
Support for Special Educational Needs and the Education, Health and Care Plan Process
What are Special Educational Needs?
“A pupil has SEN where their learning difficulty or disability calls for special educational provision, namely provision different from or additional to that normally available to pupils of the same age”
SEND Code of Practice (2015)
Accessing a School Place
The School Admissions Code of Practice requires children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) to be treated fairly. If your child does not have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), admissions authorities must not refuse to admit a child who has SEN because they do not feel able to cater for those needs. The Equality Act 2010 also prohibits schools from discriminating against disabled children and young people in respect of admissions for a reason related to their disability.
There is a different process for admitting children with an EHCP, which is outlined in the article below.
There are some specific circumstances where a child can access a special school place without an EHCP, but in the main an EHCP is needed to attend a special school.
Children with Special Educational Needs
If you are concerned that your child has special educational needs, you should raise your concerns with their educational setting or school in the first instance.
Your child’s setting or school should take your concerns on board and arrange to meet with you to discuss them.
Schools and settings have a legal duty to ensure the early identification of special educational needs; and where needs are identified they must provide support and intervention.
A Graduated Approach
Early years settings and schools should implement a graduated approach to meeting a child’s special educational needs. For most children, this involves the process of assess – plan – do – review; during this process support and interventions will be put in place to meet the child’s needs and the impact of this closely monitored and evaluated.
If a child’s needs are obvious and significant, the setting or school do not have to implement the assess-plan-do-review cycle and can request specialist help or request an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment at anytime if warranted.
Parents can also request an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment without the consent of the school or setting.

Assessing Need
The school or setting should be regularly monitoring each child’s progress / developmental levels and should take a broad range of information into account (including parent and child views) when considering if the child has special educational needs, and what those needs are. Alongside cognition and learning needs and abilities, they must also consider the child’s needs and abilities in relation to:
- communication and interaction
- social, emotional and mental health
- sensory and / or physical needs
If its is identified that your child has special educational needs in any or all of these areas, the setting or school should plan how they are going to support these needs.
Planning
The school or setting should liaise with you as parents when planning support and intervention for your child. Working in partnership with you is known as ‘co-production’; this ethos is reflected across SEN guidance and legislation.
Your child’s keyworker or teacher (with support from the SENCo) should use the information gathered during the assessment stage to set outcomes for your child. They should then plan specific interventions or support methods to help them to achieve those outcomes. You may agree to implement some interventions at home as a part of a holistic programme. Interventions may be undertaken by staff at the school or setting or may involve other professionals working with your child such as a speech and language therapist (with their agreement).
During this step, staff should also note when the plan will be reviewed and what progress toward the outcomes they would expect your child to make.
A copy of this plan may be helpful in the future if you need to apply for an EHCP, ask the school or setting for a copy.
‘Doing’
During this stage staff at the school or setting will implement the support strategies outlined in the planning stage.
Reviewing Progress
At the agreed time point, your child’s progress against the outcomes should be reviewed by the school or setting and they should share their findings with you. Staff may need to conduct assessments to measure progress or may use their day-to-day observations. They should involve you in this.
If your child has made the expected progress, it may be decided that the plan will continue, or new outcomes and interventions may be set or it maybe that the support is no longer required.
If your child has not made suitable progress or has only made progress as a result of support and intervention the school or setting should consider requesting an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment.
Again, it will be helpful for you to request a copy of any reports / updates.
If you as a parent do not feel that your child has made sufficient progress, you can request an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment without the consent of the school or setting.
What is an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)?
An Education, Health and Care Plan is a legal document which sets out the views of your child and you as parent, your child’s strengths and special educational needs, outcomes for your child and the special educational provision needed to reach those outcomes. It also specifies what school your child should attend. The school / local authority have a legal duty to provide the provision outlined in the plan and the school named in the plan must admit the child.

Accessing an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)
EHCPs are legal documents that are issued by the Local Authority. The Local Authority will decide whether your child requires an EHCP if they have conducted an Education, Health and Care Plan.
If you feel your child requires an EHCP, either their school or setting will need to request an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment in the first instance. The Local Authority may or may not agree that an assessment is needed.
Details of how to request an EHC Needs Assessment in your area can be found on your Local Offer Website. Your Local Offer Website will also provide you with details of your SEND Impartial Information and Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS), who can offer you free support and advice in relation to SEN support and applying for an EHC Needs Assessment.
Details of all the Local Offer websites in England can be found here – https://www.specialneedsjungle.com/englands-local-offer-websites/
Deciding Whether to Undertake an EHC Needs Assessment
After receiving a request for an EHC Needs Assessment, the Local Authority have 6 weeks to gather information and make a decision as to whether they will undertake an assessment.
It is important to provide the LA with as much information as you can about your child’s needs and the professionals supporting them, but you do not have to do this. The LA will often request information from people who know your child at this stage to inform their decision, but anything you can provide them with directly will help (including your assessment report).
When making their decision, the Local Authority must review the evidence and consider the views of the child or young person and those that know them. If this information leads the LA to believe that the child or young person has or ‘may have’ special educational needs and that it may be necessary for special educational provision to be made for the CYP in accordance with an EHC Plan, then they must secure an EHC Needs Assessment.
The LA must inform you of their decision within 6 weeks of your request.
The Education Health and Care Needs Assessment
If the LA agree to proceed with an EHC Needs Assessment, they will review what advice is needed and request information and advice from professionals who will provide information about your child’s needs. They will ask an Educational Psychologist to review your child and may request advice from other specialists such as autism advisory teachers. The LA will also ask for the views of other professionals that know your child across education, health and social care as well as asking for your views and your child’s views (if they have not done so already).
Within a maximum of 16 weeks from your initial request, the Local Authority must consider the evidence gathered and advise you as to whether they have decided to issue an EHC plan.
Issuing a Draft EHCP Plan
If the LA decide to issue an EHC plan, they must provide you with a draft copy which you have 15 days to comment on.
When you receive a draft EHCP, the educational placement will be blank, within this 15 day timeframe you must express any preference for a school that you have.
Considering Comments and Placement
If you have requested a particular school for your child, the Local Authority must consult with them. This means that they must inform them of your request and seek their views as to whether they can meet your child’s views or not. If the Local Authority feel that your child’s needs could be met within a different mainstream school (or a special school if you have requested a special school), they may also consult with them.
The LA must consider your comments or requests to amend the draft EHCP and your request for a particular placement. They will then finalise the plan, naming the school that they feel can meet your child’s needs and deliver the provision outlined in the EHCP before issuing a final plan.
The law says that the entire process must be completed in 20 weeks, although in reality, many Local Authorities are not able to meet this time frame.
Challenging the Local Authority Decision
At all points in the process where decisions are made, the Local Authority must provide you with information on what you can do if you do not agree with their decision. They will offer information on mediation for your consideration and advice how you can appeal their decision via First Tier Tribunal for Special Educational Needs and Disability (SENDIST).
How Can an Autism Assessment Help with SEND Support?
SEND support at all levels should be based around your child’s strengths and needs, so technically a diagnosis of autism is not needed to be able to access SEND support.
However, many parents find themselves needing to ‘prove’ their child’s autistic needs in order to be able to access the correct support and provision. A diagnostic assessment focusses on all areas of autistic difference and may highlight issues not picked up in school or setting-based assessments or general developmental or mental health assessments.
Many autism specific provisions require a diagnosis and this can cause difficulty when requesting a specific school a part of the EHCP process if the child is still awaiting an NHS assessment.
References, Further Reading and Sources of Advice
SEND Code of Practice (2015)
Special Needs Jungle
https://www.specialneedsjungle.com/
IPSEA
Children and Families Act 2014
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/6/contents/enacted
Categorised in: Child Autism, Education, Practical Advice