Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)

What is an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan? 

The Education, Health and Care Plan or EHCP is a legally binding document which outlines a child or young person’s special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) and the support including any additional funding that is necessary to cater for those needs. It also includes any health or care provision that is needed.

Is my child eligible for an EHCP? 

Most children with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities make good progress through school with additional support and reasonable adjustments. However, a small group of children may have such significant difficulties that they need more support than the school can provide. If this is the case and your child is aged between 0 and 25, the local authority should conduct an EHC Needs Assessment. Based on this assessment they will be able to decide whether your child is eligible for an EHC plan. 

Section 36(8) of the Children and Families Act 2014 (external link) states that the local authority must assess where:

  • the child or Young Person has or may have special educational needs, and; 
  • it may be necessary for special educational provision to be made for the child or Young Person in accordance with an EHC plan. 

Where can I find out more?

Supporting documents

Annual Reviews 

An annual review is a process, usually arranged by your child’s school* in which involves you, your child and other relevant professionals ensure their Education, Health and Care Plan is kept up to date as your child develops and changes. As a result of the annual review, the Education, Health, and Care Plan may be kept the same, changed or ceased.

See also

Page Last Updated:

October 28, 2022

Tell us what you think about this page

Problem with a service?
If you have a service problem or complaint you need help with then please visit our contact pages.


Help us improve this page
If you want to make comments specifically about this page, then please answer the questions below.

* = response required

Ease of use

Overall, how easy was it to get the help you wanted today?

Service required

What was the main service you were interested in today?

Purpose of visit

What was your main purpose for coming to the website today?

Device and browser information

It will help us understand any problems if you can tell us a bit about what you are using to browse the website:

Which type of device are you using right now? (optional)
Which browser are you using? (optional)

Your comments

Please use the following space to tell us more about your visit today. 

Please note that if you want to report a problem with a council service or have a general service request, you will need to contact Customer Services directly.

Covid-19

Did you find what you were looking for? (optional)