Education, health and care plans (EHCPs) 

Requesting an EHC needs assessment

You can request an EHC needs assessment for a child or young person aged 0 and 25 if you are:

  • the child’s parent or carer
  • a young person aged over 16 but under 25
  • acting on behalf of a school or post-16 institution (this should ideally be with the knowledge and agreement of the parent or young person where possible).

Anyone can bring a child or young person who has (or may have) SEND to our attention, particularly if they think an EHC needs assessment is needed.

This could include:

  • foster carers
  • health and social care professionals
  • early years practitioners
  • youth offending teams or probation services
  • those responsible for education in custody
  • school or college staff.

How to request an EHC needs assessment

An EHC assessment should be requested after your child or young person’s educational setting has carried out interventions via the Graduated Approach.

You can contact the school SENCO to find out what provision is in place for your child or young person.

To request an EHC needs assessment:

Guidance for parents

Download guidance on how to make an EHC needs assessment.

Assessment timeline

How long the EHC assessment process takes

The whole process should be completed within 20 weeks as set out below. You can also download our EHC assessment timeline.

Week 0 to 6

In this time:

  • your request is received
  • information is gathered
  • a decision made to progress to EHC assessment or notification not to proceed is issued (feedback provided with right to appeal).

Week 7 to 12

During this time, professional and parental advice is requested and considered.

Week 13 to 16

In this time:

  • a decision is made to issue an EHCP or not (with right to appeal)
  • if an EHCP is to be issued, a co-production meeting takes place
  • a draft plan will be produced
  • if an EHCP is not to be issued, a Way Forward meeting takes place.

Week 17 to 20

In the final weeks there will be a consultation with education setting about placement and meeting needs, and a final plan is issued and support put in place.

What can prolong the process beyond 20 weeks

The process may be prolonged if:

  • the child or young person has missed appointments with a professional who the authority has requested advice from
  • the child or young person is absent from the area for a period of at least four weeks
  • exceptional personal circumstances affect the child, their parent or carer, or the young person
  • the educational institution is closed for at least four weeks, which may delay the submission of information.

Young people aged 19 to 25 with an EHCP

Young people who are aged between 19 and 25 years old may be entitled to an education, health and care plan (EHCP).

Find out if you would be entitled to a EHCP

Students aged 19 to 25 with EHCPs who are continuing in education may have the options of:

If you have an EHCP but do not continue in education, training or you get a job, your EHCP will stop.

More preparing for adulthood advice.

Role of the special educational needs (SEN) case worker

The SEN team and SEN case officers are a statutory assessment service in place to support parents, young people and education providers.

They do this by offering advice specifically on new EHC needs assessments whilst in the 20-week process for assessment, as well as on the finalised EHC plan.

They can also offer advice on the following:

  • annual reviews
  • amending an EHC plan to reflect a change in needs or provision
  • planning a change of placement if considered appropriate.

The SEN case officers cannot:

  • make decisions related to school-based issues
  • complete outreach visits to schools
  • be involved with a child or young person who does not have an EHC plan or is currently in the initial stage of being under assessment for one.

The SEN case officers are not:

  • key workers
  • social workers
  • members of a health service
  • a central contact point for all SEN support and education support in Medway.

There are however, other services available for these types of enquiries. These can be found on the SEND Information Hub.