What is an EHCP?
EHCP stands for an education, health and care plan. Children are awarded EHCPs by the local authority if the provision required by a child with SEN can no longer be provided through the school’s budget alone. An assessment for an EHCP can be requested by schools or by parents/carers. However, parental consent must be given if the school wants to request this assessment.
The EHCP process
The process should, by law, take no longer than 20 weeks from start to finish.
Stage 1- The referral
The child’s school or parents request what is called and EHCP needs assessment (EHCPNA) from the local authority. Within the child’s school, the special educational needs coordinator (SENDCo) will collate evidence from assess, plan, do, review cycles alongside other professional reports if necessary. The SENDCo completes a form which details all relevant information from professionals, along with information about the child such as:
- The child’s strengths and their needs in relation to the four broad areas of need.
- The child’s views such as what is going well for them in school and what else they need to support them or what is not working well for them currently.
- The views of the parents.
- Provision required to meet their needs and the impact of any interventions conducted so far.
- Attainment and attendance information.
- Possible long-term outcomes for the child.
Stage 2 – Consideration of assessment
Once the information from all professionals involved in a child’s education, health and care have submitted their reports and/or advice, the local authority (either a multi-agency team or a designated LA professional) decide whether, based on the evidence provided, a child requires assessment for an EHCP. The local authority then writes to the parents/carers to inform them of the decision. If the decision is made not to assess, the local authority will write to parents/carers informing them of the decision and their right to appeal.
Stage 3 – The coordinated assessment
If the local authority decides than an assessment is necessary, an EHC plan coordinator gathers information from the evidence submitted by professionals and engages in discussions with the family. A summary assessment is then produced and sent to a multi-agency panel or designated LA professional to decide if the child requires an EHCP. If the decision is made not to grant an EHCP, the local authority will write to parents/carers informing them of the decision and their right to appeal.
Stage 4 – Planning
If a decision has been taken to grant a child an EHCP, the EHC plan coordinator then drafts the EHCP. As per the Children and Families Act (2014), parents have the right to request mainstream or specialist provision for their child and therefore name which setting they would like their child to attend at this point. Once drafted, this is sent out to parents/carers, professionals and educational institutions. Parents have 15 days to read through the draft and request any amendments to the plan.
The education institution named on the draft EHCP also receives a copy of the plan and notification of their setting being the educational setting in which the child will receive their provision. This is where the LA engages in consultation with this setting. At this point, education settings have 15 days to respond to the consultation (i.e., accepting they can meet the provision outlined in the plan or challenging the decision for the child to be placed with them as they cannot meet the provision).
Education settings can only object to being named on an EHCP if:
- The setting would be unsuitable for the age, ability, aptitude or SEN of the child or younger person or
- The attendance of the child or young person at this setting would be incompatible with the efficient education of others, or the efficient use of resources
Stage 5 – Sign off
The final version of the EHCP is then signed off by a designated local authority representative and issued to the child, parents and named education setting.