Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment and Plan Timeline

Any practitioner working with a child, young person, parent or carer can request an EHC Needs Assessment.

If a child or young person is attending an educational setting (nursery, school, college) we recommend that you speak to the headteacher or principal of this setting and or the teacher with responsibility for children/young people with special educational needs. The educational setting can make a request on behalf of the parent, carer or young person.

If you wish to make a request for an EHC Needs Assessment, please contact:

The Bi-borough SEN Service
Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea
Kensington Town Hall
Hornton Street
London
W8 7NX

Telephone: 020 7361 3311

Email: [email protected]

A parent/carer or school makes a request for an EHC Needs Assessment to the LA. You could use this form. Alternatively, you could write a letter saying why you think your child has special educational needs and why his/her needs cannot be met at school without additional support. You should supply any information/reports you have. 

The Bi-Borough SEN Service receives and processes your application. You need to give your written consent to share information with the other bodies who will be involved in the EHCP process.

Within 6 weeks of making the EHCP request, you will receive a letter from the Bi-Borough SEN Service with a decision about the request for an EHC Needs Assessment. If they feel that this is not necessary, the letter will explain why not.

If the decision is not to access, you can accept the decision, or you can appeal the decision to SENDIST. You can also request a meeting with an LA officer to discuss the decision.

Note: You have 2 months to appeal to SENDIST from the date of the decision letter from the LA. You will need a mediation certificate before you can lodge an appeal and it is important that you do not miss the appeal deadline.

If the EHC needs assessment is submitted and accepted, the local authority will seek information from:

• The child’s parent/s
• The child or young person – their views, wishes and feelings
• The person who has submitted the request if not the parent i.e., the school
• People in your child or young person’s current educational environment, usually the class teacher, SENCo or Headteacher.
• An educational psychologist
• Any other professional involved with the child or young person that the LA thinks is appropriate
• Any person the child’s parent or the young person reasonable requests

Contacting each of these relevant parties and receiving their advice and information can take up to 6 weeks.

There is a legal requirement for those who are contacted for information related to the EHC needs assessment to respond within 6 weeks. 

As the information from the above is received, the LA should decide whether or not to issue an EHC Plan and reach this decision by week 12.

By week 12 the Local Authority should decide if it will be able to start drafting the EHCP. This draft will be sent to the parents and all those who contributed advice and information to the EHC Needs Assessment.

If by week 12, the LA has decided to issue an EHC Plan then it must issue the draft version by week 14, sending a copy to parents and all those who contributed to the EHC Needs Assessment. The draft EHCP should be sent along with all of the information and advice received during the EHC Needs Assessment process.

Once the draft EHCP has been issued, the parents have 15 days in which to respond to the draft with their comments and changes, to name the type of school (mainstream or special) and/or the specific school they want named in the EHCP and to request a meeting with the LA if they would like to discuss the EHCP.

Once the LA has received the parent’s decision about school placement then they must consult with the school specified by the parents and the school must respond with its decision within 15 days.

The LA can refuse to specify the school of parental preference in the EHCP, but this is a decision that must be based on the specific legal principles, which are:

• the admission of the child or young person to the preferred school might affect the education of children already enrolled
• the cost of preferred school is not a reasonable use of public funds

If by week 12 the LA decision was to not issue an EHCP then it must notify the parents of this decision and of their right of appeal; this must be done by week 16.

Between week 17 and week 20 the LA should issue the final EHCP. A copy should be sent to the parents and to the school named in the EHCP, where the child or young person will be attending.

The letter sent with the final EHCP should also set out details about the right of appeal if you are unhappy with the contents of the EHCP. It will provide other details such as information about mediation.

Your child's EHCP should be rewieved yearly. This is what is known as 'the Annual Review'.

For children under 5, the reviews are every six months. The annual review gives the parents, the child, the Local Authority, and the educational facility an opportunity to reflect on the last year and suggest changes.

If issues arise before an Annual Review, then an early or emergency review of the EHCP can be requested; a request to be made to the LA. At any annual review, changes could be recommended to the LA; these could include the recommendation to move the child or young person to an alternative educational setting if they’re not making progress or if the facility is deemed unsuitable for their special educational needs; changes to the description of needs or the provision that the child or young person requires; further assessment or advice from professionals. In rare circumstances, there could be a request to cease the EHCP.

Any changes accepted by the LA following an Annual Review of the EHCP must result in an amended EHCP.