ISP vs EHCP: What Parents Need to Know in 2026

Updated 4 July 2026 · Legal citations verified against legislation.gov.uk

If you have seen headlines about EHCPs being replaced by something called an Individual Support Plan, and you are now wondering whether there is any point applying, this article is for you. The short answer: the proposals are real, the panic is premature and the law that protects your child today has not changed by a single word. Here is what has actually been proposed, how an ISP would differ from an EHCP and what it all means if you are thinking about requesting an assessment now.

Where the ISP idea comes from

On 23 February 2026 the Government published a white paper called "Every Child Achieving and Thriving", setting out proposals to reform the SEND system in England. A white paper is a statement of intent: it describes what the Government would like to legislate for, then invites views. The consultation on these proposals closed on 18 May 2026 and, at the time of writing, the outcome has not been published.

That status matters. Nothing in a white paper changes the law. The Children and Families Act 2014 and the SEND Regulations 2014 remain in force exactly as they were written, and every duty they place on local authorities still applies today. Everything described in the next two sections is a proposal, and proposals may change.

What an Individual Support Plan is proposed to be

Under the proposals, an Individual Support Plan would be a digital record of the day-to-day support a child with special educational needs receives. Think of it as a live, shareable account of what is in place for a child, rather than a statutory document produced through a formal assessment process.

Beyond that headline, the honest answer to most detailed questions is that nobody knows yet. What legal weight an ISP would carry, how it would be enforced, exactly which children would have one and how the paperwork would move between settings are all questions the consultation process exists to work through. Anyone speaking about ISPs with certainty in 2026 is guessing.

How an ISP would differ from an EHCP under the proposals

An EHC plan today is a statutory document with teeth. It is built through a formal assessment, it is structured into sections A to K (regulation 12 of the SEND Regulations 2014), the local authority is legally required to secure the special educational provision in section F (section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014) and parents have rights of appeal to an independent tribunal over the needs in section B, the provision in section F and the placement in section I (section 51(2)). It runs on fixed timescales and must be reviewed within every 12 months (section 44).

Under the white paper's proposals, that kind of statutory plan would be reserved for children with the most complex needs, while ISPs would record day-to-day support for a wider group. Where exactly the line between the two would fall, and what rights would attach to each, is precisely what has not been decided. Until the consultation outcome and any eventual legislation say otherwise, the comparison is between a legal document that exists and a concept that is still being designed.

The timeline reality

The Government has said there will be no changes to the support received through EHCPs before at least September 2030. Before any new system could operate, the consultation outcome would need to be published, legislation would need to be drafted and passed by Parliament and a transition would need to be designed and implemented. Proposals can be softened, reshaped or dropped along the way.

Set that against your child's timeline. A child struggling in Year 4 today will be in secondary school before the earliest possible date anything changes. Your child's education runs on this year's timetable, not on 2030's. Decisions about support have to be made in the system that exists, and the system that exists is the Children and Families Act 2014.

What this means if you are applying now

Current law applies in full, and it is worth spelling out what that includes:

• The section 36(8) test is unchanged: the council must assess if your child has or may have special educational needs and it may be necessary for special educational provision to be made through an EHC plan. The threshold is deliberately low and no diagnosis is required.
• The deadlines are unchanged: a decision on whether to assess within 6 weeks (regulation 5(1)) and a final plan within 20 weeks of the request (regulation 13(2)).
• The protections are unchanged: section 42 enforceability, annual reviews and full appeal rights, with no fee for a SEND appeal.

The system is also still operating at scale. Department for Education figures from January 2026 show 718,800 children and young people with EHC plans, up 12.5% in a year, the largest annual rise since 2014. Councils received 162,700 requests during 2025 and issued 110,700 new plans, up 13.3%. Whatever the headlines say, assessments are being carried out and plans are being issued, right now, under the current law. And a plan secured now falls squarely within the Government's own commitment: no changes to the support received through EHCPs before at least September 2030. If you are ready to start, our guide to requesting an EHC needs assessment walks through every step.

The "wait for the new system" trap

Some parents are being advised, sometimes casually and sometimes by professionals who should know better, to hold off applying until the reforms land. Occasionally a school or council hints at the same thing. Be very clear about this: citing the white paper to refuse or delay support today has no legal basis. A white paper is not law, and the duties in the Children and Families Act 2014 bind local authorities until Parliament says otherwise.

If a council refused to assess "because the system is changing", that would be a decision made on something other than the section 36(8) test, the same species of error as any other blanket policy. A refusal must come with your appeal rights, time limits and mediation information (regulation 5(3)), and the tribunal route remains open and effective: in 2024/25, 99% of decided SEND appeals went in the family's favour (Ministry of Justice tribunal statistics). Waiting, by contrast, has a guaranteed cost: months of your child's schooling spent without the support an assessment might have secured.

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