EHCNA Frequently Asked Questions

It is always a good idea to talk to the school or early years setting before asking for an EHC needs assessment.

Education settings must identify, assess the child’s needs and then plan support based on this information in a continuous cycle (assess-plan-do-review). Where school have identified what a child needs, this should be put in place.  You can ask your child's school how it uses its SEN budget to support your child and whether it has enough to make all the provision they need.

If progress is not being made despite SEN Support or there are gaps in knowledge (it is not known what the needs are and an assessment is the only way to determine these) or the school need help from the local authority to provide what is needed an EHC needs assessment might be the next step.  You can ask the school if they have exhausted their resources and if there is anything further they can try to help. 

Are there any local authority professionals involved?

The school may be able to reach out to local authority professionals, such as an Inclusion Partner or Engagement Facilitator for specialist advice on meeting needs.   This is a school service only and parents will not be able to contact them directly but if you feel a local authority professional is needed, speak to your school for their involvement. 

These local authority professionals can give expert advice and training on meeting complex needs.  You can find out more about Local Authority Services and Professionals

Do you need a Team Around the Family meeting?

If you have other professionals involved, you can ask for a Team Around the Family to be arranged to discuss alternative options and next steps.  

Examples could be:-

• Referrals to outreach services or agencies 
• Alternative provision
• Inhouse counselling/mentoring
• Referrals to health services, eg CAMHS
• Reduced timetable

Are school in agreement with you that an EHC Needs Assessment is the next step?

Talk to your child’s teacher and Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO). Say why you think your child needs an EHC Needs Assessment. For example, your child:

• needs more support than school can give through SEN support
• is not making expected progress
• is not able to take part in the social parts of play and school
• needs to go to a different school that can meet their needs

If your teacher and SENCO do not think that your child needs an EHC assessment, you can make a parental request for an EHC Needs Assessment.  In this circumstance the local authority will be likely to include information from school as evidence for their case to refuse to carry out the assessment, so it is important to understand the arguments you will be up against.

Talk to school about why they do not feel an EHC needs assessment is required, and what their view is for next steps. Where they disagree about the rate of progress, use the opportunity to unpick this further.  Remember when we talk about progress this should not be limited to academic attainment, there may be wider needs which are having an impact to your child’s learning.

Consider all your child’s needs, what support they have had, for how long, and what impact (if any) the support has had ie. have the desired outcomes from targeted support been achieved?

Where the setting are suggesting trying a different strategy/service (and particularly where this was recommended by the local authority), consider how or whether this will have the desired impact for your child. For example, the strategy may have been tried previously or will only support one area of need whereas a full assessment will give you an overall picture.

Does your child meet the legal test for an EHC Needs Assessment?

If a local authority (“LA”) is requested to carry out an EHC needs assessment by a parent, young person, school or college, they must consider:

• whether the child or young person has or may have special educational needs (“SEN”); and
• whether it may be necessary for special educational provision to be made for the child or young person in accordance with an EHC plan.

If the answer to both of these questions is yes, they must carry out an EHC needs assessment.

This test is set out in the law (section 36(8) of the Children and Families Act 2014). This means these are the only questions the LA should be asking when considering whether or not to carry out an EHC needs assessment.

The SEND Code of Practice 2015, which is statutory guidance issued by the government, contains further detail on what LAs should consider.

 

At paragraph 9.14 the Code states that “the local authority should consider whether there is evidence that despite the early years provider, school or post-16 institution having taken relevant and purposeful action to identify, assess and meet the special educational needs of the child or young person, the child or young person has not made expected progress”.

It is important to note the SEND Code of Practice is guidance, not law and the evidence listed at paragraph 9.14 are not part of the legal test in section 36(8) CFA 2014. This means that the LA should pay attention to this evidence, but if you are unable to provide this information for whatever reason and your child meets the legal test, the local authority should consider carrying out the assessment. 

Ipsea provide more information on what happens if the local authority request you to provide more evidence Asking for an EHC needs assessment | (IPSEA) Independent Provider of Special Education Advice

A child or young person’s school or setting can make a request, as can a parent. Under the new law, a young person (16-25) can also make a request themselves.

In making its decision about whether a child or young person needs an EHC Needs assessment the local authority has to look at what support has already been provided and whether there has been any progress. If a school or setting makes the request, they will able to provide evidence of support, attainment and rate of progress.

You will see below that there is no difference if school or parent/young person makes the request - the same information will be required from both parent and school and the legal timeframes are set out in the SEND Regulation and SEND Code of Practice. 

School EHC Needs Assessment 

The local authority have developed an education setting form, which asks the school to provide information on the child's identified SEN needs, attendance records and Attainment/Ability Assessments/Milestones Met.  

Parents will be asked to provide their views and will be given a 'Parent Views sheet' to complete.  You will need to describe your child’s needs, the support they currently receive and the support you think that they may require. 

You will also be asked for information about your child/young person’s views and will be given a 'Child Views' sheet to be completed. Parents must sign the permissions form. 

Parental EHC Needs Assessment 

You will be asked to provide a

• A summary of your/your child’s special educational needs
• The educational outcomes you believe are not being met
• The support you believe is required

and

Indicate if you are/ your child is receiving any support from services such as:

•  Local authority Services (eg. Inclusion Partner or Engagement Facilitator)
• Health Professionals
• Social Care
• Outside services/agencies

You must complete the permissions form and attach it with your request, alongside supporting evidence.  You can find the forms on on the below link.  By signing the permissions form this enables the local authority to contact the education setting and any involved professional or service for additional information.  The education setting will be asked to provide the education information (as explained above)

 How to make a request for an EHC Needs Assessment

There is a legal timeframe for the local authority to decide whether to carry out an assessment (6 weeks) and if the local authority agree to carry out the assessment, it is 20 weeks which includes the initial 6 weeks.  The local authority will write to parent and school and outline their decision.   If the local authority refuse to carry out the assessment, the parent must follow the process to appeal.  The school can give parent guidance on what to do, but ultimately it is the parents responsibility to appeal the decision. 

A diagnosis is not required to secure an EHC plan. It is about the identified needs and whether these can only be met with an EHC plan. Some children and young people with an EHC plan will have a diagnosis and some won’t.

Health colleagues are required to provide advice during an EHC needs assessment within six weeks of a request. As the timescale is set in law, you may find that the advice provided (about health needs and provision) may not include a confirmed diagnosis – as this can sometimes take longer to determine. There will be further opportunities to update the EHC plan with new information.

The legal threshold around agreeing to carry out an EHC needs assessment (the first step) is relatively low. Section 36 (8) of The Children and Families Act 2014 says that a local authority must consider;

whether the child or young person has or may have special educations needs and whether it may be necessary for special educational provision to be made for the child or young person in accordance with an EHC plan.

Take a look at our information on When a local authority should carry out an Education, Health & Care Needs Assessment for further information.

Permissions form

It is very helpful if a permissions form is sent in with all requests for an EHC needs assessment.  The Permissions form must have a handwritten signature for it to be accepted by the local authority.   You can find the permissions form on How to make a request for an Education Health & Care Needs Assessment

If you request an EHC needs assessment for your child then you will need to give consent to share information about your child with relevant people in health, education and social care. This will be discussed with you further if you contact the local authority to request an EHC needs assessment.

The permissions form supports SEND Operations Service to make the EHC needs assessment process run more smoothly.  Any personal information collected by the local authority will only be used for the purposes of co-ordinating the assessment process and planning and providing support.

All information will be held securely and retained only for as long as is necessary. You can find out more about how the Essex Local Authority look after your information on the Essex County Council website.

Supporting Evidence

Requests for EHC needs assessments should be made to the local authority (LA) you live in, even if your child goes to school in a different LA. If your home LA decides it will issue your child with an EHC plan, the home LA (not the school LA) will be responsible for securing provision in it.

Every local authority have a statutory SEND Service.  In Essex, this team is called the SEND Operations Service.   The SEND Operations Team have four area offices and any requests should be sent by email.  You can find the contact details on on the below link:-

Education Health & Care Needs Assessment

Within 3 days: the local authority (LA) acknowledge the request and ask parents to complete a permissions form (if not already provided).  If you do not receive an acknowledgement you should get in contact with the SEND Operations Service to check the request has been received.

The LA has 6 weeks from the date they receive your request to decide whether to carry out an assessment or not. They will need to gather information in order to make this decision.

The LA will acknowledge receipt of your request and ask you to send in your views and any further information you have to support your request. There is nothing to stop you sending in additional information with your request so if you have any evidence you feel would support your request, i.e. the level of support they already have, any reports from school, professionals, such as therapists or psychologists, please attach copies with your request.  You may have letters about suspensions or exclusions or Team around the Family (TAF) minutes, these too might be helpful to include.

After 6 weeks 

The local authority will write to you with their decision to either:-

agree to carry out the assessment or refuse to carry out the assessment

There may be delays with the Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment process. In the meantime, here are some ways the school can help support your child.

• Keep gathering evidence: Continue to record how your child is being supported at school, what difference the support is making, and any signs that gaps in learning, attendance or wellbeing are increasing.
• Review and improve support regularly: The school should keep using and reviewing the graduated approach (Assess, Plan, Do, Review), even while an EHC needs assessment is ongoing or being considered.
• Clear records -  Keep a written record of any suspensions, reduced timetable arrangements, sanctions, and behaviour management plans. These should be regularly reviewed to ensure the support in place is appropriate and meeting your child’s needs. The school should also be able to provide evidence of the different strategies and interventions they have tried, and show that they have fully explored and exhausted the support available to them.
• One Planning should be in place - if One Planning is not already in place, this should be set up without delay to clearly show your child’s needs, support and targets.
• Show evidence of additional costs: The school should be able to demonstrate that it has spent more than the notional SEN support funding  to support your child.
• Counselling and mentoring: Some schools offer access to a regular counsellor or mentor for children and young people. This support should be considered where appropriate.
• Following good practice guidance: Schools should use good practice guidance and resources, such as Let’s Talk, We Miss You resources, especially where attendance or emotional wellbeing is a concern. Schools should also use training opportunities to learn new approaches and effective ways of working.  Read about Lets Talk Resources on Emotionally Based School Avoidance
• Capturing Parent/carer and child views - You should be fully involved in all discussions about your child’s special educational needs. The SEND Code of Practice is clear that parents/carers and children must be listened to and involved in decision‑making.  Your child’s views are especially important, as they help the school understand what they find difficult and what support may help them. The school can support your child to share their views, or you can use our child views sheets - Printable Resources
• Involvement of local authority professionals: It is important that the school makes use of advice and support from local authority professionals and considers any reasonable adjustments that could help your child at this time

• Early Help drop in - These sessions are supported by a panel of subject experts from across the children system (including Inclusion Partners and Engagement Facilitators and Attendance Specialist Teams).  They are designed to give schools a chance to discuss anonymised cases and be signposted to advice and help to answer questions;
• Inclusion Partners can offer the school expert advice on strategies, interventions, outreach support or training that can be implemented whilst a child is waiting to be assessed;
• Engagement Facilitators can also offer advice with effective One Planning and attendance difficulties;
• Attendance Specialists Teams - Schools consult with the Attendance Specialist Teams on individual cases to find positive solutions to attendance concern cases.

Local Authority Services and how they can help. 

In some circumstances, the school may suggest:

• Reduced timetable  - A reduced timetable should only be used in exceptional circumstances and for a short period of time. It should only be considered once all other options to support your child to attend full‑time education have been tried. A reduced timetable should not be used to manage behaviour.
• Managed move - If a child is experiencing ongoing difficulties at school, particularly with behaviour or social, emotional and mental health needs, a headteacher may suggest a managed move. This is a planned process that can lead to a permanent transfer to another mainstream school, with support and clear arrangements agreed in advance.
• Offsite Direction - A governing body of a maintained school can direct a pupil to attend another education setting off‑site to help improve behaviour. This arrangement is time‑limited and can be made without parental consent.
• Outreach - Schools should consider targeted in‑school support (outreach) or involve external agencies for early intervention and preventative support. This may include help with behaviour management or social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs.
• Alternative Provision (Section 19 duty) - A referral can be made to Alternative Provision under Section 19 duty of the Education Act. This applies to pupils who have been permanently excluded, or those who cannot access suitable education because of illness or other reasons, and would otherwise be without full‑time education.
•  Team Around the Family (TAF) meeting - A Team Around the Family meeting can be arranged to bring together all professionals involved, to discuss concerns, share information, and explore alternative options and coordinated support.
• Health & Social Care Referrals  - Referrals to health or social care services may be appropriate, such as Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), Children’s Social Care, or Family Solutions, depending on your child’s needs. 

Yes, all parents of children may make a request for an EHC Needs Assessment,  including those who choose to electively home educate.  

The SEND Code of Practice says:

10.30 Local authorities should fund the SEN needs of home-educated children where it is appropriate to do so

There is a legal test and it is outlined in Section 36 (8) of the Children and Families Act 2014 (C&FA 2014).  It states that the local authority must secure an EHC needs assessment for the child or young person if the child or young person has or may have SEN, and, it may be necessary for special educational provision to be made for the child or young person in accordance with an EHC plan.  

You can make it clear in your application that you are only home educating until a suitable school has been identified and available. 

It is important to note that if a child has an Education Health and Care plan (EHCP) and you choose to electively home educate, the local authority no longer has a legal duty to secure any special educational provision set out in the EHC plan, because you are deemed to be making your own suitable alternative arrangements.

If, however, the local authority (LA) deems school or college to be inappropriate for your child or young person, the LA can arrange for your child’s special educational provision to be delivered somewhere other than in a school, college or early years setting.  The LA would then be responsible for continuing to secure and fund that provision.   This is known as ‘education otherwise than in school' and often abbreviated to ‘EOTAS’ (section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014 allows LAs to do this).

To find out more about EOTIS (Education Other than in School/College) Education Otherwise

The SEND Code of Practice says:-

9.49  Psychological advice and information from an educational psychologist who should normally be employed or commissioned by the local authority. The educational psychologist should consult any other psychologists known to be involved with the child or young person

This means that the Educational Psychologist should normally be commissioned by the local authority.  There is no guarantee that if you pay for a private EP assessment you will be in a position to avoid long waiting lists for the assessment to be completed, as the local authority may continue to commission their own EP.  It is worth checking with the SEND Operations Service their view on private EP assessments before you take this step.   

An Educational Psychologist must have the relevant qualifications which has been accredited or is recognised, by the British Psychological Society (BPS) and be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). 

 EP virtual assessments are online assessments conducted by Educational Psychologists (EPs) for children and young people. 

It may be easier for some children/young people and their parents/carers to take part in an assessment online, however, some children/young people may not be able to engage with a video or parents or may feel that a face to face assessment is necessary to give a clear and complete picture of their child’s needs.  If an online assessment is offered to you, it is important to fully understand what the assessment will cover and what approaches will be used to identify needs.   

You may feel that a virtual assessment could be a solution to the lengthy delays, but you should also consider whether a virtual assessment will be sufficient for your child’s individual circumstances.

All EP assessments, either face to face or on line, must comply with Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) professional standards and take account of British Psychological Society (BPS)  guidance 

Yes, you can submit a previous report for an EHC Needs Assessment if is relatively up to date and accurately reflects the child or young person's current needs.  As a rough guide, an educational psychologist’s report which is over two years old will not usually be recent enough to be useful.  

If a parent or young person already has their own advice and reports, these can be submitted as part of their own advice (which the LA must ask for under SEN Reg 6(1)(a)) to ensure that they form part of the assessment process. This evidence must then be considered when the LA makes its decision.

The local authority must ask for advice and information from:

• parents or carers (or the young person)
• your child or young person’s education setting
• an Educational psychologist, who will usually arrange to see your child or young person in their setting.
• health professionals involved with your child or young person. For example, this might include a Paediatrician, Speech and language therapist, Physiotherapist or Occupational therapist
• Social care staff
• anyone else relevant who you ask the local authority to contact, provided they consider reasonable (for example their GP, or a service provider you feel might have some relevant information)

Ipsea (Independent Provider of Special Education Advice) say 'the LA does not have to seek new advice where that type of advice has previously been provided for any purpose – for example, if there already was a recent educational psychologist’s report.  This exception will only apply if the person providing that advice, the LA and the child’s parent or the young person are all satisfied that the existing advice is sufficient'.   

Important notice: Essex local authority are making changes to the Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment process to address the long waiting times for the completion of EHC Needs Assessment.  The local authority have acknowledged the delays as unacceptable and aim to improve these delays and meet the statutory timeframe.  To find out more about these changes and read the letter from Director of Education, Clare Kershaw announcing these changes on the Essex Local Offer

You can write to the local authority if the assessment has not been carried out correctly or within the legal time limit. 

Ipsea (Independent Provider of Special Education Advice)  have created the below template letters for parents to write to the local authority.  You can download the letters and make changes as necessary.

 Complaining if the local authority does not respond within 6 week timeframe

Complaining when the local authority does not seek the correct advice during an EHC needs assessment

Complaining when a local authority does not send a draft or final EHCP

 Ipsea say :- Anyone who is asked for information and advice should respond within 6 weeks (SEN Reg 8(1) and paragraph 9.52 of the SEN and Disability Code of Practice).

 The exceptions to this are if exceptional circumstances affect the child, the child’s parent or the young person during that 6 week period; the child, the child’s parent or the young person are absent from the area of the authority for a continuous period of not less than 4 weeks during that 6 week period; or the child or young person fails to keep an appointment for an examination or a test made during that 6 week period.

 This is a legal duty which must be complied with; it cannot be avoided because there is a long waiting list or because there are staffing shortages. If an LA is genuinely unable to obtain one of the necessary pieces of advice during the time frame, they would be expected to obtain an independent report in its place'

If you’re in the process of an EHC needs assessment, your old authority must transfer all the information and advice received to the new local authority (Essex SEND Operations Team) for their consideration.

SEND Code of Practice states

9.162 Some children and young people will move between local authority areas while they are being assessed for a plan. The new authority in such cases should decide whether it needs to carry out an EHC needs assessment themselves and it must decide whether to undertake an EHC needs assessment if it receives a request from the child’s parent or the young person. The new authority should take account of the fact that the old authority decided to carry out an EHC needs assessment when making its decision. If it decides to do so then it should use the information already gathered as part of its own EHC needs assessment. Depending on how far the assessment had progressed, this information should help the new authority complete the assessment more quickly than it would otherwise have done.

If your child is being assessed for an Education, Health & Care Needs Assessment, you should still apply for a local mainstream school place through the normal admissions process.  This is because there is no guarantee that an EHC plan will be given, it will depend on the findings of the assessment.  Therefore you must follow the admissions process, in the event the local authority decision is not to issue an EHC plan.  If the local authority decide to make an EHC plan, there is no need to worry as the SEND Operations Team will contact Admissions to take over the placement process, and they will contact you to ask your parental preference:-

“The child’s parent or the young person has the right to request a particular school, college or other institution of the following type to be named in their EHC plan:

• maintained nursery school
• maintained school and any form of academy or free school (mainstream or special)
• non-maintained special school
• further education or sixth form college
• independent school or independent specialist colleges (where they have been approved* for this purpose by the Secretary of State and published in a list available to all parents and young people)” (9.78 SEND Code of Practice)

Read our information on Applying for a school place (local mainstream)

• If the local authority made the decision not to carry out the assessment - you will be given your right to appeal this decision to the first tier tribunal service.  You can reapply for an assessment at any time. 
• If the full assessment was carried out and the local authority decided not to issue an EHC plan - you will be given your right to appeal to the First Tier Tribunal - this is called a 'Refusal to Issue'.

The local authority might decide that your child does not need an EHCP. They usually decline EHCPs when they think SEN support in school is enough to meet your child’s needs.  

You can speak to the SEN Co-ordinator and discuss the assessment report and any recommendations for your child's SEN support and check whether they can or cannot provide what has been identified.

You can also ask the school if they agree with the local authority decision and if you they think you can appeal the decision (you can appeal local authority decision without schools support).

If you decide to reapply for an EHC Needs Assessment, you must wait at least 6 months so that the recommended SEN Support can be implemented and for the provision to be monitored and reviewed.