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If you think your child needs additional support, you should speak to their teacher or the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) at their school, college or education setting first. They will be able to talk to you more about your child’s areas of need and the targeted support required to meet these and achieve the best outcomes.
However, if your child still isn’t making good progress even with this additional support, an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Needs Assessment may be necessary.
What is an EHC Needs Assessment?
The needs of most children and young people with SEND are met in their local school or college through a graduated approach. Some who have long-term complex needs and/or disabilities may need an EHC Needs Assessment for further support arranged by us.
An EHC Needs Assessment is a joint assessment from professionals who are or may need to be, involved with a child or young person to provide advice about specific provision to meet their needs.
An EHC Needs Assessment may result in an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), but, when it doesn’t, the information gathered during the assessment process can still be used to help inform the SEN support which your child’s school, college or setting provides.
How do I request an EHC Needs Assessment?
An EHC Needs Assessment can be requested independently by the child or young person, their parents or carers, or other people who know them. This is usually done in partnership with their school, college or setting and in discussion with the SENCo.
Request an assessment through the EHC Hub
One of the ways you can request an EHC Needs Assessment is by completing the online form on the EHC Hub website.
We will use the information submitted to consider whether to conduct a needs assessment under the requirements of the Children and Families Act 2014.
We will use the contact information provided to update you about your case. This may be through the dedicated Hub service, email, post, phone or text message. Please specify any limitations on these options as part of your request.
If an EHC Needs Assessment is approved, we will seek further professional advice and/or assessments to help them decide whether it is necessary to issue an EHCP.
We may also share relevant information on a confidential basis with the Department for Education and Local Government, other government agencies and other public bodies involved with the implementation of the new legislation as required to meet our statutory obligations.
The information that you and other professionals provide will normally be shared with your consent. Examples of situations when we may share information without your consent are:
- if we need to find out urgently if a child is at risk of harm or we need to help a child who is at risk of harm
- if we need to help an adult who is at risk of harm
- if we need to help prevent or detect a serious crime
Read the full privacy notice for SEND and the Local Offer.
Once you have submitted an application you should receive an invitation to join the EHC Hub. If you haven’t received this within two working days, please check your junk/spam mail and then contact the SEN 0-25 Team.
Help with the EHC Hub form
It’s okay if you can’t complete a section of the form, just complete the sections that you can. We may still ask you for a lot of the information on the form to help with our decision-making.
If you need help to fill in the form, you can contact DiAS.
How do I register on the EHC Hub?
We have produced a step-by-step guide to registering on the EHC Hub.
By registering on the Hub, you will be notified when:
- a decision is made about the assessment
- a draft plan is issued (with the option to comment)
- the final plan is issued
You will also be able to view all the advice submitted as part of the assessment.
System support
If you need any support using the EHC Hub, please get in touch. You can email the team at educationsystems@devon.gov.uk or call on 01392 380434 (option 2). Phone lines will be open weekdays from 10 am to 4 pm.
Other ways to submit a request
You don’t have to complete the online form on the EHC Hub, it just helps us gather all the information we need.
You can also submit a request by:
- posting to SEND Statutory Team Team, Room L102, County Hall, Topsham Road, Exeter, EX2 4QD
- emailing specialeducation@devon.gov.uk
- phoning 01392 380434 (option 1). Phone lines will be open 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday.
More detailed information about what happens when a request is made and the decisions making that is involved can be found at Key facts about EHC Needs Assessments.
How to contribute to an assessment
We think it is important to work with children, young people and their parents and carers as partners in the assessment process. Your views are a key part of the process and they should be taken into account.
Watch this video about how to contribute to an assessment.
If you need help and advice about how to contribute, you can also contact DiAS.
Get in touch
If you have any further questions, you can contact a customer service adviser by calling 01392 380434 (Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm). Our advisers will be able to assist you or will pass information quickly to the right people in the SEND Statutory Team.
The SEND Statutory Team carries out EHC Needs Assessments and maintains and reviews all EHCPs. They also co-ordinate the writing of EHCPs using information gathered from education, health and care professionals.
You can also email the team at specialeducation@devon.gov.uk.
Further information
We have produced a useful guide to explain what different professionals’ roles and responsibilities are in relation to SEND.