How do I request an Education Health and Care Assessment for my child/ young person?
In North Yorkshire, an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Needs Assessment request is often called an EHCAR.
Anyone can ask for an EHC Needs Assessment for a child or young person, including parents and carers.
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 ask for an EHC Needs Assessment. You may want to talk to your child's school about whether they can make the request.
If the school agrees to ask for an assessment, they should work with you to make sure all the important information is included.
If you think your child or young person may need an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), you can ask for an assessment yourself. You can write to the local authority and ask them to carry out an EHC Needs Assessment.
There are template letters available to help you make your request.
Template letter 1: asking for an EHC needs assessment (ipsea.org.uk)
If you are asking North Yorkshire Council for an EHC Needs Assessment, you may want to fill in the first part of the EHCAR form.
You do not have to fill in this form. A letter is enough to ask for an assessment.
However, North Yorkshire Council will usually send you the form after they receive your letter and ask you to complete it. Sending the form with your letter may help save time.
The form asks for your views and your child or young person's views.
If your child or young person goes to a school, college or other setting, the local authority will send the other parts of the form to them after receiving your request.
EHCAR Parent + Child Views Section April 2023
You should send as much information as you can about your child or young person's needs. This will help show that they may have special educational needs or a disability and may need extra support through an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).
The links and documents below can help you decide what information to include.
If a professional has carried out a private assessment of your child or young person, you can send this to the local authority. They can use it as part of the assessment process.
A checklist to help for EHC needs assessments | Contact
EHCAR Webinar for Parents/Carers - YouTube
Checklist-for-EHC-assessment-.pdf
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.
We also have a webianr available to watch on our Youtube Channel via the link below.
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 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