What is an education, health, and care (EHC) plan?
An EHC plan is a legal document that describes your special educational needs, health and social care needs, and provisions (extra or different types of help) that you will need to meet your needs.
When is an EHC plan issued?
An EHC plan is issued following an EHC needs assessment and can only be issued if you are between 0 and 25 years old. An EHC needs assessment is carried out by the council known as the local authority (LA).
Find out more about EHC needs assessment
What information must be in an EHC plan?
An EHC plan has to have 12 Sections (parts) that are clearly labelled.
These sections are:
- Section A: Yours and your parents views, your interests, and aspirations
- Section B: A description of your special educational needs (SEN)
- Section C: A description of your health (medical) needs related to your SEN
- Section D: A description of your social care needs (any difficulties you have outside of school) related to your SEN
- Section E: Outcomes - how the extra help will benefit you These must be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time limited)
- Section F: The special educational provision (extra or different type of help) you will receive at school to meet your needs in section B
- Section G: Health provision you will receive to meet your needs in section C
- Section H: Social care provision you will receive to meet your needs in section D
- Section I: The name of the education setting you will attend (usually your current school or it could be another one)
- Section J: Personal budget arrangements (this is when the local authority agree to release some of the money that comes with your EHC plan to your parent/carer, to find a different way to deliver the support in your EHC plan)
- Section K: Advice and information (reports) that were collected during the EHC needs assessment process. The information from these, is added into the relevant sections in your EHC plan
What happens when your parent/carer receive a draft EHC plan?
Your parent/carer will be asked to give their thoughts on the draft EHC plan, to make sure they agree with what’s written in each section.
Your parent/carer will also receive a letter with the draft EHC plan informing them that they have 15 calendar days to:
- Provide their thoughts about what is written in each section of the EHC plan (including requesting any changes)
- Request a meeting with the local authority (your EHC co-ordinator) to discuss the draft EHC plan
- Request the name of your current school or a new one is named in the final EHC plan
Your parent/carer with you, will be making sure that the EHC plan contains all the necessary information about your needs and the help you require to meet your aspirations (your goals), by checking the following:
- Is everything in the right section?
- Has anything been left out or is incorrect?
- Is everything written about you clear? For example, if someone who has never met, you read your EHC plan, would they know what your aspirations and needs are, including the help you require?
Your EHC co-ordinator will consider any amendments (changes) asked for by your parent/carer. They will make these changes if they agree with them. They will then send a copy of your draft EHC plan to the school/s your parent/carer have asked for.
Once the schools have received a copy of your EHC plan, they have 15 calendar days to say whether they can provide you with all the help outlined in your draft EHC plan or not.
For a template to give your views on Section A, please see below and contact us if you need support to complete it:
Finalising the EHC plan
When your parent/carer receives the final EHC plan, it should have the name of the school in section I.
This is an opportunity for you to have a look at the draft EHC plan with your parent/carer, to make sure you understand what is written about you, your needs, and the help you need alongside your strengths.
You can download out leaflet on EHC plans for more information:
What next?
The final EHC plan means that your current or new school, will give you the help written in the EHC plan. The local authority must review your EHC plan every year to check if the support you are given, is helping you. This is referred to as an annual review of your EHC plan. Find out more information about annual reviews of EHC plans.
How we can help
We can help by:
- Going through any questions you and your parent/carer have about the EHC plan
- Support you and your parent/carer to give your views on the EHC plan
- Advising your parent/carer of their options when they are not in agreement with what is written in the EHC plan, including their right of appeal
How to contact us
You can contact us by:
- Phone: Call or text our Children and Young People’s Officer on 07917 504 390
- Phone: Call our office Helpline Number on 020 8871 8065
- Email: wiass@wandsworth.gov.uk