EHC Needs Assessment
What is an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Needs Assessment?
An Education, Health and Care (EHC) Needs Assessment (sometimes called a statutory assessment) is a legal process carried out by the local authority to determine whether a child or young person’s needs an EHC plan and, if so, the support (provision) contained within it.
If your child / young person is struggling in school and their support doesn’t seem to be working, it’s natural to ask yourself whether they might need an Education Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment.
Most children and young people with SEND go to a mainstream nursery, school or college and are supported by their staff, resources and funds. Teachers and other professionals regularly review how a child or young person is getting on and support them to learn, develop and feel safe. This is called special educational needs support or SEN support.
In reality, only a few children and young people have an EHC needs assessment and plan. For every ten children and young people in England with special education needs or a disability (SEND), two will need an EHC plan and eight won’t.
Who can request a needs assessment?
- Parents by writing to or emailing the Local Authority. It is always a good idea to talk to the early years setting, school or Post-16 provider before asking for an EHC needs assessment.
- A young person over the age of 16 but under the age of 25.
- The early years setting, school or post 16 education provider, but only after talking with you first.
- A person 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) SEN to the attention of the Local Authority, particularly where they think an EHC needs assessment may be necessary. This could include but not limited too, for example:
- Foster carers.
- Health and Social Care professionals.
- Early years practitioners.
- Youth offending teams or probation services.
- Those responsible for education in custody.
- Family friend.
Making your request
Your request should set out:
- Why you believe your child has or may have special educational needs and
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- Why you believe they may need special educational provision to be made through an EHC Plan.
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In other words, you need to explain why you believe the legal test for assessment is met. You can download a template letter from the IPSEA’s website for your request and to ask for information from the school and Local Authority which may help you to show that the legal test is met.
You should write to your home LA (even if your child goes to school in a different LA). You can find details of your LA online. Your LA’s website should tell you how a request can be made. If it is not clear, you should write to the most senior person at the LA, usually called the Director of Education or Head/Director of Children’s Services. You can find out the name and contact details of the most senior officer on the Association of Directors of Children’s Services website, your LA’s website, by calling the LA or by asking at your child’s school or college.
Despite the relatively low threshold of the legal test for assessment, many LAs have policies or criteria which they use (often setting the threshold higher than the law)Â to streamline their EHC needs assessment processes by using a variety of methods, including specific forms and digital platforms, there is no particular form, format or method that is required in law to make your EHC Needs Assessment request valid.
A request cannot be rejected on the basis that a specific method or form has not been used, nor can a LA insist that you speak with either the relevant educational setting or other services before making a request. Please remember ‘Law’ supersede everything’
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When should a local authority carry out an EHC needs assessment?
The LA must secure an EHC needs assessment for the child or young person if, after having regard to any views expressed and evidence submitted under subsection (7), the authority is of the opinion that—
(a) The child or young person has or may have special educational needs, and
(b) It may be necessary for special educational provision to be made for the child or young person in accordance with an EHC plan.
If the answer to both of these questions is yes, the LA must carry out an EHC needs assessment.
This test is set out in the law (section 36(8) of the Children and Families Act 2014). It means these are the only questions the LA should be asking when considering whether or not to carry out an EHC needs assessment.
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.
The SEND Code of Practice, 2015 (9.14)
The SEND Code of Practice, 2015 says LA’s should pay particular attention to:
- Evidence of your child’s academic attainment (or developmental milestones in younger children) and rate of progress.
- Information about the nature, extent and context of your child’s SEN.
- Evidence of the action already taken by the school or other setting to support your child.
- Evidence that where progress has been made, it has only been as the result of lots of intervention and support over and above what is usually provided for children of the same age, and
- Evidence of your child’s physical, emotional and social development and health needs, taking into account relevant evidence from clinicians and other health professionals and what has been done to meet these by other agencies.
These are important considerations for your LA to take into account when deciding whether the legal test for carrying out an EHC Needs Assessment is met. However it is important for you to know that they are not legal requirements, and they do not form part of the legal test itself. Again, the ‘Law’ supersede everything’
What if my LA asks for more than this?
Despite the relatively low threshold of the legal test for assessment, many LA’s have policies or criteria which set the threshold higher than the law. Common examples include policies which require:
- Proof that the school or college has already spent a certain amount of money (often £6,000 per year) supporting your child / young person.
- Evidence that your child is below a certain percentile or is a certain number of years behind academically.
- Evidence of a certain number of terms of SEN support.
- Evidence of prior involvement from outside specialists such as an educational psychologist or speech therapist.
These things are not included in the legal test, so it would be unlawful for your LA to refuse your EHC needs assessment request because you have not included them, or tell you that it will not consider a request unless they are submitted with it. This is because your LA must make a decision using only the legal test set out above.
If your LA refuses to carry out an EHC needs assessment, you can appeal to the SEND Tribunal. The SEND Tribunal will only apply the legal test and not your LA’s own policy.
When should I hear back?
The LA will look at all the information and then must tell you whether they have decided:
- To start the EHC needs assessment immediately.
- That an EHC needs assessment is not necessary.
Notification of the LA’s decision must be given within six weeks. This is set out in Regulation 4 (1) of The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014. Your LA should always reply to you as a parent or young person, even where the request was made by the school or college.
Local Authorities must consult the child and the child’s parent or the young person throughout the process of assessment and production of an EHC plan. They should also involve the child as far as possible in this process. The needs of the individual child and young person should sit at the heart of the assessment and planning process.
The SEND Code of Practice, 2015 (9.21)
The Local Authority will write to you to tell you that their decision is to carry out an assessment and you will be allocated a SEN Case Officer who will take you through the process from start to finish.
You will be asked to sign a contract form that will give the Local Authority permission to share information between the people who will be involved in the assessment. The LA will also explain how the assessment process will work, including how long each stage of the process will take, and make a list of the people who are already involved in supporting your child.
The Local Authority will ask a number of other people for information about your child. This advice should include information about:
- Your child’s education, health and care needs.
- The desired outcomes for your child.
- The special educational, health and care provision that might be required to meet their needs and achieve the desired outcomes.
The Local Authority must ask for advice and information from:
- Parents (or the young person)
- Your child’s early years setting, school or Post-16 provider, if they have a vision or hearing impairment the LA must also seek information and advice from a suitably qualified teacher.
- An educational psychologist.
- Health professionals who work with your child. This might include a paediatrician, speech and language therapist, physiotherapist or occupational therapist.
- Social care professionals.
- Any professional/services considered appropriate to be able to provide information, such as Virtual School for a looked after child, Early Help Assessments, Youth offending teams or Young offender’s institutions, etc.
- Provisions to assist the child or young person in preparation for adulthood and independent living (from Year 9 onwards).
- Any person requested by the child’s parent or young person, where the LA considers it reasonable to do so.
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Once the LA has all the information and advice, it must decide whether your child needs an education, health and care plan or whether your child’s needs can be met through SEN support. You will receive a copy of all the reports when the needs assessment is finished.
If your child’s needs can be met through SEN support, the LA must tell you of its decision within 16 weeks of receiving the request.
The Local Authority must tell you why it thinks that an EHC needs assessment is not needed (their reasons based on the evidence provided and it application to the test is set out in the law (section 36(8) of the Children and Families Act 2014), formally in writing, within six weeks. This is set out in Regulation 4 (1) of The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014.
The LA decision letter must give you certain information, including your right to appeal the decision to the SEND Tribunal, details of an independent mediation service for you to contact and the details of how to get further information, advice, or support (SENDIASS).
The deadline for appealing is two months from the date of the decision or one month from the date of the mediation certificate, whichever is the later.
The LA does not have to consider whether an EHC needs assessment is necessary where it has already undertaken an EHC needs assessment for a child or young person during the previous six months, although the LA may choose to do so if it thinks it is appropriate.
Refusal to assess appeals are one of the most common appeals made to the SEND Tribunal and they have a high success rate in favour of parents and young people. The SEND Tribunal must decide the case based on the law and the evidence put before it, not what your LA’s local policy says.
Key timescales to remember
- When the LA receives a request for an EHC needs assessment, this is the start date.
- The LA decides whether an EHC needs assessment is needed within 6 weeks of the start date.
- The EHC needs assessment starts as soon as the decision is made.
- If the local authority decides not to issue a plan, they must tell the parents or young person within 16 weeks of the start date.
- The 'Law' supersede everything.
Decision to issue an EHC plan
If the Local Authority decides to issue a plan, they will send a draft EHC plan to parents or the young person.
The Local Authority must send the draft EHC plan (including the appendices containing the advice and information gathered during the EHC needs assessment) to you or to the young person and give you at least 15 days to give views and representations on the content.
During this period, the LA must make itself available for a meeting with you or the young person on request if they wish to discuss the content of the draft EHC plan.
Decision not to issue an EHC plan
Following the completion of an EHC needs assessment, if the LA decides that an EHC plan is not necessary, it must notify you or the young person, the early year’s provider, school or post-16 institution currently attended, and the health service and give the reasons for its decision. The notification must take place as soon as practicable and and at the latest, within 16 weeks of the initial request of the child or young person having otherwise been brought to the LA’s attention.
The LA should also ensure that you or the young person are aware of the resources available to meet SEN in mainstream provision and other support set out in the Local Offer.
The LA should also provide written feedback collected during the EHC needs assessment process, which you, the young person, early year’s provider, school or post-16 institution can understand and may find useful, including evidence and reports from professionals. This information can then inform how outcomes sought for the child or young person can be achieved through special educational provision made by the early year’s provider, school or post-16 institution and coordinated support from other agencies.
The whole assessment process must take no longer than 20 weeks (except in a few exceptional circumstances) from the LA receiving the request for assessment.
The LA decision letter must again give you certain information, including your right to appeal the decision to the SEND Tribunal, details of an independent mediation service for you to contact and the details of how to get further information, advice, or support (SENDIASS).
The deadline for appealing is two months from the date of the decision or one month from the date of the mediation certificate, whichever is the later.
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