How to Request an EHC Needs Assessment: A Guide for Parents and Carers

About this guide

This guide is for parents and carers who are wondering whether to ask their local authority for an EHC needs assessment, and who want to understand what is actually involved before they do. You do not need to know any of the terminology in advance; it is explained as we go.

The law and guidance described here apply to England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland operate different systems, so information written for England will not transfer across.

If you are not yet sure what an EHC plan is or what it does, it is worth reading our guide What is an EHCP? A guide for parents and carers first. This guide focuses on the request itself.

What is an EHC needs assessment?

An EHC needs assessment is a coordinated assessment carried out by your local authority. It is not one appointment or one test. It is a process in which the authority gathers written advice and information about your child from education, health and care professionals, and from you, so that it can decide whether an Education, Health and Care plan is needed.

It is different from the assessments a school might carry out itself, and different from a health assessment or diagnostic appointment. Those may produce useful evidence, but only the local authority can carry out an EHC needs assessment, and only the local authority can issue a plan.

SEND, SEN Support, assessment and plan

These four terms are often used as if they mean the same thing. They do not.

• SEND means special educational needs and disabilities. It describes a child who has a learning difficulty or disability that calls for special educational provision to be made for them. It is a description, not something that is granted.
• SEN Support is the support a school, college or early years setting arranges itself, without a plan. Most children with SEND are supported this way.
• An EHC needs assessment is the local authority's statutory process for finding out what a child's needs and required provision are.
• An EHC plan (EHCP) is the legal document that may follow that assessment.

When might an assessment be appropriate?

There is no checklist, no minimum number of terms of support and no required diagnosis. What matters is whether the support a setting can ordinarily provide is enough to meet your child's needs.

In practice, families and schools often begin to consider an assessment when a pattern like this has emerged:

• Support has been tried, adjusted and reviewed, and your child is still not making the progress that would be expected.
• Progress is only happening because of a level of individual support that goes well beyond what the setting normally provides.
• Needs cross more than one area, for example learning alongside communication, sensory, emotional or health needs.
• Attendance, wellbeing or your child's ability to manage the school day is being significantly affected.
• A move to a new setting or key stage is coming, and the support currently holding things together is unlikely to continue.

None of these is a legal threshold in itself. They are simply the circumstances in which the question is worth asking. Our page on getting more support at school explains what good SEN Support should look like before that point, and health needs and education covers the situations where health and learning overlap.

Does a child have to have an EHCP before an assessment can be requested?

No — and it is worth stating plainly, because the wording confuses many families. The assessment comes first. An EHC plan can only be issued after an EHC needs assessment has been carried out, so a child will not have a plan at the point the request is made.

You may also hear it said that a child must have been on SEN Support for a set period, or must have a diagnosis, or must be a certain number of years behind, before an assessment can be requested. None of these is a legal requirement. The SEND Code of Practice is clear that local authorities should not apply blanket policies of that kind; each request must be considered on the individual circumstances of the child or young person.

Who can request an EHC needs assessment?

Section 36(1) of the Children and Families Act 2014 says a request may be made to the local authority by the child's parent, by the young person, or by a person acting on behalf of a school or post-16 institution.

• A child's parent. In education law this is broader than it sounds — it includes anyone with parental responsibility and anyone who has care of the child, so it can cover carers, kinship carers and others in a parenting role.
• A young person. From the end of compulsory school age, the right to make the request rests with the young person themselves rather than their parents, up to the age of 25 where they remain in education or training.
• A school or post-16 institution. A member of staff, usually the SENCO or headteacher, can make the request on the setting's behalf. Guidance says they should discuss this with the family first where possible.

Other people can also bring a child or young person to the local authority's attention if they think an assessment may be necessary — for example a health visitor, GP, paediatrician, social worker, early years practitioner, foster carer or family friend. This is not a formal request under section 36(1), but the local authority must still consider it, and the statutory timescale runs from that point in the same way.

Can a parent or carer request one themselves?

Yes. You can make the request yourself, directly to the local authority. You do not need the school's permission, their agreement, or their signature, and the local authority cannot refuse to consider your request on the basis that the school has not made it.

That said, it usually helps if the school is involved and supportive. The local authority will ask the setting for information, and a shared understanding of what has been tried makes for a stronger, clearer picture. If the school does not think an assessment is needed, you can still request one — but it is worth asking them to explain their reasoning, because they may be planning further support you did not know about, or they may have concerns worth discussing.

If you are unsure how to raise this with the school, our guidance on working with your child's school sets out how these conversations usually work.

How do you make a request?

There is no statutory form and no prescribed format. The law does not specify how a request must be made, which means a clear letter or email to the local authority's SEN team is legally sufficient.

Most local authorities publish a request route on their Local Offer website — often a form, an online portal or a dedicated email address. Using it is usually the quickest way to get your request logged and dated. But you cannot be required to use a particular form, and a request should not be turned away because it arrived as a letter instead.

Practical points that help

• Put the request in writing, and keep a copy. Email gives you a dated record automatically.
• Say explicitly that you are requesting an EHC needs assessment under section 36 of the Children and Families Act 2014, so there is no doubt about what you are asking for.
• Include your child's full name, date of birth, address and current setting.
• Ask the local authority to confirm in writing the date they received your request, so you both know when the six-week timescale started.

If you send it by post as well, consider a delivery method that gives you proof of receipt. Disputes about dates are avoidable and unhelpful.

What information should be included with a request?

A request does not need to be long or written in legal language. It needs to give the local authority a clear picture of your child, what has been tried, and why you think the ordinary support available is not enough.

In practice, a clear request usually covers:

1. Who your child is — name, date of birth, year group and setting.
2. What their difficulties are, described in terms of what actually happens day to day rather than labels.
3. How those difficulties affect their education — learning, access to the curriculum, attendance, participation, independence.
4. What support has already been put in place, by whom, and for how long.
5. What has changed as a result of that support, including where progress has only happened with a great deal of extra help.
6. Any professionals already involved, with their roles and, if you have them, dates of reports.
7. Why you believe an EHC needs assessment is now necessary.

Describing the impact of your child's needs

This is the part families most often find difficult, and it is the part that carries the most weight. The most useful descriptions are concrete and specific. Rather than "struggles with writing", something like "can write two or three words independently in a 20-minute lesson, and needs an adult beside him to start any written task" tells the reader far more.

It also helps to describe your child on an ordinary day rather than at their best, to include what school looks like from home — the mornings, the aftermath, the effect on sleep and wellbeing — and to be honest about what is going well. A balanced account reads as credible.

What evidence may be useful?

There is no statutory list of documents a parent must supply, and you are not required to pay for private assessments or reports. Once an assessment begins, it is the local authority's responsibility to seek advice from the professionals involved — including educational, medical, psychological and social care advice.

That said, evidence you already have can help the authority understand the picture at the decision stage. Things families often include:

• School documents such as SEN Support plans, provision maps, individual education plans, and records of review meetings.
• Reports from professionals already involved — speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, paediatrics, CAMHS, educational psychology, specialist advisory teachers.
• Attainment and progress information from the school.
• Attendance data, and any records of part-time timetables, internal exclusions or suspensions.
• Your own written account of your child's needs and their impact at home and at school.
• Any relevant diagnostic letters, though a diagnosis is not required and its absence is not a lawful reason to refuse an assessment.

If you have very little documentation, that is not a reason to hold back. Send what you have, describe the rest, and ask the school for the records they hold.

What should parents ask the school or SENCO for?

The SENCO is the member of staff responsible for coordinating SEN provision in the school. A short meeting with them before you write is often the most useful hour you can spend.

Questions and requests that tend to be productive:

• Is my child on the school's SEN register, and at what level of support?
• May I have copies of the SEN Support plans and reviews from the last two years?
• What support is currently in place, how often, and who delivers it?
• What progress data do you hold, and how does it compare with expectations?
• Which outside professionals have been involved, and may I have copies of their reports?
• What has been tried that has not worked, and what is your view about why?
• Would the school support a request for an EHC needs assessment, and would you be willing to write in support?

Follow up in writing with a short summary of what was agreed. It keeps everyone clear, and it gives you a record.

What happens after the local authority receives the request?

The local authority must consider the request and determine whether it may be necessary for special educational provision to be made through an EHC plan. In making that determination it must consult you, and it must notify you that it is considering securing an assessment. It also notifies your child's setting, the health commissioning body and its social services officer.

In practice this stage usually involves gathering existing information — asking the school for its records and views, checking what professionals are already involved, and looking at what has been provided so far. Many authorities take these decisions through a regular panel meeting.

You should be given the opportunity to give your views. If you are not asked, you can send them anyway; the authority must have regard to views expressed and evidence submitted.

What does the local authority consider when deciding whether to assess?

The legal test is in section 36(8) of the Children and Families Act 2014. Having regard to any views expressed and evidence submitted, the local authority must secure an assessment if it is of the opinion that the child or young person has or may have special educational needs, and that it may be necessary for special educational provision to be made for them in accordance with an EHC plan.

The SEND Code of Practice says local authorities should consider whether there is evidence that, despite the setting having taken relevant and purposeful action to identify, assess and meet the child's special educational needs, the child has not made expected progress. It lists the evidence they should pay particular attention to, including:

• academic attainment (or developmental milestones in younger children) and rate of progress;
• information about the nature, extent and context of the child or young person's SEN;
• the action already being taken by the setting to meet those needs;
• evidence that where progress has been made, it has only been as the result of much additional intervention and support over and above that which is usually provided;
• evidence of physical, emotional and social development and health needs, drawing on evidence from clinicians and other health professionals;
• for young people over 18, whether additional time is needed to complete their education or training compared with others of the same age.

The Code is also clear that decisions must be made on the individual circumstances of the child. Blanket policies — such as refusing to assess unless support has been in place for a fixed period, or requiring a diagnosis — are not consistent with it.

What are the statutory timescales?

The timescales are set out in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014. The whole process is measured from the date the request was received, or the date the child was otherwise brought to the local authority's attention.

• Six weeks — the local authority must tell you whether or not it will carry out an EHC needs assessment.
• Six weeks — the period within which professionals asked for advice during an assessment must normally provide it.
• Sixteen weeks — if, having assessed, the authority decides a plan is not necessary, it must notify you by this point. This deadline is expressed in the regulations as the deadline for that particular decision.
• Fifteen days — the minimum period you must be given to comment on a draft plan, to request that a particular school or institution is named, and to ask for a meeting with a council officer to discuss it.
• Twenty weeks — the final EHC plan, if one is to be issued, must be sent to you by this point.

The regulations allow for a small number of exceptions where these timescales need not apply — for example where a setting is closed for at least four weeks, or where the family is away from the area for an extended period. Delay outside those exceptions is not consistent with the regulations, and it is reasonable to ask the authority in writing to explain and to give a date.

What happens if the local authority agrees to assess?

If the authority agrees, it begins gathering advice and information. It must seek advice from you as parents, and from those providing educational, medical, psychological and social care input, as well as from anyone else you ask for where the authority considers it reasonable. For young people in Year 9 and above, advice must also cover preparing for adulthood.

You may be asked to complete a form or attend a meeting to give your views. This is your opportunity to describe your child fully, and it is worth taking time over. Your account carries the same statutory status as the professional advice.

You can ask for a particular professional to be approached — for example a therapist already working with your child — and the authority must seek that advice where it considers the request reasonable.

What happens if the local authority refuses to assess?

A refusal is not unusual, and it is not the end of the road. When the local authority decides not to carry out an assessment, it must notify you of that decision and give its reasons. It must also tell you about your right to appeal, the time limit for doing so, the requirement to consider mediation, and the availability of disagreement resolution services and of independent information and advice.

Read the reasons carefully. They will usually tell you what the authority thought was missing — often evidence about what the setting has already put in place, or about progress over time. That is useful information whether you appeal or not, because it shows where the picture needs strengthening.

A refusal to assess does not mean your child's needs are not real, and it does not remove the school's duty to use its best endeavours to meet those needs through SEN Support.

What can parents do if the request is refused?

A decision not to carry out an EHC needs assessment can be appealed to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability). Before registering most appeals, you must first contact a mediation adviser to obtain information and advice about mediation. You are not obliged to take part in mediation — only to consider it — and the adviser issues a mediation certificate either way.

The deadline for appealing is two months from the date of the local authority's decision letter, or one month from the date of the mediation certificate, whichever is the later. GOV.UK sets out the appeal process in full. If you do choose mediation, the local authority must arrange it within 30 days of being told you wish to pursue it.

Other options, which are not alternatives to the appeal deadline and do not extend it:

• Ask the local authority to reconsider, supplying the evidence its reasons suggested was missing. This can be quicker, but the appeal clock keeps running.
• Use the authority's disagreement resolution service, which is voluntary and separate from mediation.
• Get free, independent advice from your local SENDIASS service, or from a national charity such as IPSEA.

What happens after an assessment?

Once the advice has been gathered, the local authority makes a second, separate decision: whether it is necessary for special educational provision to be made in accordance with an EHC plan. This test, in section 37 of the Children and Families Act 2014, is stricter than the test for assessing — it asks whether provision is necessary, not whether it may be.

If the authority decides a plan is necessary, it prepares a draft plan and sends it to you. You then have at least 15 days to comment, to request that a particular school or institution is named, and to ask to meet an officer to discuss it. The final plan must be issued within 20 weeks of the original request.

If the authority decides a plan is not necessary, it must tell you by the 16-week point, give its reasons, and set out your right to appeal. It should also share the advice gathered with the school, because that information remains valuable for SEN Support even without a plan.

How does this relate to an EHCP?

The request is the first step in a process with two decision points. Requesting an assessment is not the same as being granted a plan, and it is entirely possible — and lawful — for an authority to assess and then decide a plan is not needed.

Where a plan is issued, it becomes a legal document. The local authority must secure the special educational provision specified in it. Our guide What is an EHCP? explains the sections of a plan, who is responsible for what, and how annual reviews work. If your child already has a plan, our page for families whose child has an EHCP may be more relevant, and our EHCP support page sets out how we can help at each stage.

Practical checklist: preparing an EHC needs assessment request

1. Read your local authority's Local Offer page on EHC needs assessments and note their preferred route for requests.
2. Meet the SENCO. Ask for SEN Support plans, reviews, progress data and copies of professional reports.
3. Gather what you already have: reports, letters, attendance records, school communications.
4. Write your own description of your child — needs, impact on education, a typical day, what helps and what does not.
5. Note what support has been tried, when, for how long, and what changed.
6. Draft the request. State clearly that you are requesting an EHC needs assessment under section 36 of the Children and Families Act 2014.
7. Attach your evidence, and list what you have enclosed.
8. Send it by email or the local portal, and keep a copy.
9. Ask for written confirmation of the date it was received.
10. Diary the six-week point, and follow up in writing if you have not heard.

You do not need to do all of this at once, and it does not need to be perfect. A clear, honest request sent this month is worth more than a polished one that never gets sent.

If you're beginning to navigate SEND support for your child, our free SEND Starter Pack provides a practical starting point.

Further sources and support

• Your local SENDIASS service — free, impartial information, advice and support for families on SEND matters, available in every local authority area.
• Your local authority's Local Offer — the published information about services, request routes and local processes in your area.
• Independent advice organisations such as IPSEA and Contact, which offer free advice on SEND law and on family life with a disabled child.

You can also start from our support for parents and carers pages, or see the resources currently available. If you would like to talk something through, get in touch.

Further official information

• GOV.UK — Extra SEN help and EHC needs assessments
• GOV.UK — Children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)
• GOV.UK — Appeal a decision about your child's SEND support
• GOV.UK — SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years
• Children and Families Act 2014, Part 3
• The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014

Law and guidance can change. This guide was last reviewed in September 2026 and reflects the position in England at that time.