EHCP Questions Answered: What the Law Actually Says (2026)

Most EHCP questions have a short, definite answer in the law. The trouble is that the answer usually sits in one clause of an Act that nobody hands parents. Here they are in one place, each with the section it comes from, so you can quote it back if you need to.

What is an EHCP?

An Education, Health and Care plan is a legal document that sets out a child or young person’s special educational needs, the outcomes sought, the special educational provision they need, and any health and social care provision linked to those needs (section 37(2)). It is made by the local authority after an EHC needs assessment, and it covers children and young people up to 25.

Is an EHCP legally binding?

Yes. Once a council maintains an EHC plan, it must secure the special educational provision specified in it (section 42(2)). If the plan specifies health care provision, the responsible health body must arrange it (section 42(3)). That is why the wording of the provision section matters so much: vague phrases such as “access to” or “opportunities for” are hard to enforce, while specific, quantified provision is not.

Which part of an EHCP is legally binding?

The special educational provision specified in the plan is the part the council must secure under section 42(2), and the health care provision is the part the health body must arrange under section 42(3). The description of needs matters because the provision must meet them, and the school or institution named in the plan must admit the child (section 43).

Can a parent apply for an EHCP?

Yes. A parent can ask the local authority for an EHC needs assessment directly, and so can a young person or someone acting for a school or college (section 36(1)). You do not need the school’s agreement. The council must tell you within 6 weeks if it decides not to assess (regulation 4 of the 2014 Regulations). Our free EHC needs assessment request letter generator writes the request on the legal test.

How do I apply for an EHCP?

Write to your council’s SEND team asking for an EHC needs assessment under section 36 of the Children and Families Act 2014. Say why your child has or may have special educational needs, what support has been tried, and attach any reports. The council must assess if it thinks your child has or may have special educational needs and that it may be necessary to make provision through an EHC plan (section 36(8)). The full timeline is in our EHCP process guide.

Can you get an EHCP without a diagnosis?

Yes. The law defines special educational needs by need, not by label: a child has special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty or disability that calls for special educational provision (section 20(1)), and a learning difficulty means a significantly greater difficulty in learning than most children of the same age (section 20(2)). A diagnosis can be good evidence, but it is not a condition of getting a plan.

Can you get an EHCP for mental health or anxiety?

Yes, if it meets the same test. A mental health condition counts where it causes a significantly greater difficulty in learning, or a disability that stops a child using the facilities other children use, and that calls for special educational provision (section 20). The question is always the effect on learning and the provision needed, not the name of the condition.

Can you get an EHCP for dyslexia?

Yes, on the same test. Dyslexia leads to a plan where the difficulty in learning is significantly greater than for most children of the same age and calls for special educational provision the school cannot make from its ordinary support (section 20). Many children with dyslexia are supported without a plan; the ones who get one are those whose needs go beyond that.

How long does it take to get an EHCP?

The legal maximum is 20 weeks from the council receiving the request to the final plan: 6 weeks to decide whether to assess, a decision on whether to issue a plan within 16 weeks, then a draft you have at least 15 days to comment on (regulations 4, 10 and 13). In 2025 only 45.5% of plans in England were issued within the 20 weeks. See how your council compares.

Why would an EHCP be refused?

A council can only refuse to assess if it decides it is not necessary for provision to be made through an EHC plan, and it must give you its reasons in writing (section 36(5)). Refusals often lean on things that are not the legal test, such as no diagnosis, the school not having tried everything, or some progress being made. In 2025 councils refused 29% of the requests they decided. You can appeal a refusal to the SEND Tribunal; of the appeals that reached a decision in 2024/25, 99% went the appellant’s way.

Do EHCPs get reviewed?

Yes. The council must review the plan within 12 months of first making it and within every 12 months after that (section 44(1)). After the review meeting it has four weeks to say whether it will keep, amend or cease the plan. Every deadline is in our EHCP annual review timeline.

How long does an EHCP last?

Until the council stops maintaining it, which it can only do in the circumstances below. It can continue to maintain a plan for a young person until the end of the academic year in which they turn 25 (section 46). A plan does not end automatically at 16 or 18.

Can an EHCP be taken away?

Only in two situations: the council is no longer responsible for the child, or it decides the plan is no longer necessary, for example because the child no longer needs the special educational provision in it (section 45(1) and (2)). For a child under 18 it can only cease the plan if it decides provision through a plan is no longer necessary (regulation 29). And it cannot actually stop maintaining the plan until the time to appeal has passed, or any appeal has been decided (section 45(4)).

What happens when an EHCP is ceased?

You can appeal the decision to cease to the SEND Tribunal, and while that appeal is running the council must keep maintaining the plan (section 45(4)). For a young person over 18 who has stopped attending education, the council must review the plan and find out whether they want to return before it can cease it (regulation 30).

Can a final EHCP be changed?

Yes. A plan can be amended after a review, and a parent or the school can ask for a re-assessment, which the council must carry out on request (section 44(2)). If you disagree with the needs, provision or placement in a final plan, you can appeal to the SEND Tribunal.

Can a school refuse to be named on an EHCP?

A school can give its views, but it does not decide. When you ask for a particular school, the council must consult it and must name it unless it is unsuitable for your child, or your child being there would be incompatible with the efficient education of others or the efficient use of resources (section 39(3) and (4)). Once a state school, academy, college, non-maintained special school or approved independent special school is named, it must admit your child (section 43).

Can an EHCP name a private school?

The duty to name the school you ask for applies to state schools, academies, further education colleges, non-maintained special schools and independent special schools approved under section 41 (section 38(3)). A mainstream independent school is not on that list, so the council does not have the same duty to name it. Whether a council will fund a private place depends on whether it is needed to meet your child’s needs, and that is worth taking advice on.

Does an EHCP come with funding?

Not as a sum paid to you. The plan specifies provision that the council must secure (section 42(2)), and the cost sits with the council and the school. You can ask the council to prepare a personal budget, an amount identified to secure particular provision in the plan with you involved in arranging it, and it must prepare one if you ask (section 49).

What is an EHCP personal budget?

An amount of money the council identifies as available to secure particular provision specified in the plan, so that you or your young person can be involved in arranging it (section 49(2)). The council must prepare one if you ask, while it maintains or is preparing the plan (section 49(1)). Part or all of it can be paid to you as direct payments, under rules in regulations.

Can you have an EHCP if your child is home educated?

Yes. The right to ask for an assessment does not depend on being on a school roll, and a home educated child can hold a plan. Where you have made suitable alternative arrangements, the council’s duty to secure the provision in the plan does not apply (section 42(5)), but the plan stays in place and is still reviewed every year. See deregistering a child with an EHCP.

When were EHC plans introduced?

On 1 September 2014, when Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014 came into force and EHC plans replaced statements of special educational needs.

Is an EHCP the same as SEN support?

No. SEN support is the help a school gives from its own resources. An EHC plan is a statutory plan made by the council when a child needs more than that, and the council then has a legal duty to secure the provision in it (section 42). A school plan such as an IEP or support plan is not legally binding in the same way.

If you are at the start, our SEND hub gathers everything we have on EHCPs, including free tools. Figures on this page come from the Department for Education’s EHC plan statistics for calendar year 2025 and the Ministry of Justice tribunal statistics for 2024/25.