Does your child need an EHC Plan?

Who may need an EHC plan?

It is expected that the majority of children and young people with special educational needs will be able to have those needs met in an educational setting by the SEN support framework. To find out more about the SEN support framework, please click here. There are, however, some children, that need more than SEN support can offer. These children may need an Education Health and Care plan (EHC plan) needs assessment. 

What does the Children and Families Act 2014 say?

The law says that the only legal test to be used in deciding whether or not a local authority should conduct an EHC needs assessment is that; the child may have SEN, and that they may require special educational provision. 

What does the statutory guidance say?

Within the SEND Code Of Practice 2015, section 9.14 provides guidance on what evidence Local Authorities should consider to help them make this decision. It looks at what settings do already and whether your child is making expected progress.  

Who should apply?

Different people can bring your child to the Local Authorities attention to make a request for an EHC needs assessment to be carried out. These people include you, a young person themselves, the educational setting, and professionals such as health and social care practitioners. 

The educational setting should apply for an EHC needs assessment if they feel that they have exhausted the SEN support framework for your child. Educational settings can get support from our service if they feel they need it, to help them apply, and to ensure they are getting the right support in place for your child. Bolton Local Authority have issued all educational settings with a SEND handbook, that tells them exactly what the Local Authority expects them to be doing for different children and their different needs at SEN support level, in relation to the statutory guidance.

There are some occasions where parents and educational settings will disagree about whether an EHC needs assessment is necessary. In these cases, it is always useful to have a meeting to discuss your concerns, and try to understand why the educational setting are reluctant to do it. This can help you to decide how to proceed.

Whatever the outcome of your conversation with the educational setting, you have the right to apply yourself. Bolton Local Authority have provided a form to help you to make the request, and the form is in our downloads section. In this form, you can explain to the Local Authority why you feel your child needs an assessment, and what educational outcomes you feel they're not meeting. 

A child doesn't have to have cognitive difficulties to be eligible for an EHC needs assessment, but they do need to have a  high level of need that has an impact on their education. The Local Authority will ask the educational setting for their information on your child, their needs, and the support they get.

What happens when the request has been submitted?

Once the Local Authority reviews all the information from you and the information from other professionals, they will decide whether to initiate an assessment. They will write to you and tell you what the outcome is. This must be within six weeks of you making your request.  

I am not happy with the outcome. Can I appeal the decision?

Every Local Authority decision is appealable in some form, including 'refusal to assess' decisions. Please read our routes of redress section for more information on this.

Points to know

Applying for a plan yourself is not a quicker way than if the educational setting applied for it. The statutory process is the same irrespective of who applied. 

Getting an EHC needs assessment doesn't guarantee an EHC plan will be issued.