School Won't Apply for an EHCP? You Can

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

"We don't think it's the right time." "The council would never agree at this stage." "Let's give it another term." If you have asked the school to apply for an EHC needs assessment and been met with some version of these, here is the single most important thing to know: you do not need the school. Parents have their own legal right to request an assessment, the school cannot block it and the council must deal with you directly. This guide explains that right, why schools so often hesitate and how to use your route while keeping the relationship with the school warm, because you will be working with them for years yet.

Your independent right under section 36(1)

Section 36(1) of the Children and Families Act 2014 says a request for an EHC needs assessment may be made by the child's parent, by a young person over 16 themselves or by a person acting on behalf of a school or post-16 institution. Those are three separate routes, and nothing in the law ranks them. A parental request is not a lesser request, it does not need the school's signature and it is decided against exactly the same statutory test as a school's request. If you want the full picture of who can apply, see our guide to who can request an EHC assessment.

That test, in section 36(8), is deliberately low: 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. May have and may be necessary. No diagnosis is required by law and the threshold for assessing is lower than the threshold for issuing a plan.

Why schools hesitate (and why it is not about your child)

It helps to understand what is usually behind the reluctance, because it is rarely a considered legal judgement about your child.

• Workload. A SENCO is often responsible for a large number of children with a small amount of time. An assessment request means paperwork, meetings and evidence gathering, and "next term" is when there might be breathing room.
• Funding myths. Many schools genuinely believe they must spend a set amount from their SEN budget before anyone can apply. No such rule exists in the Act or the Regulations. It is a myth that circulates because it sounds plausible.
• "Wait and see". Schools see many children make progress with time, so waiting feels reasonable from where they sit. But the legal question is not whether things might improve one day; it is whether your child may have needs that may require a plan now.
• Anticipated refusal. Some schools have applied before, been refused and concluded the council "never says yes". With local authorities receiving 162,700 assessment requests during 2025, up 5.3% on the year before (Department for Education, January 2026 release), pushback is real. But a predicted refusal is not a reason to leave a request unmade, especially when refusals are so often overturned.

None of this makes the school the enemy. It makes the school an overstretched institution inside a struggling system. The parental route in section 36(1) exists precisely so that a child's legal entitlements do not depend on a school's capacity.

The council must deal with you directly

Once you send your request, the process belongs to you, not the school. Under regulation 5(1) of the SEND Regulations 2014, the local authority must notify you of its decision whether or not to carry out the assessment within 6 weeks of receiving your request. The letter comes to you, the deadlines protect you and if the answer is no, the appeal rights are yours too, and the council must tell you about them under regulation 5(3). For exactly what to put in the request itself, our guides on making the request and what to include in the letter walk through it line by line.

How to keep the relationship constructive

Applying yourself does not mean going behind the school's back. Handled well, it can even take pressure off the relationship, because nobody is waiting for anybody any more.

• Tell the SENCO, in writing, before or as you apply. Something warm and simple: you value everything the school is doing, you have decided to exercise your own right to request an assessment and you wanted them to hear it from you first.
• Ask for copies of records. SEN support plans, reviews, provision maps, attendance data, assessment scores and anything else that shows what has been tried and how your child is doing. Frame it as helping you prepare an accurate request.
• Invite their input. Ask whether there is anything the school would want the council to know. Most SENCOs will engage, and their honest account of stretched support is often powerful evidence.

What the school will be asked for anyway

Here is the part that reassures many parents: the school's formal contribution happens during the assessment, whoever requested it. Regulation 6(1) of the SEND Regulations 2014 requires the council, once it assesses, to seek advice from the parent, the school, an educational psychologist, health, social care and any person the parent reasonably requests. So the school is never cut out of the process by a parental request; its evidence enters through the front door at the proper stage. And under regulation 7(b), the council must consider information provided by or at the request of the parent, including private reports, so your own evidence stands alongside the school's rather than beneath it. Your parental views document is where your side of the picture lives.

When the school's resistance is itself evidence

One quiet irony is worth noticing. The SEND Code of Practice 2015, at paragraph 9.14, tells councils to pay particular attention to whether the school has taken relevant and purposeful action and whether that action enabled progress, and to evidence that progress, where it happened, came only because of support over and above what is usually provided. So if the school says it cannot do more within its resources, or the support that exists is patchy and progress has stalled, that is not a reason to wait. It is evidence for the second limb of section 36(8): that provision through a plan may be necessary because SEN support is not meeting the need. Write down what the school tells you, with dates. A sentence like "the TA hours were cut after February half term and his reading stopped progressing" belongs in your request.

Remember, the school's discouragement is an opinion, not a decision. Only the local authority decides, only against section 36(8), and you now know how to put the question to them yourself.

Frequently asked questions