What is an EHCP and Does My Child Qualify?

If your child is struggling at school and you keep being told they will "catch up" or "just need more time", you may already sense that something more is needed. An Education, Health and Care Plan — an EHCP — is a legally binding document that changes that. Once issued, the local authority is legally required to deliver every provision written in it.

Around 638,700 children in England currently have an EHCP — roughly 1 in 20 pupils — and that number is rising by over 10% every year. Yet many families who need one don't know where to start, or have been told their child doesn't qualify before the assessment has even begun.

What is an EHCP?

An Education, Health and Care Plan is a legal document issued by your local authority under the Children and Families Act 2014. It describes your child's special educational needs (SEN), the outcomes they should achieve, and — crucially — the specific provision that must be put in place to support them.

It covers three domains: education, health, and care. Most families focus on the education sections, particularly Section B (needs) and Section F (provision), because these are the parts you can appeal to the SEND tribunal if you disagree.

Unlike a SEN Support plan, which schools can write and change at will, an EHCP is enforceable. The local authority has a legal duty under s.42 of the Children and Families Act to deliver every provision named in Section F. That is the difference that matters.

Who qualifies for an EHCP?

The legal test, set out in s.36 of the Children and Families Act 2014, is whether the child or young person has (or may have) special educational needs, and whether it may be necessary for provision to be made through an EHCP.

There is no list of conditions that automatically qualify or disqualify. The question is whether the level of support your child needs cannot be reasonably provided within the resources normally available to mainstream education. A child does not need a diagnosis to be assessed, and a diagnosis alone does not guarantee an EHCP.

In practice, assessments are most often granted for children with:

• Autism (ASC/ASD), often with co-occurring ADHD, anxiety, or sensory processing differences
• Speech, language and communication needs (SLCN)
• Developmental delays and learning difficulties
• Physical or medical needs that affect learning
• Social, emotional and mental health difficulties (SEMH)
• Specific learning differences including dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dyspraxia

Age is not a barrier. EHCPs cover children and young people from birth to age 25, including those in further education and vocational training.

What does the local authority look at when deciding?

When an LA receives a request for an EHC needs assessment, they must decide within six weeks whether to proceed. They will look at evidence about your child's needs and what support has already been tried. Strong evidence includes:

• Professional reports from educational psychologists, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, paediatricians, or CAMHS
• School data — attendance records, exclusions, internal assessments, teacher observations
• Your own account of how your child's difficulties affect daily life at home and school
• Any previous SEN support plans and evidence of what has and hasn't worked

The threshold is not as high as many LAs imply. The Code of Practice says the LA must consider whether there is evidence of the child's SEN "causing or likely to cause significant concern." If your child is struggling and current support isn't working, that evidence exists — it needs to be documented and presented clearly.

How do you request an EHC needs assessment?

Anyone can request an EHC needs assessment — parents, carers, the school, a GP, or a social worker. You do not need the school's permission. You do not need a solicitor. You write to the local authority's SEND team directly.

The request must be in writing. It should set out why you believe your child may have SEN and why you think an EHCP may be needed. Include all the evidence you have — professional reports, school data, your own written account of your child's difficulties.

The local authority must respond within six weeks. They will either agree to assess or refuse. If they refuse, they must give reasons, and you have the right to appeal to the SEND tribunal within two months.

What happens during the assessment?

If the LA agrees to assess, they have 20 weeks from the date of the original request to issue the final EHCP — or notify you they will not be issuing one. In practice, only 46.4% of EHCPs are issued within this statutory deadline.

During assessment, the LA is required to seek advice from a range of professionals: the school, an educational psychologist, health services, social care, and from you as parents. Your contribution matters as much as any professional report.

After the assessment, if the LA decides to issue an EHCP, they send you a draft. You have 15 calendar days to comment. This is a critical window — the draft is not final, and the outcome sections can look very different from what you need. Read it carefully.

How Pathway by WeaveONE supports families at this stage

Pathway was built specifically for the EHCP process by parents who have been through it. It is not a general legal advice service — it is a structured tool that guides you through every step, from the initial qualification check through to tribunal preparation if things go wrong.

The free tier includes the qualification wizard, an evidence checklist tailored to your child's diagnosis, and report request templates you can send to professionals. The Application Pack tier adds AI-generated request letters, a parental submission builder, and an evidence strength dashboard. Everything is grounded in the actual text of the Children and Families Act 2014 and the SEND Code of Practice.

WeaveONE — the platform behind Pathway — also supports the therapists and schools working with your child, so the professional reports they generate are already structured for EHCP use. When the system works together, the evidence builds itself.