The EHC needs assessment: what actually happens
Last updated 7 August 2026. Checked against the SEND Regulations 2014 as in force.
An EHC needs assessment is the council's investigation into your child's special educational needs. It is not a test your child sits. The council must gather written advice from a fixed list of people, including you, and every professional it asks has 6 weeks to reply (SEND Regulations 2014, reg 8(1)).
What is an EHC needs assessment?
An EHC needs assessment is the stage between your request and a decision about a plan. The council collects written advice on three things: what your child's needs are, what provision those needs call for, and what outcomes the provision should achieve. It then decides whether to issue an EHC plan. Nobody grades your child, and there is no exam.
The assessment sits inside a fixed timetable. The clock started on the day the council received your original request, not on the day the assessment began. The final plan is due 20 weeks from that first date (SEND Regulations 2014, reg 13(2)), and a decision not to issue a plan is due by week 16 (reg 10(1)). If you have not sent a request yet, start withhow to apply for an EHCP.
The council must also carry out the assessment properly, not just quickly. Regulation 7 requires it to take account of your child's views, wishes and feelings, to help them take part, and to keep disruption to a minimum.
What advice must the council obtain?
The council cannot pick and choose. Regulation 6(1) of the SEND Regulations 2014 sets out eight sources of advice and information the council must seek, covering needs, provision and outcomes. Missing one out is a defect in the assessment, and it is worth checking the list against what actually lands in your case.
| Advice | Who from | Regulation |
|---|---|---|
| Your own advice and information | The child's parent, or the young person | reg 6(1)(a) |
| Educational advice | The head teacher or principal, with fall-backs specified. Secretary of State for Defence where a parent is serving in the armed forces | reg 6(1)(b) |
| Medical advice | A health care professional identified by the responsible commissioning body | reg 6(1)(c) |
| Psychological advice and information | An educational psychologist | reg 6(1)(d) |
| Social care advice | Social care | reg 6(1)(e) |
| Any other advice the council thinks appropriate | Anyone the council considers appropriate | reg 6(1)(f) |
| Preparation for adulthood and independent living | Required from year 9 onwards | reg 6(1)(g) |
| Advice from anyone you reasonably request | Named by you or by the young person | reg 6(1)(h) |
Two extra rules are easy to miss. Where your child has a hearing or vision impairment, the educational advice must come after consultation with a suitably qualified teacher (reg 6(2)). And the council must give everyone it asks for advice a copy of your representations and evidence (reg 6(3)), so what you write reaches the educational psychologist rather than sitting in a file.
How long do professionals have to reply?
Six weeks from the day they receive the request. Where the council asks a body to co-operate under section 31 of the Children and Families Act 2014, that body must comply within 6 weeks (SEND Regulations 2014, reg 8(1)). This is the deadline that catches late educational psychology reports, which are the most common single cause of a case running past week 20.
Only three things excuse it, and they are listed exactly in regulation 8(2).
| Ground | What it covers |
|---|---|
| reg 8(2)(a) | Exceptional circumstances affecting the child, the parent or the young person during the 6 weeks |
| reg 8(2)(b) | The child, parent or young person is away from the council's area for a continuous period of at least 4 weeks within the 6 weeks |
| reg 8(2)(c) | The child or young person fails to keep an appointment for an examination or test during the 6 weeks |
"We are waiting on the EP" is not an exemption. A shortage of educational psychologists does not appear anywhere in regulation 8(2), and it does not appear in the four grounds that can pause the council's own deadlines either. If advice is outstanding more than 6 weeks after it was requested, ask the council in writing for the date it made the request and quote reg 8(1). Then check where that leavesthe 20 week deadline.
A missed appointment is worth understanding properly. Regulation 8(2)(c) lets the professional take longer. It does not move the council's 6, 16 or 20 week deadlines, which the SEND Code of Practice confirms at 9.42.
What is your role as a parent?
You are a required source of evidence, not a bystander. Regulation 6(1)(a) puts advice and information from the child's parent or the young person first on the list the council must seek. Your account carries the same statutory status as the school's and the educational psychologist's, and it goes out to every other advice-giver under regulation 6(3).
You have three further levers during the assessment:
- Name anyone whose advice you want sought, under reg 6(1)(h)
- Refuse to agree to old reports being recycled, under reg 6(4), which needs your agreement as well as the council's
- Put your child's own views on record, which the council has to take account of under reg 7
Send your submission early. The council has to circulate it to the other advice-givers, and it cannot do that with a document that arrives after their reports are written.
What does a strong parent submission look like?
A strong submission is specific, dated and about need rather than about how hard the year has been. The council is deciding what provision your child requires, so write in the language of need and provision. Describe what your child cannot do without help, how often, and what happens when the help is not there.
Practical structure that works:
- A one page summary of your child's needs, grouped under communication, cognition and learning, social and emotional, and physical or sensory
- A typical day, described concretely, from waking to bedtime
- What support has been tried, when, by whom, and what happened
- What your child can do with adult support that they cannot do alone
- Your child's own views, in their words where possible
- A list of your attachments, each dated
Write for Section F. Section F of a plan has to specify the special educational provision, and vague wording there is what makes a plan unenforceable later. Give the council the specifics now: how often, for how long, delivered by whom, and to what standard. Theguide to sections A to Kexplains what each section is for and which ones are legally enforceable.
What happens after the assessment?
The council tells you the outcome, whether it proposes to issue a plan, and its reasons (Children and Families Act 2014, s.36(9)). If it decides not to issue a plan, that notice is due within 16 weeks of your original request (SEND Regulations 2014, reg 10(1)) and must include your appeal rights, the time limits and the mediation information required by regulation 32 (reg 10(3)).
If it does issue, you get a draft plan. The draft must not name a school (s.38(5)), and you must be given at least 15 calendar days to make representations, request a particular school or college, and require a meeting with a council officer (reg 13(1)). The final plan is due by week 20 (reg 13(2)). From the day it is issued, the council must secure everything in Section F, with no grace period (s.42(2)).
If the answer is no, that decision is appealable under s.51(2)(b), and parents win 95% to 99% of decided SEND Tribunal appeals (HMCTS data, analysed by Browne Jacobson). Readwhat to do when an EHCP is refusedbefore you do anything else, because the appeal clock starts on the date the notice was sent.
Either way, know your dates. Put your request date into the freeEHCP deadline checker and it will show every deadline in your case, which have passed, and the regulation behind each one.
Common questions
Is an EHC needs assessment a test my child has to pass?
No. An EHC needs assessment is a paper exercise carried out by the council. It gathers written advice about your child's needs, the provision required and the outcomes intended, from a fixed list of people set out in regulation 6(1) of the SEND Regulations 2014. Your child may be seen by an educational psychologist or a therapist as part of it, but there is no pass mark and nothing for your child to revise for.
What if we miss an appointment during the assessment?
Regulation 8(2)(c) of the SEND Regulations 2014 allows the professional who was asked for advice to take longer than 6 weeks if the child or young person failed to keep an appointment for an examination or test. It does not extend the council's own 6 week, 16 week or 20 week deadlines. The SEND Code of Practice confirms this at 9.42. Rebook as soon as you can, and keep the correspondence.
Can the council reuse an old report instead of getting new advice?
Only with your agreement. Regulation 6(4) of the SEND Regulations 2014 says existing advice may be used instead of fresh advice only if the person who gave it, the council and the parent or young person all agree that it is sufficient. If you do not think a two year old report reflects your child now, say so in writing and the council must seek fresh advice.
Can I ask the council to get advice from a particular person?
Yes. Regulation 6(1)(h) of the SEND Regulations 2014 requires the council to seek advice and information from any person the child's parent or the young person reasonably requests. Name the person, say what they can speak to and why it is relevant, and put the request in writing early so the 6 week advice clock in regulation 8(1) has time to run.
Does an assessment mean my child will definitely get a plan?
No. After the assessment the council decides whether it is necessary for special educational provision to be made in accordance with an EHC plan (Children and Families Act 2014, s.37(1)). If it decides not to issue a plan it must tell you within 16 weeks of your original request, with reasons and with appeal rights (SEND Regulations 2014, reg 10(1); CFA s.36(9)). That decision can be appealed under s.51(2)(b).
Not sure where your case stands? The free deadline checker turns your dates into every legal deadline that applies, with the regulation cited on each one.
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