How to apply for an EHCP
Last updated 7 August 2026. Checked against the SEND Regulations 2014 as in force.
To apply for an EHCP in England you send your council a written request for an EHC needs assessment. A parent, a young person aged 16 or over, or the school can ask. The council must decide within 6 weeks (SEND Regulations 2014, reg 5(1)). If it agrees, the final plan is due within 20 weeks.
Who can apply for an EHCP?
Three people can make a formal request: the child's parent, a young person aged 16 or over, and a person acting on behalf of a school or post-16 institution. That is set out in section 36(1) of the Children and Families Act 2014. You do not need the school to agree, and you do not need a professional to make the request for you.
Anyone else can still bring a child to the council's attention. A health visitor, a nursery worker or a grandparent who raises a concern triggers the council's duty under section 36(3), read with section 24, even though it is not a formal section 36(1) request. The council then has to go through the same process.
| Who | What the law says | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| The child's parent | CFA 2014, s.36(1) | A direct legal right. No permission needed from anyone. |
| A young person aged 16 or over | CFA 2014, s.36(1) | From the end of compulsory school age the request is theirs to make. |
| Someone acting for a school or post-16 institution | CFA 2014, s.36(1) | Useful, but not a substitute for your own request if the school delays. |
| Anyone else who raises a concern | CFA 2014, s.36(3) with s.24 | Not a formal request, but the council still has to consider assessing. |
What goes in the request letter?
A request letter needs to do one job: tell the council, in writing, that you are asking for an EHC needs assessment under section 36(1) of the Children and Families Act 2014. There is no official form and no minimum length. A short, clear letter with evidence attached is stronger than a long one without.
Include all of this:
- Your child's full name, date of birth and address
- The school, college or nursery they attend
- A clear sentence saying you are requesting an EHC needs assessment under section 36(1) of the Children and Families Act 2014
- A short description of your child's special educational needs
- What support the school is already giving, and why it is not enough
- The date you are sending it
- A list of what you have attached
- A request that the council confirms in writing the date it received your request
Send it by email. The 6 week clock starts on the day the council receives your request. An email dates itself and gives you proof. Ask for written confirmation of the received date and keep it. That single date drives every other deadline in your case, so it is worth being sure about.
Evidence is what turns a request into a case. You do not need to have everything, and a missing report is not a reason to wait. Send what you have now.
| What to attach | Why it helps |
|---|---|
| A short written account of your child's needs, day to day | Shows the council what the needs look like in practice, not just on paper |
| School reports and the SEN support plan or provision map | Shows what has already been tried and how long for |
| Any professional reports you already hold | Independent evidence of need, for example from a paediatrician, speech and language therapist or occupational therapist |
| Attendance and behaviour records | Shows the impact of needs that are not being met |
| A note of support tried and what happened next | Goes straight to the legal test: whether provision may be necessary through a plan |
How long does the council have to decide?
Six weeks. The council must tell you whether or not it is going to carry out an EHC needs assessment as soon as practicable, and in any event within 6 weeks of receiving your request. That is regulation 5(1) of the SEND Regulations 2014. If it decides not to assess, the refusal notice is due in the same 6 weeks under regulation 4(1), and it must give reasons (Children and Families Act 2014, s.36(5)(a)).
Before deciding, the council must consult you (s.36(4) and reg 3). If it is thinking about assessing, it must also notify the health commissioning body, its own social care officers and the school or setting (reg 4(2)).
There are four narrow grounds that can excuse the 6 week deadline, listed in regulation 5(4). They cover a school or early years setting closed for at least four weeks, exceptional personal circumstances, and the family being away from the area for at least four weeks. Staff shortages, a backlog of cases and a shortage of educational psychologists are not on that list and never excuse a missed deadline.
Day 42 and nothing has arrived? That is a missed statutory deadline unless one of the four narrow grounds in reg 5(4) applies, and the council should have told you if it was relying on one. Our guide towhat to do when the council misses a deadlinesets out the escalation ladder, from a chase email citing the regulation through to the Ombudsman.
What is the legal test for an assessment?
The threshold is low, and it is lower than most parents expect. The council must secure an assessment where the child or young person "has or may have special educational needs" and it "may be necessary" for special educational provision to be made in accordance with an EHC plan. That is section 36(8) of the Children and Families Act 2014.
Has or may have special educational needs, and itmay be necessary for special educational provision to be made in accordance with an EHC plan.
Children and Families Act 2014, s.36(8)
Read the word "may" twice, because it is doing all the work. The question at this stage is not whether your child will definitely get a plan. It is whether they might need one. The council does not have to be sure. It only has to accept that a plan may turn out to be necessary. A council that refuses because it is not yet convinced a plan is needed has answered a different question from the one the law asks.
The test is also not about diagnosis, not about how far behind your child is in numbers, and not about whether the school has spent a set amount first. None of those appear in section 36(8).
What happens if the council says yes?
If the council agrees, it starts the EHC needs assessment. It gathers written advice from a fixed list of people, including you, and then decides whether to issue a plan. The whole process from your original request to a final plan has to be done within 20 weeks (SEND Regulations 2014, reg 13(2)).
The council must seek advice from you, the school, a health care professional, an educational psychologist, social care and anyone else it thinks appropriate, plus anyone you reasonably ask for (reg 6(1)). Every professional the council asks has 6 weeks from the request to reply (reg 8(1)). Late educational psychology reports are the single most common cause of delay, and reg 8(1) is the regulation to quote when chasing one. Our guide to what happens in an EHC needs assessmentcovers the advice list and how to make your own submission count.
If the council decides not to issue a plan after assessing, it must tell you within 16 weeks of your original request (reg 10(1) and s.36(9)).
If it decides to issue, it sends you a draft plan. The draft must not name a school (s.38(5)), and you get at least 15 calendar days to make representations, ask for a particular school and request a meeting (reg 13(1)). Use that window. Thesections A to K guide shows what each part of the plan has to do and where vague wording usually hides.
Week 16 is not a draft plan deadline. There is no free-standing legal deadline for sending the draft. Week 16 is the deadline for telling you the council will not issue a plan (reg 10(1)). The SEND Code of Practice timescales flowchart puts drafting and the 15 day consultation around weeks 14 to 18 so that week 20 can be met (CoP 9.44). Treat a draft that has not arrived by week 16 as a warning sign, not as a breach. The breach is missingthe 20 week deadline.
What happens if the council says no?
You appeal. A refusal to carry out an EHC needs assessment is appealable to the First-tier Tribunal under section 51(2)(a) of the Children and Families Act 2014, and so is a refusal to issue a plan after assessment under section 51(2)(b). Refusal is common and it is not a verdict on your child.
26.6%
Share of the 162,700 EHC needs assessment requests refused by councils in 2025. Source: Department for Education, 2025.
Check the refusal letter carefully. When a council refuses to assess it must also tell you about your right to appeal, the time limits, the mediation information required by regulation 32, and the availability of disagreement resolution and information and advice services (reg 5(3)). A refusal notice missing those is defective, and it is worth saying so in writing.
Then move quickly, because two clocks start when the notice is sent. You have 2 months to contact a mediation adviser (reg 33) and 2 months to appeal from the date the notice was sent, or 1 month from the date of a mediation certificate if that is later (Tribunal Procedure Rules, r.20(1)(c)). Our guide on what to do when an EHCP is refusedwalks through both routes in order, and there is atemplate letter for challenging a refusal to assessyou can adapt.
The full EHCP application timeline
From your request to a final plan is 20 weeks. The 6 week, 16 week and 20 week clocks all start on the same day, which is the day the council receives your request, and they run at the same time rather than one after another. Week 20 is day 140.
| When | What must happen | Who | Law |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 0 | The council receives your written request | You | CFA 2014, s.36(1) |
| By week 6 | The council tells you whether it will assess, with reasons if it refuses | Council | SEND Regs regs 5(1) and 4(1); CFA s.36(5)(a) |
| From week 6 | Advice is requested. Each professional asked must reply within 6 weeks of the request | Professionals | SEND Regs regs 6(1) and 8(1) |
| By week 16 | If the council has decided not to issue a plan, it must notify you by now | Council | SEND Regs reg 10(1); CFA s.36(9) |
| Around weeks 14 to 18 | Draft plan sent. This is an expectation in the Code of Practice, not a statutory deadline | Council | CoP 9.44 timescales flowchart |
| At least 15 days from the draft | Your window to comment, ask for a school and request a meeting | You | SEND Regs reg 13(1); CFA s.38(2) |
| By week 20 (day 140) | Final EHC plan issued and sent to you, the named setting and the commissioning body | Council | SEND Regs reg 13(2) |
| From the day the final plan is issued | Everything in Section F must actually be delivered. There is no grace period | Council | CFA 2014, s.42(2) |
You are not alone in this queue. There were 638,745 EHC plans in place in England in January 2025, up 10.8% on the year before, and 110,700 new plans were made in 2025, up 13.3% (DfE). Demand is rising faster than councils are keeping up, which is exactly why the dates matter.
Once you have your request date, put it into the freeEHCP deadline checker. It works out every deadline that applies to your case, tells you which ones have passed, and cites the regulation on each line so you can quote it back to the council.
Common questions
Can I apply for an EHCP without the school agreeing?
Yes. Section 36(1) of the Children and Families Act 2014 gives the right to request an assessment directly to the child's parent and to a young person aged 16 or over. The school can also request one, but you do not need its permission or its signature. School evidence helps your case, so ask for copies of reports, but a school saying no does not stop you sending the request.
How long does an EHCP application take?
The council must tell you whether it will assess within 6 weeks of receiving your request (SEND Regulations 2014, reg 5(1)). If it assesses and decides to issue a plan, the final EHC plan is due within 20 weeks of your original request (reg 13(2)). If it assesses and decides not to issue a plan, it must tell you within 16 weeks (reg 10(1)). All three clocks start on the same day and run at the same time.
Does my child need a diagnosis to get an EHCP?
No. The legal test in section 36(8) of the Children and Families Act 2014 does not mention a diagnosis. It asks whether the child or young person has or may have special educational needs, and whether it may be necessary for special educational provision to be made in accordance with an EHC plan. A diagnosis can be useful evidence, but a council that refuses only because there is no diagnosis is applying the wrong test.
What happens if the council refuses to assess?
A refusal to carry out an EHC needs assessment can be appealed to the First-tier Tribunal (Children and Families Act 2014, s.51(2)(a)). The refusal letter must give reasons and must tell you about your appeal rights, the time limits and mediation (SEND Regulations 2014, regs 4(1) and 5(3)). In 2025 councils refused 26.6% of the 162,700 assessment requests they received (DfE), and parents win 95% to 99% of decided SEND Tribunal appeals (HMCTS data, analysed by Browne Jacobson).
Can a school apply for an EHCP for my child?
Yes. Section 36(1) allows a person acting on behalf of a school or post-16 institution to request an EHC needs assessment. Other people, such as a health visitor or a nursery, can also bring a child to the council's attention, which triggers the same duty to consider an assessment under section 36(3).
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.
Check your deadlines, free