EHCP annual review: the process and every deadline

When is an EHCP annual review due?

Within 12 months of the plan being made, and within 12 months of each review after that. The duty is in section 44(1) of the Children and Families Act 2014. It is not a duty to book a meeting near the anniversary. The Code of Practice reads it as the review being completed and the decision notified inside the 12 months.

That reading, at Code paragraph 9.169, is the one that matters in practice. It means the meeting has to be early enough that the council's four week decision still lands before the anniversary. A meeting held on day 360 of the year cannot produce a lawful decision in time. During any review the council must consult you (s.44(6)), and the conduct requirements are in regulation 19 of the SEND Regulations 2014.

The mechanics then split in two. Regulation 20 applies where your child attends a school or institution, and the council can require the head teacher to arrange the meeting (reg 20(1), (12)). Regulation 21 mirrors it where your child does not attend one. The deadlines are the same either way.

Every annual review deadline in one table

There are six deadlines in an annual review cycle, and only one of them belongs to you. The other five belong to the council or the school. Here they are in the order they happen, with the regulation on each line so you can quote it.

Put those dates in your calendar the day the meeting invitation arrives. Thefree deadline checker will do it for you from the meeting date and give you the regulation on each line.

What must happen before the meeting?

Two things, both with a two week deadline. You must be given at least two weeks notice of the meeting (reg 20(3)), and the advice and information that will be discussed must be obtained and circulated to everyone invited at least two weeks before it (reg 20(4)). Reports handed out on the day break that rule.

The people who must be invited are set out in reg 20(2): you as parent or the young person, the head teacher or principal, a SEN officer from the council, a health professional, and a social care officer from the council. In practice the council SEN officer and the health professional are the two who most often do not turn up. Their absence does not invalidate the meeting, but it does explain why so many reviews produce no decision, and it is worth recording in writing when it happens.

What must happen after the meeting?

A written report within two weeks, then the council's decision within four weeks. The report must record the recommendations and any points of disagreement, and go to everyone who was invited (regs 20(7) to 20(9)). The decision, whether the council will maintain the plan as it is, amend it, or cease it, must be notified within four weeks of the meeting (reg 20(10); CoP 9.176).

The four week decision is the most missed deadline in the whole annual review cycle. It is missed quietly, because nothing arrives, and most parents do not know a clock was running. Six months of silence after a review meeting is not a slow council, it is a breach of reg 20(10) that started 20 weeks ago.

If the council is continuing the plan unamended or ceasing it, the notice must also tell you your right to appeal, the time limits, and the mediation information required by reg 32 (reg 20(11)). A decision letter missing that information is itself defective. Where the deadline has simply passed with nothing at all, no appealable decision exists yet, so the route is the complaint ladder rather than the Tribunal:the escalation guide sets out the order to work through.

What if the council decides to amend the plan?

Then a second process starts, with its own clock. The council must send you a copy of the plan plus a notice specifying the proposed amendments and the evidence supporting them, tell you about your right to request a particular school, and give you at least 15 days to respond (reg 22(2)). It must then issue the amended final plan within eight weeks of sending that notice (reg 22(3)).

Three points parents routinely miss here.

1. The 15 days is a floor, not a cap. It is the minimum the council must allow you. You can ask for longer, and you can also require a meeting with a council officer within that window.
2. The eight weeks runs from the notice, not from the meeting. A council that sends the amendment notice four months after the review has already breached reg 20(10), and the eight week clock only starts when the notice finally goes out.
3. Deciding not to amend after all still has a deadline. If the council changes its mind, it must notify you with reasons within the same eight weeks (reg 22(4)).

Use the 15 days properly. This is your chance to fix Section F wording before it is locked in, and the same specificity rules apply as on a first draft plan. Theguide to EHCP sections A to K sets out what Section F must contain, and thedraft plan response template turns that into a letter you can send.

What can you appeal after a review?

Three outcomes of a review can be appealed. A refusal to amend or replace the plan following the review (s.51(2)(e)). A decision to cease to maintain it (s.51(2)(f)). And the contents of an amended final plan, which carries fresh appeal rights on Sections B, F and I (s.51(3)(b); reg 22(5)).

If the council decides to cease the plan, the plan and the council's duty to secure Section F provision continue until the appeal window has expired, and if you appeal, until the appeal is finally determined (s.45(4)). Nothing stops on the date of the letter. Before it can cease, the council must inform and consult you and the named institution (reg 31), and for an under 18 who is not in education the plan must be reviewed and amended to get them back into education rather than ceased (reg 29).

The appeal deadline is the same as for any other decision: two months from the date the notice was sent, or one month from your mediation certificate, whichever is later (HESC Rules 2008, r.20(1)(c)). Seehow to appeal to the SEND Tribunalfor the certificate step.

How to prepare for the meeting

The review is the one meeting each year where the plan can change without a fight, so it repays an hour of preparation. Work through these in order.

1. Diarise the four dates as soon as you have the meeting date: papers due, meeting, report due, decision due.
2. Chase the papers at the two week mark if they have not arrived, in writing, citing reg 20(4).
3. Re-read Section F line by line and mark every item that is not actually being delivered. Non-delivery is a section 42(2) breach whatever the review concludes.
4. Mark every item that is vague, for example unquantified hours, "as required", "access to". Those are the amendments to ask for.
5. Check Section B against this year's reports. New needs identified since the last review must be added, and each one needs matching provision in F.
6. Write your own short report, one page, covering what has worked, what has not, and the specific amendments you want. Send it in advance so it forms part of the papers.
7. Ask for the outcomes in Section E to be checked against where your child actually is, especially if a phase transfer is coming.
8. Take your own notes and email them round afterwards. If the written report disagrees with your record, say so in writing within the two weeks.

Transfer years: earlier, harder deadlines

In the year your child moves between phases of education, the annual review has to finish much earlier than the 12 month cycle suggests. The plan must be reviewed and, where necessary, amended to name the next school or institution before 15 February in the calendar year of transfer, or before 31 March for a move from secondary school to a post 16 institution.

These are the strongest dates in the whole framework, because regulation 18 contains no equivalent of the exemptions that let councils pause the 6, 16 and 20 week clocks. On 16 February in a transfer year, an un-amended plan is a breach with no lawful excuse, and the amended plan that follows carries a fresh right of appeal on placement. That combination is the most reliable lever parents have for getting the right school named in time for September. The full picture, including what to do once the date has passed, is inthe guide to phase transfer deadlines.