EHCPs

Education, Health and Care plans


• An Education, Health and Care plan (“EHC plan”) is a legal document which describes
a child or young person’s special educational needs, the support they need, and the
outcomes they would like to achieve.
• The special educational provision described in an EHC plan must be provided by the
child or young person’s local authority (“LA”). This means an EHC plan can give a
child or young person extra educational support. It can also give parents and young
people more choice about which school or other setting the child or young person
can attend.
• An EHC plan can only be issued after a child or young person has gone through the
process of an Education, Health and Care needs assessment.
• Education, health and care (“EHC”) plans can be long and complicated. They are
required by law to contain certain sections, and it is important to ensure your EHC
plan matches the legal requirements. If it doesn’t, it could make it difficult to
enforce.
• In early years provision the EHCP meetings are held twice a year, for older students the
EHCP meetings take place annually.