Education, health, and care (EHC) needs assessments

This page explains why an EHC needs assessment may be requested, how one is requested, what it involves and some of your rights and where you can get more information and help.

The information on this page is taken from the SEND Code of Practice 2015.

It would be helpful to read the following leaflets for further information:

What is an EHC needs assessment?

An EHC needs assessment is an assessment of your child’s (aged 0 to 16) or young person aged (16 to 25) education, health, and social care needs.

It is a legal process, with several steps which may result in an education, health, and care (EHC) plan being issued.

An EHC needs assessment requires several professional assessments to happen.

The EHC needs assessment steps and time scales must be followed by law.

The process starts (the “clock starts ticking”) from when the local authority receives the EHC needs assessment request.

Who can request (ask for) an EHC needs assessment?

An EHC needs assessment can be requested by:

  • You
  • Your child if they are a young person (aged 16 to 25) or
  • Their education setting (nursery, school, or college)

Useful information: For children aged 0 to 16, you or the education setting can make the request. If your child is a young person (aged 16 to 25) asks you too or does not have the mental capacity (for example, is not able to understand, remember or communicate decisions about the educational support they need) you can make the request on their behalf.

Find out more information about Mental Capacity.

When should a request for an EHC needs assessment be made?

You, your young person, or their education setting can make the request at any time.

Normally, requests are made if your child’s or young person’s education setting, and you, needs more money or help than the setting can provide.

It is always a good idea to talk to your child’s or young person’s education setting if you are thinking of putting in parental EHC needs assessment request.

Useful information: An EHC needs assessment, can only be requested if your child or young person has, or may have, SEN (not just health or social care needs).

For more information on the definition of SEN and SEN provision, please read our information sheet on getting extra of different types of help for children and young people in education settings (SEN Support).

How is an EHC needs assessment request made?

An EHC needs assessment request can be made by the education setting, the parent, or the young person.

Education Setting (or Professionals)

If your child’s or young person’s education setting makes a request, they will need to complete Wandsworth Council’s, EHC needs assessment request form. To see an example of the form and how the EHC needs assessment process is carried out in Wandsworth, please read Section 5, of the Wandsworth SEND Handbook.

Useful information: You and your child or young person must be involved and be at the centre the whole process, including yours and their views, wishes and feelings.

Parental/Young Person Request

If you or your young person (aged 16 to 25) would like to make the request, then you can use one of our EHC needs assessment request templates. Please follow the link below to download the relevant template:

We have written two templates one for you and the other for your young person.

Useful information: If you or your young person makes the request, the EHC needs assessment process (steps) will not be quicker than the education setting submitting it. However, if you would rather the request goes in sooner than the education settings timescale, then you have the option to put in the request yourself.

You can also put in a request if your child or young person’s education setting does not agree to make the request.

You can make an EHC needs assessment request any time unless a refusal to assess decision by the LA was upheld by a SENDIST tribunal judge, if this is the case, then you must wait for six months from the tribunals decision date before you can make a new request.

How long does the EHC needs assessment process take?

It takes twenty weeks from the day the local authority receives and logs the request - to the end of the process, where meaning, a final EHC plan has been issued.

Useful information: Please note, not all EHC needs assessment requests result in the EHC Need Assessment been agreed to.

Furthermore, if an EHC needs assessment request is agreed, there is no guarantee that at the end of the assessment an EHC plan will be issued.

The steps for an EHC needs assessment

An EHC needs assessment follows six steps:

Step 1- When an EHC needs assessment request is received

The local authority sends a letter to you or your young person, to confirm they have received the EHC needs assessment request and must provide the following information:

  • The local authority have six weeks from receiving the EHC needs assessment request, to decide whether to agree to start the assessment or not
  • Who they are going to write to for information on your child or young person
  • Where you can get information, advice and support from (this is provided by us)

Step 2 - What does the local authority need, to make a decision?

To help the local authority decide, whether to agree to an assessment or not, they must consider the two main points in law. This is set out in, Section 36(8) of the Children and Families Act 2014, whether:

  • Your child or young person has or may have special educational needs (“SEN”); and
  • They may need special educational provision to be made through an EHC plan

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

This means these are the only questions the local authority should be asking when considering whether to carry out an EHC needs assessment.

To help them make the decision, the local authority will consider all the information sent to them with the EHC needs assessment request and other information they have requested from professionals, you and/or your young person when they received the request, for example:

  • Your child’s or young person’s academic achievement and progress at their education setting, or if they are under five how they are meeting their development milestones. This should include their rate of progress too
  • Information about your child’s or young person’s type and level of SEN
  • Evidence of any support that their education setting has put in to meet their SEN
  • Evidence of any progress your child or young person has made with the extra or different type of help given to them by their education setting, which is over and above than what they would normally provide
  • Evidence of your child’s or young person’s physical, emotional, social development and health needs, by looking at relevant evidence from clinicians & other health professionals and what has been done to meet these by other agencies, and,
  • Where your young person is aged over 18, the LA must consider whether they require additional time, in comparison to the majority of others of the same age who do not have SEN, to complete their education or training

Step 3: The local authority makes their decision

The local authority will inform you in writing within six weeks of receiving the EHC needs assessment request from you, your young person or the education setting.

That either:

  • They agree to start an EHC needs assessment and list all the professionals/services they will asking for advice and information from, including your child’s, or young person’s and your views
  • They are not agreeing to the EHC needs assessment, their reasons why and that you have a right to appeal this decision to the Special Education Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST). You have two months to appeal from the date you receive the letter informing you of the decision. For more information about appealing, please read our information sheet on Right of Appeal to SENDIST

Step 4: Carrying out an EHC needs assessment

Where the local authority has agreed to carry out an EHC needs assessment, they must seek advice (usually, written as a report) from a range of people. The list below is set out in Regulation 6(1) of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014:

  • You or your young person
  • Educational advice (usually from the head teacher or principal of the education setting)
  • Medical advice and information from a health care professional
  • If your child has a hearing impairment and/or visually impaired the educational advice must come from a suitably qualified person to teach children with these impairments
  • Psychological advice and information from an educational psychologist
  • Advice and information in relation to social care
  • Advice and information from any other person the local authority thinks appropriate; if your child or young person is in or beyond year 9, advice and information in relation to provision to assist them with preparing for adulthood and independent living; and
  • Advice and information from any person that you or your child or young person, reasonably requests that the local authority seek advice from

The local authority is legally required to seek all this advice as a minimum and must be provided to the local authority within six weeks of being asked to do so. If the local authority is genuinely not able to obtain one piece of advice (which falls outside of exceptions), during this time frame, they would be expected to obtain an independent report in its place.

Useful information: The local authority does not have to seek further information from professionals if this has been provided recently, for example, information that was submitted when the EHC needs assessment request was made or usually within the last 12 months.

What should be in the report (advice and information)?

The local authority must ask professionals to provide the following advice and information as part of their report:

  • A description your child’s or young person’s SEN
  • The provision (support) they will need to meet their SEN
  • The outcomes your child or young person could be expected to achieve because of the provision (extra or different type of help) being provided.

Useful information: The advice and information must be clear, accessible, and specific. Social care or any of the other services required to provide information, cannot state, “not known to this service”. This should not be accepted by the local authority.

There are no legal timescales to complete the above assessment, although it should be completed approximately fourteen weeks from the date when the EHC needs assessment request was received.

Step 5: At the end of the EHC needs assessment

Once the assessment has been carried out, the local authority must decide whether:

  • To issue an EHC plan or
  • Not to issue an EHC plan

This decision must be based on the information and advice gathered during the EHC needs assessment. The legal test which the local authority must apply is found in Section 37 (1) of the Children and Families Act 2014, which says:

  • Where, in the light of an EHC needs assessment, it is necessary for special educational provision to be made for a child or young person in accordance with an EHC plan:
    • the local authority must ensure that an EHC plan is prepared for the child or young person, and
    • once an EHC plan has been prepared, it must maintain the plan

If the local authority decides that it is not necessary, to issue an EHC Plan then the local authority must write to you within sixteen weeks from when they received the EHC needs assessment request to tell you this. Also that you have a right to appeal to the SENDIST tribunal and the local authority must provide you with information about this. For more information about appealing, please read our Information sheet on Right of Appeal to SENDIST.

If the local authority decides to issue an EHC plan You will receive a draft EHC plan with a letter which must inform you, that you have fifteen calendar days to:

  • Make comments (representations) about what is written in the draft EHC plan (including requesting any amendments (changes) you want made
  • Request a meeting with the local authority to discuss the draft
  • Provide the name of the education setting you want named in the final EHC plan

This is an important opportunity for you to check whether the draft EHC plan contains everything it must and should do in each section.

Find out more information on education, health and care plans.

Once the local authority receives your comments they will consult with the education setting you have requested, provided, it’s on the government approved list of schools and institutions.

Useful information: A draft EHC plan must not include the name of a an education setting, or what type of placement your child or young person should attend, for example a mainstream or special school. The name and/or type of setting can only be added in the final EHC plan.

Step 6: Issuing the final EHC plan

The final EHC plan must be issued within a maximum of twenty weeks from the LA receiving the request for an EHC needs assessment.

A final EHC plan will name the education setting your child or young person will attend.

When a final EHC plan is issued, you or your young person, also have a right of appeal to the SENDIST tribunal if you are still not in agreement with the following:

  • Description of your child’s or young person’s special educational needs (Section B)
  • Special educational needs provision (section F); and/or
  • Name/type of education setting (section I) or the fact that no education setting is named

You can also appeal the sections of the EHC plan that deal with health and social care alongside appealing about the SEN and SEN provision.

Find out more information on education, health and care plans.

Leaflets and templates

You can download our leaflets and templates:

Where can I get more information, advice, or support on EHC needs assessment?

If you have questions about EHC needs assessment, you can: