If we agree to carry out an assessment we will seek advice from the education, health and care professionals involved with your child. This will help us consider how their special educational needs affect their ability to access education.
Everyone involved has six weeks to provide their advice and it must be provided within 12 weeks of the original request for assessment.
You will be able to see who has been asked to provide advice for the assessment and once their advice has been submitted you will be able to see it.
We must tell you whether or not we will issue an EHC plan within 16 weeks of your request.
The evidence we will consider
When making a decision about whether to issue an EHC plan, all advice gathered during the assessment is considered, including:
- information about your child’s special educational needs across the four areas of SEND
- educational advice from a headteacher or principal
- medical advice from a healthcare professional
- psychological advice from an educational psychologist – find out more about joint assessment meetings
- social care advice
- advice from anyone else that we think is appropriate
We will also want to know what you and your child think about their strengths and difficulties and what help you think is needed to support them.
If you have already provided information about your child as part of your request, you do not need to repeat this. You can send in new information if you want to – and if you think anything has been missed, please get in touch with us.
Who makes the decision
The decision about whether to issue a plan is made by the Local Authority, moderated by a multi-disciplinary panel of professionals. The panel looks at the advice and ensures that all decisions are made in accordance with the law.
The panel will include:
- a senior manager from the SEND Statutory Team
- an educational psychologist
- Devon’s designated medical officer
- a social work manager
How the decision is made
A decision will be made based on all the advice we have gathered from you, your child and other professionals and services during the assessment.