All children or young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) are different. Not all of them will need an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP). SEN support might be enough to meet their needs.
An EHC assessment involves gathering information about the child or young person’s education, health and care needs. We use this information to help us decide whether an EHCP is needed.
You can request an assessment if you are:
EHC Need Assessment, questions for parents and carers
As part of the application process parents and carer are asked the following questions:
There is lots of information about EHCP's online. Some information can be confusing and lead to misunderstandings. Take a look at the SEND Myths document for more help.
How do I request an EHC needs assessment?
You can make a request by doing one of the following:
No matter how you apply, we strongly encourage you to sign up to the SEND Portal. There are many benefits including being able to:
If you are professional providing advice for a review, you should login to the Professional Portal.
What happens after I make a request?
Our SEND Support Assessment and Review (SEND SAR) team will receive your application. They will prepare it for our multi-agency panel to consider. More information might be requested from you, the school, and other professionals.
Within 6 weeks, our panel looks at applications for EHC needs assessment. They will decide whether:
If we decide it is not necessary, we will tell you why we think this is. We will also offer advice on what could happen next. You will be given information on how to appeal the decision.
How does the panel make a decision?
The panel is made up of professionals from different services including:
This helps us get a range of views and make an informed decision.