If you’ve suddenly found yourself hearing phrases like EHCP, EHCNA, SEN Support, Section B and Section F, it can feel like everyone else has been handed a rulebook that you somehow missed.
So here’s the straightforward version.
An EHCP — Education, Health and Care Plan — is a legal plan for a child or young person with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND).
But having a diagnosis does not automatically mean your child gets an EHCP.
The important question is what your child needs in order to access education and make progress, and whether their needs may require provision beyond what is ordinarily available.
First things first: you don’t apply for an EHCP
Technically, the first step is requesting an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment, usually shortened to EHCNA.
This is an important distinction.
At this stage, you’re asking the Local Authority to properly assess your child’s needs.
And here’s something parents are often not told clearly enough:
You do not need the school’s permission to request an EHC Needs Assessment.
A parent can make the request directly to their Local Authority.
Your school can support the application and provide extremely useful evidence, but they don’t have a veto over whether you make one.
What happens after you request an EHC Needs Assessment?
The Local Authority looks at the information available and decides whether an assessment is necessary.
The legal test is essentially whether your child has or may have SEN and whether it may be necessary for special educational provision to be made through an EHCP.
That word “may” matters.
You’re not supposed to have to prove the finished EHCP case before the assessment has even happened.
If the Local Authority agrees to assess, it gathers information about your child’s needs from relevant people and professionals.
That can include education, health, parents, the child or young person themselves, and other professionals involved.
The purpose is to build a proper picture of:
Need → provision → outcomes.
What does your child struggle with?
What support do they require because of that?
What should that support enable them to achieve?
Does an assessment automatically mean an EHCP?
No.
After completing the assessment, the Local Authority makes another decision about whether it is necessary to issue an EHCP.
If they decide an EHCP is necessary, you’ll receive a draft plan before the final EHCP.
And this is where parents need to switch their brains back on.
Because receiving an EHCP isn’t the finish line.
You need to look at what it actually says.
Section B: What are my child’s needs?
Section B should identify your child’s special educational needs.
This isn’t just a list of diagnoses.
For example, saying:
“Sam has ADHD.”
doesn’t tell us enough.
We need to understand the educational impact.
That might mean difficulty sustaining attention, processing instructions, regulating emotions, managing transitions, completing work independently or navigating social situations.
A good Section B paints a clear picture of the barriers your child experiences.
Because if the need isn’t properly identified, it’s much harder to make sure the right provision appears later in the plan.
Section F: The bit I want parents to REALLY understand
Section F describes the special educational provision required to meet the needs identified in Section B.
This is one of the most important parts of an EHCP.
And vague wording matters.
Be wary of phrases such as:
“Access to support.”
“Regular opportunities.”
“As required.”
“When appropriate.”
“Staff will encourage…”
They can sound lovely.
But ask yourself:
What does my child actually get?
If your child needs direct adult support, for example, you want the plan to make clear what support is required, when it is required, how frequently it happens and who is responsible for providing it.
The clearer and more specific the provision, the easier it is for everyone to understand what should actually be happening.
That matters because once an EHCP is finalised, the Local Authority has a duty to secure the special educational provision specified in Section F.
So don’t just ask:
“Does this EHCP sound supportive?”
Ask:
“Could somebody who has never met my child read this and know exactly what support needs to be provided?”
That’s a much better test.
What about Section I?
Section I deals with placement — the school, college or type of institution your child will attend.
This can become one of the biggest areas of disagreement between parents and Local Authorities.
But placement shouldn’t be considered completely separately from need and provision.
The question is not simply:
“Which school has a space?”
It is whether the placement can actually deliver the provision your child requires.
How long does all this take?
There are statutory timescales throughout the process.
In the usual process, the Local Authority should tell you whether it will carry out an EHC Needs Assessment within six weeks of receiving the request.
Where the process results in an EHCP, the final plan should normally be issued within 20 weeks from the original request, subject to limited exceptions.
Keep your dates.
Keep your emails.
Keep your evidence.
You will thank yourself later.
What evidence should I send?
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that the biggest evidence bundle automatically wins.
Useful evidence is evidence that helps explain your child’s needs and the provision they require.
That might include:
- school SEN records and support plans
- Educational Psychology advice
- Speech and Language Therapy or Occupational Therapy reports
- CAMHS or other health evidence
- attendance information
- exclusions or suspensions
- evidence of interventions already tried
- information about progress and attainment
- parental evidence about what actually happens day to day
And remember:
Parents are evidence too.
You know what happens before school.
You see the aftermath at home.
You know how long homework really takes.
You know what happens after masking all day.
Don’t underestimate the importance of describing that clearly.
What if the Local Authority says no?
A refusal isn’t necessarily the end.
Depending on which decision has been made, parents and young people can have rights of challenge, including mediation and appeal to the SEND Tribunal.
The important thing is not to read a refusal letter and assume:
“They’ve decided, so that’s it.”
Check what decision has actually been made and what your rights are.
The biggest EHCP mistake parents make
Focusing entirely on diagnosis.
EHCPs are about needs and provision.
Instead of only saying:
“My child has autism and ADHD.”
Show:
“Because of these difficulties, my child cannot consistently process whole-class verbal instructions. They require instructions to be broken down, presented visually and checked individually by an adult.”
Now we’re talking about education.
That’s the language that makes the child’s actual needs visible.
The No Bull EHCP checklist
When you’re looking at an EHCP, keep coming back to four questions:
What does my child need?
Where is that need written down?
What provision meets it?
Is that provision specific enough for me to know whether it’s actually happening?
If you cannot answer those questions from the plan, something may need strengthening.
The bottom line
An EHCP shouldn’t simply be a document that says nice things about your child.
It should create a clear relationship between:
their needs → the provision they require → the outcomes everyone is working towards.
And if you’re at the very beginning of this process, don’t panic about understanding every section, acronym and piece of SEND law overnight.
Start with one question:
What is preventing my child from accessing education or making progress, and what additional support do they need because of it?
That’s the foundation of everything that follows.
That’s your EHCP No Bull Guide.
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