The Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan for SENCO's

An Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan is a legal document. It outlines a young person's needs and the support they require. It also explains what they would like to achieve. It covers from birth to 25 years old as long as the young person stays in education.

This information on EHC Plans is for professionals working with young people and their families. If you are a parent or carer and looking for information on this, visit The Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan.

When might an Education Health and Care Plan be needed?

Most young people with SEND are supported in their mainstream education setting. This is done through the Graduated Response, Quality First teaching and targeted support. All schools have notional funding to allow them to do this. The Local Authority provides extra funding to help schools meet more predictable needs. This strengthens mainstream provision in the local area.

If an education setting thinks a young person has SEND they should:

• Talk to parents or carers about their concerns.

• Start to gather information about the young person's progress.

• Give the young person support through a graduated response. This could include getting advice from external specialists. This can help to put more effective support and interventions in place.

• Discuss the needs of the young person with their cluster. This can help to increase the amount of strategies that can be used as part of the graduated response. To find out more about clusters, visit the SENCO Clusters and Provision Mapping page.

If a parent or carer thinks their young person has SEND, they should:

• Talk to the class teacher or tutor.

• Arrange a meeting with the SENCO to discuss concerns and support.

You can request an Education Health and Care Plan Assessment for young people with SEND. This is done if they are not making expected progress despite the graduated response in place.

Requesting an EHC Needs Assessment (EHCNA)

Before making a request for and ECHNA, schools should discuss this with other SENCOs. You can use SEND cluster meetings to talk about support and interventions that could be put in place. Settings needs to give evidence of any targeted interventions and their impact when making a request. This has to be done with regard to the graduated response and EHC guidelines.

The parents or carers and the school need to agree on a request. This can involve the young person as well. You can use Cognus’ form to request it. You do not have to use it, but it can help to ensure that the correct information is provided in the request. Professionals and parents can fill out a EHCNA Request Form. Young people over the age of 16 can also request their own EHCNA. For more information and to find the request forms, visit the Cognus EHC Needs Assessment Process page [External Link].

There is a separate All About Me template that you can use to support the All About Me section. There is also guidance available for children and young people. There are two groups of guidance, up to and including year 8 and year 9 and above. To view the template and guidance, visit the Cognus website [External Link].

When is an EHC Plan issued?

An EHC Plan is not always issued. One is only issued if the young person's needs cannot be met in mainstream provision. This may be because the settings resources do not allow for the support needed. Young people with SEND up to the age of 25 are eligible.

Using the Assessment Advice to Create a New SEND Support Plan

If an EHC Plan is not issued, the information will help settings with how they can meet the young person's needs. The Local authority will share this information with parents, carer, the young person and the educational setting. This so that you can develop a joint SEND Support Plan with clear outcomes and support.

You can contact the SEN Service on 020 8323 0453 or 020 8323 0454 or email sen.team@cognus.org.uk if you have any questions.