EHCP for a Child with a Learning Disability
When a child has a learning disability, the danger at school is rarely crisis. It is drift. Nobody rings home, nothing dramatic happens, reports say "settled" and "a pleasure to have in class", and meanwhile a year passes in which very little new is learned. Parents sense it long before anyone says it out loud. An EHC plan is the tool the law provides to replace drift with a written, enforceable programme, and this guide explains how to start the process and what to insist the finished plan contains.
How a learning disability presents at school and at home
In class, the defining features are pace and retention. New ideas need to be taught in small steps, revisited many times and anchored to something concrete before they stick. A concept "mastered" on Friday may be gone by Monday, not through laziness but because that is how your child's memory works. Whole-class teaching moves on regardless, so each week the lesson is pitched a little further beyond reach. Teaching assistants fill the gap, which keeps the classroom calm but can quietly become the child's whole curriculum: an adult simplifying on the fly instead of a programme designed for how this child learns.
At home you see the other half of the picture: the life skills that need deliberate teaching rather than one demonstration. Money, time, crossing roads, making a sandwich, remembering the steps of a shower. You also see how much your child can do when someone breaks a task down properly, which is exactly the insight schools miss when they mistake slower for incapable. Keep dated notes of both: what needs teaching again and again, and what your child achieved when the teaching finally matched them.
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See a free section →The Code of Practice area: cognition and learning
Of the four broad areas of need in the SEND Code of Practice, a learning disability sits at the centre of cognition and learning, the area covering children who learn at a slower pace than their peers even with appropriate differentiation. Related needs often spread wider: speech and language difficulties belong to communication and interaction, and frustration or social isolation can add a social, emotional and mental health dimension. Name each area you recognise in your request, because those labels drive which professionals are asked for advice during the assessment.
The section 36(8) test and the trap of "making progress"
The council must assess where a child has or may have special educational needs and it may be necessary for special educational provision to be made through an EHC plan (section 36(8), Children and Families Act 2014). The word "may" appears in both limbs, which sets the bar at possibility. Councils often counter with "she is making progress". Treat that phrase with suspicion and ask three questions. Progress from what starting point? At what rate compared with the gap that needs closing? And who is delivering the support that makes it happen? Paragraph 9.14 of the Code of Practice tells councils to consider precisely this: not just attainment, but the rate of progress and whether it exists only because of intervention beyond the usual offer. Progress produced by a full-time adult at your child's elbow is evidence for an assessment, not against one.
Evidence that carries weight for a learning disability
Build the request around specifics rather than adjectives:
- Attainment data over several years, showing the widening distance from age-related expectations
- Rate-of-progress statements from school, especially anything showing targets repeated year after year
- A list of what SEN support has been in place, for how long and with what result
- How much adult support your child actually receives per day, in hours, and what happens on days it is absent
- Educational psychology or paediatric reports you already hold; regulation 7(b) obliges the council to consider what you send, private reports included
- Dated home examples: skills that need re-teaching after holidays, tasks needing step-by-step prompting, moments of success when teaching was broken down properly
Detailed parental views turn this from a pile of paper into an argument; our guide on writing parental views shows the structure that works.
"He is happy" is not provision
This sentence deserves its own section because every parent of a child with a learning disability eventually hears it. Happy is good. Happy is also the cheapest thing a school can offer, and it is not what section F of an EHC plan is for. The law requires the special educational provision in a plan to be specific and detailed: who works with your child, on what programme, how often, for how long and with what qualification. "Access to a nurturing environment" and "opportunities to consolidate learning" would enforce nothing. When the draft plan arrives, check section F line by line against the standard in our guide to what good provision looks like, and remember that under section 42 the council must secure every specified item. Vague wording is not a style problem; it is the difference between a right and a wish.
Section E outcomes worth fighting for
Section E holds the outcomes the whole plan works towards, and for children with learning disabilities the system's default settings are shamefully low. Push past "will engage with adult-led activities" and insist on outcomes that change a life: reading well enough to use a menu and a bus timetable, handling money in real shops, travelling a known route independently, communicating so that unfamiliar people understand. Outcomes shape provision, provision shapes adulthood. Aim section E at the adult you believe your child can become, then demand section F resources that match.
From Year 9: preparation for adulthood is a legal requirement
Regulation 6(1) of the SEND Regulations 2014 requires that, from Year 9 onwards, EHC needs assessments include advice and information about provision to assist the young person in preparation for adulthood and independent living. This is not an optional extra for children with learning disabilities; it is the part of the plan that decides whether adult life means independence or waiting lists. Expect the assessment and every review from Year 9 to address independent living, community participation, health and the route towards employment or supported work. A plan can then run to age 25 where the young person stays in education or training, and from the end of compulsory school age the legal rights pass to the young person themselves.
Brush-offs to refuse politely and in writing
"The school is meeting his needs from its own resources" assumes the answer to the very question an assessment investigates. "She would not cope with the testing involved" misunderstands assessments, which are built from observation and professional advice, not exams. "We only assess children below a certain percentile" or "not while he is making any progress at all" are fixed rules masquerading as judgment, and fixed rules are unlawful blanket policies. Every refusal must arrive within 6 weeks carrying your appeal rights and mediation information (regulations 5(1) and 5(3)), and form SEND35A takes the decision to the SEND Tribunal without a fee.
Want the whole request pack written for you?
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Frequently asked questions
School says my child is happy and settled. Is that not enough?
Happiness matters, but it is not provision and it is not progress. The legal question under section 36(8) is whether your child may have special educational needs and whether an EHC plan may be necessary. A settled child who is learning very little, or who only copes because of informal adult help, can meet that test comfortably. Ask what your child has actually learned each term, not how they seemed.
What does an EHC plan add that SEN support does not?
Enforceability and specificity. Once a plan exists, section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014 obliges the council to secure every piece of provision written in section F. SEN support depends on the school's budget and goodwill and can shrink without notice. For a child who will need support throughout their education, a plan converts hope into obligation.
When does preparation for adulthood start?
From Year 9. Regulation 6(1) of the SEND Regulations 2014 requires assessments from Year 9 onwards to include advice on preparation for adulthood and independent living, and reviews from Year 9 must focus on it too. For a young person with a learning disability, this covers independent living skills, community participation, health and future employment or training.
Can an EHC plan continue after school?
Yes. An EHC plan can remain in place up to age 25 for a young person who stays in education or training, which for many young people with learning disabilities covers college courses focused on independence and life skills. From the end of compulsory school age the rights under the legislation are exercised by the young person themselves.