How do I request an Education Health and Care Assessment for my child/ young person?
This is sometimes referred to as an education, health and care assessment request (EHCAR) in North Yorkshire.
Anyone can request an EHC assessment takes place including parents. The SEND Code of Practice 2015 states:
‘The following people have a specific right to ask a local authority to conduct an education, health and care needs assessment for a child or young person aged between 0 and 25: 144
- the child’s parent
- a young person over the age of 16 but under the age of 25, and
- a person acting on behalf of a school or post-16 institution (this should ideally be with the knowledge and agreement of the parent or young person where possible (Section 9.8 SEND COP 2015)’
The SEND Code of Practice 2015 goes on to say:
In addition, anyone else can bring a child or young person who has (or may have) SEN to the attention of the local authority, particularly where they think an EHC needs assessment may be necessary. This could include, for example, foster carers, health and social care professionals, early years practitioners, youth offending teams or probation services, those responsible for education in custody, school or college staff or a family friend. (Section 9.8 SEND COP 2015)
Schools can put in a request for an EHC assessment, and you may wish to discuss with school if they will submit a request. If school do agree to complete a request for an assessment, they should work with you to complete the request to make sure all the appropriate information is included.
If you feel your child/young person may need an EHCP and you wish to start the process yourself, you can write to the local authority to ask them to carry out an assessment. There are template letters you can use to do this.
Template letter 1: asking for an EHC needs assessment (ipsea.org.uk)
Template letter asking for an EHC Assessment (Contact)
If you are requesting an assessment from North Yorkshire Council (NYC) you may also want to fill in the first part of the NYC Education Health Care Assessment Request form (EHCAR). It is not legally required to fill in the form and a letter is enough to request an assessment. North Yorkshire Council do normally send the form to you when they receive your letter requesting an assessment and ask that you complete and return it. Sending the form with the request letter may save you some time.
The form gathers the views of you and your child/young person. There are other sections of the EHCAR (Assessment Request) form which, if your child/young person attends a school or setting, will be sent to them once the local authority receive your request for assessment.
EHCAR Parent + Child Views Section April 2023
You will need to provide as much evidence as you can to show that your child/young person may have special educational needs or a disability and that they may need special educational provision through an education health and care plan. You can find out what type of information you may want to include through the links and documents below.
If you have had a private assessment done by a professional, then you can submit this to the local authority as part of the assessment process to be considered.
A checklist to help for EHC needs assessments | Contact
EHCAR Webinar for Parents/Carers – YouTube
SENDIASS North Yorkshire offer regular online information sessions on Requesting an EHC Assessment – EHCAR. You can find details of when the next sessions are available through our Facebook Page or on our events section on the website.
What happens once I have submitted a request for an Education Health Care Assessment (EHCAR)?
There are statutory timescales the local authority must follow when a request for an EHC assessment is received. (See document below)
EHCP Timeline – Education Advocacy
The local authority has 6 weeks to decide if they will agree to carry out an assessment of your child/young person’s needs, and they must notify you of their decision within this timescale. (Section 4(1) SEND Regulations 2014)
If an EHC Assessment is not agreed?
If the local authority does not agree to carry out an assessment of your child/young person’s needs, you can challenge this decision. You can request a mediation meeting with the local authority, or you can appeal to the SEND Tribunal. You will have 2 months from the date on the decision letter you received from the local authority to challenge the decision. You can find more detail on how you can do this in our section on Challenging Decisions.
If an EHC assessment is agreed?
The local authority must complete the full assessment within 20 weeks of the assessment being agreed. It must notify you by week 16 of the process if an EHC plan is not going to be issued.
The local authority must seek the following advice and information as part of the EHC Assessment:
- Your views as you are the parent
- Your child/young person’s views
- Educational advice from the school, college or educational placement, normally this would be from the head teacher or principal.
- Medical advice and information from a health care professional
- Psychological advice and information from an educational psychologist
- Advice and information in relation to social care
- Advice and information from any other person the local authority thinks appropriate
- Where your child/young person is in or beyond year 9, advice and information in relation to provision to assist your child in preparation for adulthood and independent living
- Advice and information from any person you reasonably request that the local authority seek advice from. (SEND Code of Practice 2015 Section 9.49)
If this information is requested from a public service such as the NHS, they must provide it within 6 weeks unless one of the following exceptions applies –
- during that six-week period, exceptional circumstances affect you or your child/young person
- you or your child/young person are away for a continuous period of not less than four weeks, or
- you fail to keep an appointment for an examination or a test.
You can find out more about the process for an EHC assessment through the links below.
What happens in an EHC needs assessment – IPSEA
What happens after the local authority have completed the EHC Assessment?
If the local authority does not agree to issue an EHC Plan
The local authority must notify you within 16 weeks of receiving the request for an EHC assessment if it will not be issuing an EHC plan. If the local authority does not issue an EHC plan following an EHC assessment you will be able to challenge the decision either through a mediation meeting or by appealing to the SEND Tribunal. You will have 2 months from the date on the letter you received from the local authority telling you an EHCP would not be issued, to challenge the decision. You can find out more about how you can do this through our Challenging Decisions section.
If the local authority agree to issue an EHC Plan
If, following the assessment process, the local authority agree it will issue an EHC Plan for your child they will send you a draft EHC plan. The LA must allow you a minimum of 15 days to comment on the plan. Section I – name of school, will be left blank when you receive a draft and you can request the local authority consult with a specific school at this point. You have the right to request a personal budget to pay for special educational provision in Section F of the EHC plan, if a school cannot provide the required provision. The local authority must issue a final EHC plan within 20 weeks of receiving the request for an EHC Assessment.
If you challenged a refusal to assess and/or refusal to issue decision during the assessment process, then the final date for issuing an EHC plan may be over 20 weeks from the date the LA received a request for assessment. This is because timescales pause whilst these decisions are being reconsidered. However, if the LA agreed to assess or issue a plan following a challenge by a parent through mediation or a tribunal appeal there are legal timescales they must still follow. For instance, if you appealed a refusal to assess, the process must be picked up at the 6 week point therefore leaving 14 weeks to the end of the process.
The mediation process (ipsea.org.uk) – See Section 5 After the Mediation