Devon’s SEND Local Offer

Education, health and care plans (EHCPs)

An EHCP is for children and young people aged up to 25 who need more support than is available through the ordinarily available inclusive provision (OAIP) to support special educational needs in their mainstream nursery, school or college.

An EHCP is a legal document that sets out a child or young person’s education, health and care needs and the additional support required.

You may request an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment if you think your child needs an EHCP.

The process outlined below, from the point at which an assessment is requested until the final EHCP is issued, should take no more than 20 weeks.

  1. Step 1

    If you feel that your child is not making progress, you might be considering requesting an EHC needs assessment – but, the quickest way to get some extra support for your child is to speak to staff at their school, college or education setting. We’d always recommend having these conversations before proceeding with a request for assessment.

  2. Step 2

    Follow our guidance on how to make a request, who should be involved in making the request and what happens once you have submitted it. We must give you a decision about whether or not we’ll carry out an assessment within six weeks of your request.

    1. Who should make a request
    2. How to make a request
    3. What happens once your request is made
    4. What you can do if your request is turned down
    5. Disagreeing with decisions

  3. Step 3

    Find out more about what happens if we agree to carry out an assessment. We must tell you whether or not we will issue an EHCP within 16 weeks of your request.

    1. What happens during an assessment and how long does it take
    2. Providing your evidence to support the assessment
    3. What you can do if we decide not to issue a plan
    4. Disagreeing with decisions

  4. Step 4

    The Local Authority will create a draft EHCP and send you a copy. You will have 15 calendar days to give your suggested amendments and views before a final plan is issued. We must issue a final EHCP within 20 weeks of your original request.

    1. The draft EHCP
    2. The final EHCP
    3. Implementing the EHCP
    4. What has to be in an EHCP
    5. What makes a good EHCP
    6. EHCPs for 19 to 25-year-olds

  5. Step 5

    Over time, your child’s needs may change. We will review their EHCP each year as a minimum to ensure it continues to meet their needs.

    1. How often do reviews take place
    2. What happens during a review
    3. Reassessments

  6. Step 6

    Find out more about what will happen if you need to transfer an EHCP into or out of Devon.

    1. Transferring an EHC plan