The SEND Code of Practice

Module 3 – Assessments and Plans

This module goes into more detail about Education, Health and Care assessments and plans (EHC plans).

The majority of children will have their needs met without the need for an EHC needs assessment. However, some
children and young people may require an assessment so that the local authority can decide whether an EHC plan is
necessary.

The purpose of an EHC plan is to make special educational provision available to meet the SEN of the child or young
person in order to secure the best possible outcomes for them across education, health and social care and, as they
get older, prepare them for adulthood.

A local authority must conduct an assessment of EHC needs when it considers that it may be necessary for special
educational provision to be made for the child or young person. An EHC needs assessment will not always lead to an
EHC plan. The information gathered during an EHC needs assessment may indicate ways in which the school, college
or other provider can meet the child or young person’s needs without a plan.

A request for an EHC needs assessment can be made by the child’s parent, a young person aged 16-24, and/or a
person acting on behalf of a school or post-16 institution. The local authority must send notice to the child’s parents
that it is considering an assessment and ask for their views. The parent has 15 days to respond.

Deciding whether to assess

The local authority will need to take into account a wide range of evidence, and should pay particular attention to:

• the child or young person’s attainment and their rate of progress

• information about the nature, extent and context of the child’s SEN

• evidence of the action already taken to meet the child or young person’s SEN

• evidence of the child or young person’s physical, emotional and social development and health needs

• evidence that where progress has been made, it has only been as the result of much additional intervention

• where a young person is aged over 18, the local authority must consider whether the young person requires
additional time to complete their education or training.

Local authorities may develop criteria as guidelines to help them decide whether to assess, but they must be
prepared to depart from their guidelines when appropriate. They must not apply a blanket policy to particular
groups of children or certain types of need. The local authority must decide within a maximum of six weeks from
receiving the request, and when informing the parents of their decision they must give reasons for it.

If the local authority decides to assess they must ensure the parent and child or young person is fully involved in the
process.

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The process should be well coordinated and should:

• focus on the child or young person as an individual

• enable children and young people and their parents to express their views, wishes and feelings

• enable children, young people and their parents to be part of the decision-making process

• be easy for children, young people and their parents or carers to understand, and use clear ordinary
language and images rather than professional jargon

• highlight the child or young person’s strengths and capabilities

• enable the child or young person, and those that know them best to say what they have done, what they are
interested in and what outcomes they are seeking in the future

• tailor support to the needs of the individual

• organise assessments to minimise demands on families

• bring together relevant professionals to discuss and agree the overall approach, and deliver an outcomes-
focused and coordinated plan for the child or young person and their parents.

The whole process from the point of request for an EHC assessment to the issuing of the final EHC plan should take
no more than 20 weeks.

Advice and information for EHC needs assessment

The local authority must seek written advice from:

• parents or the young person

• school/early years provider/post 16 institution (educational)

• doctors (medical)

• psychologists

• Social Care (including if necessary children in need or child protection assessments).

In addition, from year nine onwards, they must seek advice on what to provide to assist the young person to prepare
for adulthood and independent living.

The local authority may also seek any other relevant advice including the following:

• Early Help Assessments

• the wishes of the child

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aspects, Tes Global Ltd exclude their liability of the consequences of any errors, omission or incorrect statements to the fullest extent permitted by law and Tes Global Ltd make no warranty or
representation as to the accuracy, completeness or fitness for purpose of any statements or other content in the course.

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 • if the parent is in the Armed Forces, from Service Children’s Education

• designated persons and a Virtual School Head for looked after children

• Youth Offending Teams.

Deciding to issue an EHC plan

When deciding to issue a plan the local authority should take account both of the child’s needs and the resources
available to education providers. Where a local authority decides not to issue a plan it must ensure that the child’s
parents or young person are aware of the resources available to meet SEN within mainstream provision and other
support set out in the Local Offer.

The local authority should provide written feedback collected during the EHC needs assessment process. This is to
help the early years provider, school or post-16 institution decide how they can best provide SEN support.

Writing an EHC plan

Decisions about the content should be made openly and collaboratively with parents, children and young people.

Plans should be clear, concise, understandable and accessible to parents, children, young people and professionals.
The plan should be written so that professionals in any local authority can understand it.

• EHC plans should describe positively what the child can do and has achieved.

• They must specify the outcomes for the child. Outcomes must be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable,
realistic and time-bound).

• They should show how education, health and care provision will be coordinated to best achieve outcomes.

• Plans should be forward looking and anticipate and plan for important transitions.

• They should describe how informal (family and community) support as well as formal support from statutory
agencies can help to achieve the outcomes.

• Plans should have a review date.

Content of the EHC plan

The format of the EHC plan will be agreed locally. The EHC plan is expected to reflect the principles outlined in the
first chapter of the Code of Practice. The Code of Practice also sets out the sections that must be included as a
minimum.

Section A – The views, interests and aspirations of the child and their parents.

Section B – The child’s special educational needs. All of the child’s identified special educational needs must be
specified. Special educational needs may include needs for health and social care provision that are treated as SEN
provision because they educate or train the child.

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aspects, Tes Global Ltd exclude their liability of the consequences of any errors, omission or incorrect statements to the fullest extent permitted by law and Tes Global Ltd make no warranty or
representation as to the accuracy, completeness or fitness for purpose of any statements or other content in the course.

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Section C – The child’s health needs that are related to the SEN.

Section D – The child’s social care needs that are related to their SEN or disability.

Section E – The outcomes sought for the child, including outcomes for adult life.

Section F – The special educational provision required by the child. Provision must be detailed and specific and
should normally be quantified. Health or social care provision that educates or trains the child or young person must
appear in this section.

Section G – Any health provision reasonably required by the learning difficulties or disabilities which result in the
child having SEN.

Section H1 – Any social care provision which must be made.

Section H2 – Any other social care provision reasonably required.

Section I – The name and type of school to be attended (will be left blank).

Section J – Details of any Personal Budget.

Section K – The advice and information gathered during the EHC needs assessment.

Outcomes

EHC plans must include outcomes, which are not the same as aspirations. An outcome is the benefit or difference
made to an individual as a result of an intervention. Outcomes should be personal and not expressed from a service
perspective. They are not a description of a provision, but rather an achievement, eg three hours of speech and
language therapy is not an outcome; what the three hours will achieve is the outcome.

Agreeing health provision

Health provision to meet ‘the reasonable health’ needs of children and young people with SEN or disabilities should
be described in the Local Offer. Health or social care provision that educates or trains must be treated as SEN and
made on an individual basis under Section B of the plan.

Parents’ rights to make representations

Parents have 15 days from the date of the draft EHC plan to make representations.

Requests for a particular school, college or other institution

The Code sets out parents’ rights to express a preference for a particular school, college or other institution. The
local authority must name parents' preference provided that it is:

• suitable for the child’s special educational needs

• not incompatible with the efficient education of other children

Whilst Tes Global Ltd have made every effort to ensure that the courses and their content have been devised and written by leading experts who have ensured that they reflect best practice in all
aspects, Tes Global Ltd exclude their liability of the consequences of any errors, omission or incorrect statements to the fullest extent permitted by law and Tes Global Ltd make no warranty or
representation as to the accuracy, completeness or fitness for purpose of any statements or other content in the course.

No part of this material may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system
without permission in writing by Tes Global Ltd.
 • an efficient use of local authority resources.

A preference cannot be refused as incompatible with the efficient use of resources unless it has been demonstrated
that no reasonable steps can be taken to prevent the incompatibility.

Personal budgets

A personal budget is an amount of money or resources set aside to deliver the outcomes in an EHC plan. Young
people and parents of children have a right to ask the local authority to prepare a personal budget once the
authority has completed the assessment and confirmed that it will prepare an EHC plan. Funding can come from
education, health and social care.

Delivering personal budgets

There are different ways of delivering a personal budget.

• Personal budgets may include direct payments – where individuals receive the cash to contract, purchase
and manage services themselves.

• An arrangement – whereby the local authority, school or college holds the funds and commissions the
support specified in the plan (sometimes called notional budgets).

• Third party arrangements – where funds (direct payments) are paid to and managed by an individual or
organisation on behalf of the child’s parents or the young person.

• A combination of the above.

Local authorities must provide information on personal budgets as part of the Local Offer. They should have a policy
that outlines the services (education, health and social care) that are currently suitable for use with a personal
budget, including how funding is made available, what eligibility criteria apply and how decisions are made.

In summary

This module has focused on EHC needs assessments and EHC plans and what they should cover.

You are now ready to complete the questionnaire. Click ‘Questionnaire 3’ to undertake the questionnaire.

Whilst Tes Global Ltd have made every effort to ensure that the courses and their content have been devised and written by leading experts who have ensured that they reflect best practice in all
aspects, Tes Global Ltd exclude their liability of the consequences of any errors, omission or incorrect statements to the fullest extent permitted by law and Tes Global Ltd make no warranty or
representation as to the accuracy, completeness or fitness for purpose of any statements or other content in the course.

No part of this material may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system
without permission in writing by Tes Global Ltd.