What is an Education Health and Care Plan?

An Education, Health and Care plan (EHC plan) is a legal document, written by the Local Authority that describes a child or young person’s special educational needs, the support they need, and the outcomes they would like to achieve.

The SEND Code of Practice 2015 says;

The purpose of an EHC plan is to make special educational provision to meet the special educational needs of the child or young person, to ensure the best possible outcomes for them across education, health and social care and as they get older, prepare them for adulthood.

EHCP’s are for children and young people who have special educational needs or a disability that cannot be met by the support that is usually available at their school or college.

A parent, young person (aged 16 – 25 years), early years setting, school or post 16 provider can ask the local authority to carry out an EHC needs assessment. When an assessment has been carried out, the local authority must decide whether to issue an EHC plan.

When should a local authority carry out an EHC Needs Assessment?

If a local authority is requested to carry out an EHC needs assessment, it must consider the 2 points below;

• whether the child or young person has or may have special educational needs (SEN), and
• whether the child of young person may need special educational provision to be made through an EHC plan.

If the answer to both of these points is yes, then an EHC needs assessment must be carried out.

The SEND Code of Practice says:

In considering whether an EHC needs assessment is necessary, the local authority should consider whether there is evidence that despite the early years provider, school or post 16 institution having taken relevant and purposeful action to identify, assess and meet the special educational needs of the child or young person, the child or young person has not made expected progress.

You can find out more about EHC needs assessment on our EHC needs assessment information page.

What does an EHC plan include?

The SEND code of practice says that EHCP’s should be based on decisions made openly, and with parents, children and young people and that they should be clear, concise, understandable and accessible.

EHC plans must include the following sections, which must be separately labelled from each other using the letters below.

A: The views, interests and aspirations of the parent or carer and child or young person
B: Special educational needs (see F for related provision)
C: Health needs related to SEN (see G for related provision)
D: Social care needs related to SEN (see H for related provision)
E: Outcomes sought for the child or young person
F: Special educational provision (support) required
G: Health provision
H: Social care provision
I: Placement –  the name and type of school, maintained nursery school, post-16 institution or other institution to be attended or, where the name of a school or other institution is not specified in the EHC plan, the type of school or other institution to be attended. (This section is left blank in the draft plan).
J: Personal budget arrangements (if any)
K: Advice and information – a list of the reports and information gathered during the EHC needs assessment

From Year 9 onwards, the EHCP must also include the provision required by the child or young person to help them in preparing for adulthood and independent living.

The local authority has a responsibility to make sure that all of the special educational provision specified in Section F of the EHCP is delivered. Where health care provision is agreed in Section G, it is the responsibility of the of the commissioning health body to arrange it.

Can I request a particular school?

The law says that parents or a young person has a right to request that a particular school, college or other institution is named in the EHC plan, the types of schools are outlined in the Children and Families Act 2014, Section 38.

• a maintained school or nursery (mainstream or special)
• an Academy (mainstream or special)
• an institution in the Further Education sector
• a non-maintained special school
• a section 41 school

(If you are unsure if a school is one of the types listed above, you can check this here – Get Information about Schools – GOV.UK)

The Local Authority must agree to this request unless;

– it would be unsuitable for the age, ability, aptitude or special educational needs of the child or young person,

–  the attendance of the child or young person there would be incompatible with the provision of efficient education of others,

– the attendance of the child or young person would be incompatible with the efficient use of resources

You can find out more about your rights to request a particular school or college in the SEND Code of Practice sections 9.78-9.90, by visiting the IPSEA website or by contacting SENDIASS.

Independent schools are not one of the types of school that parents or a young person has a right to request in the list above, however, you can still ask for a place in an independent setting.

Will there be a review of the EHC plan?

The children and Families Act 2014 states that the local authority must review the EHC plan at least once every 12 months and this must be done in partnership with you and your child or young person, taking account of all views, wishes and feelings. The annual review process is important in ensuring that the child or young persons needs, the provision and outcomes in the plan are up to date.

The local authority must decide whether to keep the plan as it is, make changes or cease to maintain (end) it within four weeks of the review meeting.

For some young people an EHC plan will continue until they are 25.

To help prepare for an Annual Review, you can visit the IPSEA website and use the Annual Review Checklist.

Personal Budgets

All young people with an EHC Plan and all parents of children with an EHC plan can ask for a personal budget.

The SEND code of practice says:

A personal budget is an amount of money identified by the local authority to deliver provision set out in an EHC plan where the parent or young person is involved in securing that provision. (9.95)

Section 9.110 to 9.118 of the SEND code of practice tells you more about what can be included in a personal budget.

You can get more information about EHCPs by;

Reading about Education, Health and Care plans in the SEND Code of Practice Chapter 9

Visiting the IPSEA website for information and guides to help you through EHCP processes

Contact SENDIASS, we can talk to you about your individual circumstances and give information and advice during any stage of the EHC process including mediation and appeals to the SEND tribunal.