What is an annual review (AR) of an EHC plan?
At least once a year (every 12 months), your Education, Health, and Care (EHC) plan must be reviewed to see if it is:
- Still required
- Needs updating (amending)
Find out more about what an EHC plan is and why you have one
For each annual review, there must be a discussion with you about getting ready for becoming an adult and independent living. An annual review happens in steps, to ensure your EHC plan is reviewed properly.
Steps of the annual review process
STEP 1: The council - known as the local authority (LA) sends a letter to your sixth form, college or training setting, letting them know that your EHC Plan needs to be reviewed
STEP 2: Your sixth form, college, or training setting (usually the SENCo or person in charge of SEN at your setting) must write to you, your parent/ carer (if you agree for them to be involved) and other professionals who have or may be working with you. Everyone will be asked to write a report, about how you have been getting on with the extra or different types of help, written in your EHC plan.
STEP 3: Your sixth form, college or training setting must then invite everyone in Step 2 plus someone from the local authority, usually the EHC co-ordinator who is in charge of your EHC Plan, to a meeting called the annual review meeting.
Did you know, you and professionals must be given at least two weeks’ notice to attend the annual review meeting and receive a copy of the reports written about you that were collected during Step 2.
It is important that this information is sent to everyone two weeks beforehand, so you all have time to read and comment on the following:
- How have you got on with meeting your outcomes in the EHC plan?
- Should the outcomes remain, or be changed?
- Are your needs correct? If not, what needs to be tweaked, changed, or taken out?
- Is the help you are getting correct? If not, what needs to be tweaked, changed, or taken out?
- What are your thoughts on what your sixth form, college or training setting and professionals have to say about you?
STEP 4: This is the actual annual review meeting.
This meeting will take place at your sixth form, college or training setting, it could be held elsewhere, for example, Wandsworth Town Hall or virtually.
What happens during the annual review meeting?
You, your parent/carer, SENCo, or person in charge of SEN at college and anyone else invited from Step 2, will look at the needs, provision and outcomes specified in your EHC Plan. They will decide whether these need to change and be amended based on the reports sent through for Step 2.
It is important that you give your views and they are at the centre of this meeting, for example:
- Your comments on the content of the EHC Plan
- What you feel has gone well over the last year
- What would you like to achieve in the following year, e.g. qualifications, your thoughts about what you want to do next and are there clubs or social activities you would be interested in outside of sixth form, college, or your training setting?
You can give your views in a number of ways:
- In person at the meeting
- Record a video that can be presented at the meeting
- Speak with your tutors/parent/carer or us – we can support you to write down your views, or
Use our template to share your views:
It doesn’t matter how your views are recorded, it is important that your voice and views are heard!
STEP 5: After the meeting, the sixth form, college, or training setting must write a report of what was discussed at the meeting, add all the reports gathered for Step 2 including your views. This must then be sent to your EHC Co-ordinator in the LA, within two weeks of the meeting. If you are educated at home or not attending sixth form, college, or training setting, the LA writes the report.
STEP 6: Within four weeks of the annual review meeting, you will get a letter from your EHC Co-ordinator, explaining the following:
- Your EHC plan will stay the same - no changes. You can challenge this - it’s called a Right of Appeal, or
- They are going to amend your EHC plan (make changes), your EHC Co-ordinator has to send you a copy of your EHC plan with the changes proposed (this copy is called a proposed amended EHC plan) with this letter,
- They are proposing to cease your EHC plan - this means the EHC plan is no longer needed. This can be challenged by you if you do not agree to this - under a Right of Appeal.
You have 15 calendar days to give your views on the changes. A change to the EHC plan can also include a change to the name of the sixth form, college, or training setting. The LA must send the final amended EHC plan to you no later than eight weeks from when they sent you the proposed amended EHC plan in Step 6.
When you receive this letter, this means the annual review has finished.
How we can help
We can:
- Go through any questions you have about the annual review steps
- Support you to give your views during each step including preparing and attending the annual review meeting
- Advise you about how to challenge (right of appeal) any of the LA's decision at the end of the annual review process
How to contact us
You can contact us by:
- Telephone: Call or text our Children and Young People’s Officer on 07917 504 390 or call our office helpline number on 020 8871 8065
- Email: wiass@wandsworth.gov.uk