The EHCP process

During the education, health and care plan (EHCP) process, all the information is submitted and reviewed through our EHC portal.

Once registered, you can: 

  • upload documents
  • view advice
  • provide your views
  • access draft copies of the EHCP
  • give school preferences
  • view the annual review meeting details
  • track the overall progress

The EHC hub will notify you by email with an update at each stage. 

Stages of the EHCP process

Because an EHCP is based on the needs of the individual young person, it can have lots of different steps and outcomes.

The EHCP process may look something like this:

Stage one (weeks one to six) - deciding whether an EHCP is appropriate

A request for an EHCP needs assessment is submitted to us through the EHC portal.

By week six, we must inform the parent or carer of a decision.

If the decision is to agree to assess the child, our SEND officer will gather information from the child or young person, parent carers and professionals.

If the assessment request is refused, the parent or young person will get a notification of the right to appeal the decision if they want to. They can have a ‘way forward’ meeting with the school to discuss the next steps.

Stage two (weeks seven to 16) - drafting the EHCP

Our SEND officer gathers advice from professionals and by week 16 we will have decided whether to issue an EHCP.

If we support issuing an EHCP, your SEND officer will draft the plan on the EHC portal. 

The portal is where the parent, carer or young person can look at all the information and include their opinions, like which schools they would like to consult.

If we do not support issuing an EHCP, the parents, carers or young person will get a letter from the EHC portal explaining the reason and the next steps.

Stage three (weeks 16 to 20) - issuing an EHCP

Our SEND Officer continues to draft the EHCP and by week 17 a draft EHCP is sent to the parent, carer or young person to make any changes or requests before it is finished.

By week 20, the EHCP will be finished and published on the EHC portal, with a notification for the parent or young person.

The EHCP is reviewed annually.