A complete guide to requesting an Education, Health and Care Plan — from writing the application letter to understanding what happens at each stage of the statutory process.
The first step to getting an EHCP is requesting an EHC needs assessment. This is a formal process in which the local authority gathers advice from professionals involved in your child's education, health, and care, and uses that evidence to decide whether an EHCP is needed.
Under Section 36 of the Children and Families Act 2014, you have the right to request this assessment yourself — you do not need the school's permission or cooperation. The request should be made in writing to your local authority's SEND team (sometimes called the SEN team or SEND0–25 team).
The LA has a statutory duty to respond within 6 weeks. If it fails to do so, that is itself a legal breach and grounds for a formal complaint.
You can request an EHC needs assessment even if the school has not suggested it, even if your child has not been diagnosed with anything, and even if previous requests were refused. The law gives you this right — use it.
Your request letter does not need to follow a specific format, but it must make clear what you are asking for and why. A strong application letter covers six things:
The more evidence you include with your initial request, the harder it is for the LA to refuse. Relevant evidence includes:
You do not need all of this to make the request. The assessment process exists precisely to gather evidence. But more evidence at the outset reduces the risk of a refusal.
Once you submit your request, the Children and Families Act 2014 sets out a statutory timeline that the LA is legally required to follow:
In reality, only 46.4% of EHCPs are issued within the 20-week deadline. Delays are common, and in many LAs the average is well over 30 weeks. The LA has no power to extend the deadline unilaterally — if they miss it, that is a statutory breach and you can escalate to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
Keep a written log of every letter, email, and phone call with dates. This evidence is essential if you need to make a formal complaint or proceed to tribunal.
The LA must refuse in writing and give reasons. Read the reasons carefully — they often rely on incorrect assertions about what the law requires.
You have two months from the date of the refusal letter to register an appeal with the First-tier Tribunal (SEND). Before appealing, you must either attend mediation or obtain a certificate confirming you have considered it (a mediation certificate). You can get the certificate without going to mediation — simply contact an approved mediation provider and tell them you wish to go directly to tribunal.
Parents win approximately 95–99% of tribunal appeals. Many LAs concede before the hearing. The tribunal process is adversarial, but you do not need a solicitor — thousands of parents navigate it without one. Read our EHCP tribunal guide →
When the LA sends you the draft EHCP, your 15 days to comment is one of the most important windows in the entire process. Do not let it pass without a thorough review.
Focus on Section B (needs) and Section F (provision). Every need described in Section B must be met by a specific, quantified provision in Section F. If Section B says your child needs speech and language support but Section F only says "access to SALT as appropriate" — that is not sufficient. Push back in writing and request that the provision be specified: who delivers it, how often, for how long, and where.
Use our EHCP Quality Checker to review the draft against the legal standard before you accept it.
Pathway is built specifically for this process. Using the Children and Families Act 2014, the SEND Code of Practice, and real data from all 152 local authorities, it provides:
Paid plans start from £12.99/month — less than the cost of an hour with a SEND solicitor. See full pricing →
Pathway puts the full weight of government data, AI-generated legal documents, and statutory deadline tracking behind every family — for less than the cost of an hour with a solicitor.