes 12 sections of key information, including:

• A-The views, interests and aspirations of the young person.

• B-The child’s or young person’s Special Educational Needs.

• C-Health needs related to their SEN or to a disability.

• D-Social care needs related to their SEN or to a disability.

• E-Planned outcomes for the child or young person.

• F-Provision for the needs mentioned in Section B.

• G-Any health provision.

• H1-Any social care provision that must be made for a child or young person.

• H2-Any other social care provision related to a child’s SEN or to a disability.

• I-The name/type of school or setting.

• J-Details of any personal budget.

• K-Advice and information from the EHC plan assessment.

If a young person is in or beyond Year 9, the plan must set out the provision to support the young person in preparing for adulthood and independent living.

If, following an EHC needs assessment, the local authority decides an EHC plan is necessary, it must first write a draft plan. It will send you the draft EHC plan and copies of the reports so that you can read it all.

You should check that everything you think is important has been included and that you agree with the outcomes and the proposed provision. The local authority will also ask you which school you prefer your child to go to.

You have 15 days to make comments, to ask for a meeting to discuss the draft plan or accept the draft plan.

The last stage is for the local authority to send you the final EHC plan. If you are still unhappy with the plan or cannot agree with the local authority on a school, you have a right to go to mediation and/or to appeal.

This guide explains EHC plans

Timeline

• When the local authority receives a request for an EHC needs assessment – this is the start date.

• The local authority decides whether an EHC needs assessment is needed within 6 weeks of the start date.

• The EHC needs assessment starts as soon as the decision is made.

• If the local authority decides to issue a plan, they will send a draft EHC plan to parents or the young person. Parents can agree to the draft, ask for changes and/or ask for a meeting. Parents/young person have the right at this point to state a preference for an early years/school/post 16 setting. These must be done within 15 days of receiving the draft EHC plan.

• The local authority then consults with the early years/school/post 16 setting within 15 days of the response to the draft EHC plan.

• The local authority must issue the final EHC plan within 20 weeks of the start date.

Sometimes this timescale can be different.

For more information, see the SEND Code of Practice section 9.42 (external link).

Specificity

When writing EHC plans, a local authority must by law ‘specify’ the help children and young people must receive. This means describing it in enough detail so that parents and young people, among others, can clearly tell what must be delivered, how often, how long for and who by.

Find out about the legalities of specificity (PDF 194kb).

Mediation

You might not agree with the local authority about the EHC needs assessment or the EHC plan.

You can ask to talk to a member of the local authority’s SEND team at any stage. This will usually be the person named in the letter the local authority sends to you when it receives a request for an EHC needs assessment.

You have a right to request independent disagreement resolution and, in certain circumstances, you must consider mediation.

Find out more about disagreement resolution and mediation by looking at:

• the SEND Code of Practice section 9 (external link)

• the Mediation, appeals and complaints section of this website

You have a right to appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST) about certain decisions made by the local authority, and/or certain sections of the EHC plan.

Information, advice and support

• You can read more about Education, health and care (EHC) plans in Chapter 9 of the SEND Code of Practice (external link).

• The SEND guide for parents and carers (external link) provides further information on how the SEND system works.

If the local authority agrees to an EHC plan, they will issue a draft version. This is your chance to make sure the plan contains everything it should.

When you receive your draft plan

• Find out what an EHC plan should contain (external link)

• Use a checklist to see the plan complies with the law (external link)

• Read a step-by-step guide to EHC plans (external link)

Annual review

What is an Annual Review?

When a child or young person has an EHC plan there is an ongoing requirement for the local authority to review it at least annually. This is referred to as the Annual Review.

If a child is under 5 years old, local authorities should consider reviewing an EHC plan every 3 to 6 months (CoP 9.178). 

The Annual Review is more than just a review meeting, it is a process that must be completed on or before the anniversary of when the EHC plan was first issued or the anniversary of the last review.

The Annual Review must be undertaken in partnership with the child and their parent or the young person, and must take account of their views, wishes and feelings, including their right to request a Personal Budget.

How do you request an Annual Review?

A request for an Annual Review of an EHC plan can be made to the local authority at any time, as long as you have a good reason. This is particularly important if you believe that there is an urgent need for a change to the child or young person’s EHC plan.

The local authority must arrange a statutory review of the EHC plan at least once every year.  As part of the review, the local authority can ask schools to convene and hold the annual review meeting on its behalf. The evidence gathering for an Annual Review meeting may also be delegated to the school or college by the local authority as part of the process.

Four main parts of the review process

1. Gathering views and information – your child’s views, your views and those of the professionals involved

2. A review meeting where those views are shared and discussed

3. Writing a report and recommendations based on the information and views that have been shared

4. Deciding whether the plan should stay as it is, be changed or come to an end – and then changing the plan if needed.

View a timetable of the annual review process (external link).

In each case, even if the local authority decides not to make any changes, you can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (external link) to make changes to the plan. If the local authority decideds to amend the plan, you can appeal once you have been sent the final amendments.

If the child or young person is coming up to a phase transfer (external link) (for example, moving from primary school to secondary school), the local authority must carry out the review well in advance of the move.

This guide explains the annual review process

What the local authority and schools must do for an annual review

Read an overview of the key duties which apply to local authorities, schools and education providers (external link).