EHC needs assessment process

Introduction

If you, your young person, or a professional working on your behalf makes a request for a needs assessment, our special education needs and disabilities assessment and review team, often referred to as SENDART, must follow a detailed process that takes up to 20 weeks.

Not all needs assessments result in an EHC plan. We may decide that the needs of the child or young person can be supported by their nursery, school or college through special educational needs (SEN) support.

What an assessment involves

This video, produced by JayJay Media, a local video production company, was written and voiced by staff and young people and fully coproduced with parents and carers.

It describes the education, health and care needs assessment process in a straightforward and easy-to-understand way for parents, carers, children, young people, and professionals.

Assessment stages

The 20-week assessment process is split into three stages. We have outlined these below.

1 - Deciding if an assessment is needed

Once our SENDART team receive a request, they have up to six weeks to review the request and decide whether to carry out an assessment.

This is the same whether the request was made by:

you, as a parent and/or carer
your young person
a professional acting on your behalf.

a
Review process

An education, health and care officer (EHCO) will contact you to explain the process in more detail and answer any questions. They will also ask you to:

Complete a medical questionnaire for your child or young person.
Share your views.
Talk to your child and share their views as well.

We will use the information submitted by you and anyone working with your child or young person to decide whether an assessment is needed.

b
Outcome

If we decide an assessment is needed:

the education, health and care officer (EHCO) will contact you to discuss the next stage of the process
we will also confirm this in writing, including timescales.

If an assessment is not right for your child or young person’s needs, we will:

Tell you in writing within six weeks of the request.
Explain why we made this decision.
Share what we have learned with you and the education setting, so your child or young person’s needs can be met without an education, health and care plan.

If you disagree with this decision, you can appeal. Learn about disagreements and mediation.

2 - Needs assessment

The needs assessment must be completed within 16 weeks of the date we received the request for an EHC needs assessment.

You and your child or young person will be fully involved throughout the assessment process.

a
Educational psychologist

An educational psychologist (EP) will contact you to arrange a time to visit and watch your child or young person in their nursery, school or college.

After the visit, they will suggest support or strategies that could help them in their setting.

b
Requests for advice

We will send a request for advice to any education, health, or social care professionals who work with your child or young person. They must reply within six weeks and provide information such as:

details about your child or young person’s needs
the current support in place
recommendations for future support.

You can also ask us to request advice from other services you feel are relevant to your child or young person’s education, health, or care.

c
Outcome

We will use all the evidence we collect to decide if your child or young person needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP).

If we decide to issue an EHCP:

the education, health and care officer (EHCO) will contact you to discuss the next stage of the process
we will also confirm this in writing.

If we decide an EHCP is not right for your child or young person’s needs, we will:

tell you in writing within 16 weeks of the original request.
explain why we have made this decision.

If you disagree with this decision, you can appeal. Learn about disagreements and mediation.

3 - Education, health and care plan

The next stage is for us to create and issue the education, health and care plan (EHCP).

We have 20 weeks from the date we receive the request for an EHC needs assessment to complete this.

a
Draft plan

We'll create a draft education, health and care plan (EHCP) based on what we learned during the assessment phase.

We will write to you and include:

the draft EHCP
all the reports gathered during the assessment process.

b
Your review

Once you have received the draft education, health and care plan (EHCP), make sure you review it as soon as possible.

You’ll have 15 days to contact the education, health and care officer (EHCO) to:

Discuss any questions you have.
Raise any changes you wish to make.
Tell us which school or other setting you would prefer your child or young person to attend. This could be a mainstream school or a special school.

Please note:

If you would prefer for your child or young person to attend a mainstream nursery, school, or college, the educational setting must confirm that it:

can provide the help required to meet your child's special educational needs
has considered the effect this could have on school resources and the education of other pupils.

c
Consultation with education setting

Before we can name an education setting in an EHCP, we must consult with them to confirm that they can provide the support required to meet your child or young person’s needs. They must respond to us within 15 days.

d
Final plan issued

Once we have your feedback and have spoken with the relevant education setting, we will update the EHCP with:

the name of the education setting your child or young person must attend
any changes based on your feedback.

Then we will:

Share the final plan with you.
Arrange the support outlined in the plan.

If you disagree with anything in the EHCP, you can appeal. Learn about disagreements and mediation.

Please note:

Once an education, health and care plan (EHCP) is in place, your child or young person will have it for as long as they need support with their educational, health, and care needs.

The plan will be reviewed at least once a year to check progress and whether ongoing support is needed.

If your child still needs help to meet their educational and training goals, they may keep their EHCP until the academic year they turn 25 years old.

Decision-making rights at 16

Your child or young person will gain specific decision-making rights about their education, health and care plan (EHCP) at the end of the school year in which they turn 16, when they are no longer of compulsory school age.

This includes:

The right to request that a particular school or college is named.
The right to appeal if they disagree with the provision in the plan.

You can still support them in making decisions or act on their behalf if they agree. The SEND code of practice states that when a young person is under 18, parents' involvement is particularly important, and schools and colleges should normally involve you.

Education, health and care needs assessment

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0:06 | Background music | Speaker #1

Sometimes when a child or young person has a special educational need or a disability, the support which they are already getting in nursery, school or college is not enough.

If this support is not fully meeting their needs, you may apply for something called an education, health and care needs assessment.

0:27 | Background music | Speaker #2

This is an assessment completed by the special educational needs and disabilities assessment and review team (SENDART), to determine the needs of your child or young person and the support they may require to be able to achieve their aspirations and outcomes in education.

Anyone can apply for an education, health and care needs assessment. You can do this by contacting your child's education setting or by contacting SENDART directly.

You can find information about this on the East Riding local offer or by contacting the special educational needs and disabilities information, advice and support service (SENDIASS).

1:05 | Background music | Speaker #3

The assessment is split into several stages.

Once a request is submitted, a member of the team will acknowledge this within two working days.

Within the first six weeks, SENDART will use the information that you, or anyone who works with your child or young person, have submitted as part of the request to determine whether or not to conduct an assessment.

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This is based on whether the information provided suggests that your child may have special educational needs or disabilities that may require special education provision.

During this time, you will be contacted by an education, health and care officer (ECHO), who will explain this process in more detail and answer any questions you may have.

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You’ll also be asked to complete a medical questionnaire and submit your views, as well as the views of your child or young person.

It’s important to remember that you and your child or young person will be fully involved throughout these assessment processes.

2:03 | Background music | Speaker #6

If we feel that an assessment is needed, you will receive a letter explaining the timescales for the next stage of the process.

The ECHO will contact you again, and requests for advice will be sent to professionals in education, health and social care who may be working with your child or young person.

2:20 | Background music | Speaker #5

You’ll also have the opportunity to request advice from any other services that you feel are relevant to your child or young person’s education, health and care.

Examples of medical professionals include:

consultants
therapists
specialist nurses and,
health visitors.

Other professionals include:

specialist teachers
tutors
social workers or,
portage workers.

2:44 | Background music | Speaker #4

If a professional working with your child or young person is requested to submit a report as part of the assessment, they are legally obliged to do so within six weeks of the request being issued.

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During the assessment, you will be contacted by an educational psychologist (often shortened to EP) who will visit your child or young person and provide recommendations following their observations. You will receive a report from the educational psychologist.

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Within 16 weeks of the initial request being made, the council will have completed their assessments and will decide whether an education, health and care plan (EHCP) is necessary for your child or young person.

The ECHO will contact you around this time to explain their decision and the next steps of the process.

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If it’s agreed that an EHCP is required, you will receive a draft copy of this plan within 16 weeks of the initial request.

At this time, you will be able to inform SENDART of which schools you wish to be consulted for your child or young person to attend.

3:45 | Background music | Speaker #5

You will have 15 days to make any suggestions or comments regarding the draft plan, and you can request to meet with your ECHO if you have any questions.

SENDART is required to finalise the EHCP by no later than 20 weeks following the initial request for assessment.

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If at any stage of the process you disagree with SENDART’s decision, you will be provided with information on how you can challenge this and seek support from SENDIASS.

It’s important to remember that even if we do not agree to issue an EHCP, the assessments conducted will provide valuable information for people working with your child or young person to use in practice.

4:27 | Background music | Speaker #4

The EHCP is a legal document that must be followed. This is why it is important that the plan is really clear in detailing what your child or young person’s needs are, what support they should receive, who will provide this support and the frequency with which the support will be provided.

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The ECHO will work with you, your child or young person, and the professionals supporting your child or young person to set long-term outcomes that recognise their aspirations.

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One important thing to check when reviewing the draft plan is what is known as the ‘golden thread’. This means that for every need your child or young person has, there should be:

a corresponding provision that meets this need, and
an outcome that shows what will be achieved by providing the provision.

This should be linked to your child or young person’s views and aspirations.

5:11 | Background music | Speaker #2

The EHCP must be reviewed every year. The council requires the education setting to hold this review, and they should communicate regularly with yourself and the ECHO if there are any concerns or changes to your child or young person’s needs.

So that the EHCP accurately reflects the provision that they require.

Throughout this process, your ECHO will be your main point of contact. Their details will be shared with you so you know who they are and how to contact them if you have any questions.

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You may also contact SEND enquiries and speak to one of our team members, who can provide useful information and will be able to answer the majority of your questions.

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3.EHC needs assessment process

Introduction

What an assessment involves

Assessment stages