Getting an EHCP or IEP to support your child’s needs
If your child needs extra support at school or nursery they might have a special educational need or disability (SEND). Their school or childcare setting can offer extra support.
If your child needs extra support, the first thing to do is to talk to the school about your child’s needs. You can then work with the school to get a support plan in place.
Depending on where you live in the UK, there are different support plans available. This page covers the plans available in England.
You can also read about:
SEN support in mainstream schools
Mainstream schools, colleges and childcare settings can provide support for most children with SEND.
If you think your child needs extra help at school or childcare setting, speak to their teacher or key person. Your child doesn’t need a diagnosis to get SEN support. If your child’s teacher has concerns about your child’s progress, they might suggest they need extra help.
All educational settings have a member of staff who is responsible for SEN support. This Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) can suggest strategies to the teacher to help support your child.
Every school must publish information about the extra support they provide. This is often called the school SEN information report. It will explain:
- who is involved in SEN support at the school
- how they will assess if a child needs extra support
- what resources they use to support children
- which outside agencies they might consult with
- how they measure children’s progress and update parents and carers
If the SENCo assesses your child and decides that they need support for SEN, they will put their name on the SEN register. This is a list of all the children in the school who need extra support.
Schools should assess whether a child needs additional support with:
- communication and interaction
- cognition and learning
- social, emotional and mental health difficulties
- sensory and physical needs
This is set out in the SEND code of practice.
A child can be removed from the SEN register if their needs change and they no longer need support.
All mainstream education settings have an annual budget to provide SEN support to meet the needs of their students. This might include:
- changing the way a child is taught (sometimes called differentiated curriculum)
- adapting resources or providing special equipment
- 1 to 1 or small group support with a staff member
- specialist groups or therapies
- advice from outside agencies like speech and language therapists
Individual education plans (IEPs) made by the school
If your child needs extra support, the school or nursery will make a plan that explains what their needs are and how they will be supported.
This is set by the school and comes from their SEN budget. Your child’s school might have their own name for it or it might be called:
- an individual education plan (IEP)
- an individual plan (IP)
- a personal learning plan (PLP)
- individual targets
- a development plan or development targets
- a graduated approach
- an individual assess, plan, do, review (I-APDR)
A school can create an IEP to support any child. This is often done before applying for an EHCP. It might be instead of an EHCP, if the school can meet your child’s needs themselves.
There isn’t a standard format for an IEP or support plan written by the school. But they usually include:
- information about your child’s needs and the areas they need support in
- short term targets for your child – these could be related to learning, communication or social and emotional skills
- what the school will put in place to help your child meet those targets
- any support required from you at home to help them meet the targets
- how they will measure if a target has been reached – this is called ‘success criteria’
- when, how and how often the targets will be reviewed
The targets in an IEP should be reviewed regularly, usually 2 or 3 times a year.
As a parent or carer, you should be included in the review. This might be done through ordinary parent teacher evenings or you might be invited to an IEP review meeting. If you’re not invited to a meeting, you can request one.
In an IEP review, the teacher or SENCo will assess whether your child has met their targets.
After the IEP review, the school will normally write a new IEP. This might include new short-term targets if your child has met their original targets, or they might suggest new ways to help them reach their targets.
If your child’s targets can’t be achieved and their needs can’t be met with the resources that are available to the school, the next step is to apply for extra help from the local authority.
Education, health and care plans (EHCPs)
If your child’s needs can’t be met by the school’s normal SEN support budget with an IEP, you can apply to your local education authority for extra support. This is called an education, health and care plan. It’s usually referred to as an EHCP or EHC Plan.
If you think your child might need an EHCP, the first thing to do is apply to your local authority for an EHC needs assessment, or EHCNA. This is to assess what, if any, extra support your child needs that the school can’t currently provide.
There are only 2 criteria to apply for an EHCNA. The local authority must assess your child if they:
- have or may have SEN
- may need special educational provision to be made through an EHCP
Children and young people can get an EHCP up to the age of 25.
Either the school or a child’s parent or carer can apply for an EHC needs assessment. Young people between 16 and 25 can apply for an assessment themselves if they would like to.
If you and your child’s school agree that your child needs extra support, you or the school can apply to your local education authority for an EHC needs assessment.
If the school offers to make the application, they might ask you to give some information about why you think your child needs an EHCP.
If you choose to apply for an assessment yourself, the school will be asked for evidence during the assessment, so it is better if the school supports the application. Read our advice on what you can do if your child’s school won’t support an EHCP application.
When you have requested an assessment, the local authority has 6 weeks to decide whether they will assess your child. If the local authority doesn’t think your child needs an assessment, it must explain why and let you know how you can appeal the decision.
If you feel that a mainstream school can’t support your child’s needs, you will usually need to apply for an EHC needs assessment as the first step in this process.
When the local authority agrees to assess your child’s needs, it will ask for advice from:
- you and your child
- your child’s school
- an educational psychologist, provided by the local authority
- a healthcare professional to give medical advice
any other agencies involved with your child, such as social services, speech and language therapists or CAHMS (child and adolescent mental health services)
The local authority will use the advice from everyone who has been consulted to decide if your child needs an EHCP. It must let you know the decision within 16 weeks of when the assessment was requested. If the local authority decides your child doesn’t need an EHCP, you can appeal the decision.
If it decides your child does need an EHCP, you will be sent a draft EHCP document. You will have 15 days to:
- make comments on the draft – this is called ‘representations’
- ask for a meeting with the local authority if you want to talk about the draft
- request a particular school or type of school is named in the final EHCP
IPSEA has information on choosing a school or college with an EHCP.
After this, the local authority will issue a final EHCP which will be reviewed every year.
The EHCP document will explain:
- what special educational needs your child has
- what support your child needs
- how this support will help your child
- which school or education setting your child will go to
Each local authority will have their own template for EHCPs, but there are sections EHCPs must include.
As your child gets older and moves through their school life, their needs are likely to change. The local authority must review your child’s EHCP at least once a year to make sure it still describes the support they need. This is called the annual review.
At the end of each review the local authority will decide if the EHCP:
- should stay the same
- should be changed
- is no longer needed
If your child’s needs change before the annual review is due, you can ask for an early review.
If you disagree with a decision that is made about your child’s EHCP, you have a right to challenge it. This could be:
- if the local authority decides not to assess your child
- if the local authority decides your child doesn’t need an EHCP after an assessment
- If you disagree with anything in your child’s EHCP
When the local authority writes to you about a decision about your child’s EHCP, it should tell you what you can do if you disagree. This will include how and when to:
- get independent advice from a service like your local SENDIAS service
- contact a mediator – an impartial professional to help you settle your disagreement
- appeal to the SEND Tribunal
The timelines for responding to EHCP applications are set out in law. If the process is delayed, you can complain to your local authority. IPSEA has more information and example letters.
Page last reviewed: February 2025
Next review due: February 2028
This advice was written by our experienced Parent Talk coaches. Parent Talk is a free online service for parents and carers, provided by the charity Action for Children. For more advice, message our parenting coaches with our online chat.
