Getting an EHC plan for your kinship child

What is an EHC plan?

An education, health and care (EHC) plan, sometimes called an EHCP, is a legal document that makes sure a child or young person gets extra support. It describes:  

• a child or young person’s special educational needs
• the support they need in school or college
• the outcomes they want to achieve 

The local authority issues EHC plans.  

An EHC plan is only issued after a child or young person has had an education, health and care needs assessment.

The EHC plan process

Talk to the school

If you think your kinship child has additional learning needs or a disability that’s holding them back from reaching their potential, start by talking to the school. Arrange to talk to a teacher, or the school’s special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO).  

The school will request an EHC needs assessment from the local authority if they cannot meet your child’s needs. 

If the school won’t support a request for an EHC needs assessment, meet with the teacher and SENCO to understand their reasons. Write down why you think your kinship child needs an EHC plan and take it to the meeting.  

If you still can’t agree, you can contact your local authority’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) for advice. Search SENDIASS and your local authority area online to find their details. 

You can then request an EHC needs assessment. 

Ask the local authority for an assessment

Several people can request an assessment for an EHC plan: 

• parents and carers with parental responsibility
• your kinship child, if they’re 16 or over and still in education
• teachers 

Others can bring a child to the attention of the local authority, but they cannot formally request an assessment, for example: 

• early years practitioners
• family friends 

If you are going to ask for an assessment, write a letter to your local authority. If their website doesn’t have a contact name, send it to the Director of Children’s Services.

Many local authorities have their own form that you can use. You’ll find it on their local offer website. Otherwise, you can use this letter template from the Independent Provider of Special Educational Advice (IPSEA) to guide you. 

In your letter, you should explain why you think: 

• your child has, or may have, special educational needs
• they may need special educational provision through an EHC plan 

You should include evidence, such as: 

• school reports
• letters about suspensions and exclusions
• reports from medical or other experts, for example an educational psychologist
• evidence that the school can’t provide the right support with their own resources 

The local authority must reply within 6 weeks. Make a note of the deadline. You can take action if they do not respond in time. 

If the local authority agrees to an assessment

The local authority will gather information about your child’s needs from: 

• you
• your child
• your child’s nursery, school or college
• the special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO)
• an educational psychologist
• health and social care services
• anyone else you or the local authority thinks is relevant 

The local authority will gather all the information and then decide whether to issue an EHC plan.  

They will draft the EHC plan and send it to everyone who gave information and evidence.  

What to do when you get the draft EHC plan

Your local authority will send you the draft EHC plan. You’ll have at least 15 days to:  

• check the draft plan to make sure it includes everything it should
• comment on it, or ask for changes
• confirm the school you would like named in the final EHC plan
• request a meeting with the local authority to talk about it, if you need to 

The local authority will then consult with the school and create the final EHC plan. 

What an EHC plan contains

Different local authorities have different templates, but EHC plans must include these 11 sections, clearly labelled.

How long it takes to get an EHC plan

It should take no longer than 20 weeks to get an EHC plan from when you first request the assessment. Here’s how long each stage should take: 

6 weeks – for the local authority to reply to your assessment request 

6 weeks – for the local authority to gather evidence and decide whether to issue a draft plan (at the most, this should be 16 weeks from when you requested the assessment) 

2 weeks – for the local authority to draft the plan and send a copy round  

15 days – for you to read through the draft and comment or suggest changes 

15 days – for the local authority to speak to the school and issue a final EHC plan 

Keep a record of when you send information to the local authority to keep track of progress. If the school sent the request, they should keep you updated. 

EHC assessment and plan appeals

If the local authority refuses the application

If you disagree with a decision made by the local authority about your child’s special educational needs, you can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal for Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND). 

The letter you receive from the local authority must give their reasons and tell you how to appeal and the timescales. 

For some appeals, you may have to consider mediation first. You might get legal aid to support you with your appeal. 

Appeal a decision not to carry out the EHC needs assessment

To appeal a decision by the local authority not to carry out an EHC needs assessment, fill out form SEND35A and send by email or post. 

Appeal a decision about the EHC plan

You can appeal the: 

• local authority’s decision to not issue an EHC plan
• description of your child’s special educational needs in section B
• description of the special educational support in section F
• nursery, school or college named in section I 

You can appeal online, or fill out form SEND35 and send by email or post. 

Changing an EHC plan

EHC plans are unlikely to stay the same over time. As your child grows, it may become out of date, or they may move to a new school or college. 

Annual reviews of EHC plans

Your local authority must review the EHC plan with you and the school at least once a year. It’s called the annual review. This is one of the only times that anyone can make changes to the EHC plan.  

The school will usually organise the meeting. They should invite you and anyone involved in your child’s education. 

Check your parental responsibility

If your kinship child has come to live with you and they already have an EHC plan, you will need to check your parental responsibility before you try to make any changes to it.  

If you are:  

• an informal kinship carer
• kinship foster carer
• private foster carer 

you don’t have parental responsibility for your kinship child. Informal kinship carers and private foster carers need to work with their child’s birth parents to come to any decisions about choosing a school. Kinship foster carers need to work with their child’s social worker. 

If you have a: 

• special guardianship order (SGO)
• child arrangements order (CAO)

you will have some or all parental responsibility. It’s still best to involve your child’s birth parents, where it’s safe to do so, in any conversations about changing their EHC plan. 

Moving schools or local authority

Your kinship child might move schools or local authority because: 

• they’re transitioning, for example from primary school to secondary
• they’re moving to a new school, for example to go to a school nearer to their new home with you
• a school placement has broken down 

Their EHC plan needs reviewing before they move, or you can request an early review. Contact the special educational needs team at your local authority. 

In the review, the local authority needs to update the EHC plan to confirm the dates of when your child will finish at their current school and move to their new school, as well as the name of the new school.

Support for the EHC plan process

Ask other carers and parents about their experiences with EHC plans

Starting the EHC plan process can seem like a daunting task. If you know of any other children in the school that have been through the EHC plan process, you can ask their parents or carers about their experiences. It’s likely they will have some advice about the process and guidance for getting through it. 

You might find other kinship carers have gone through the process. You could go to your nearest peer support group to get advice and support. Find your nearest peer support group. 

Further support services

• Council for Disabled Children
• Independent Providers of Special Educational Advice (IPSEA)
• Your local authority’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS)