What Happens During an EHC Needs Assessment

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

The letter has arrived: the local authority has agreed to carry out an Education, Health and Care needs assessment. That is a real milestone, and if you fought for the yes, take a moment. It is also the point where many parents feel the process vanish into the council's hands. It should not. The assessment is governed by clear rules, you have specific rights inside it and there are two fixed deadlines at the end. This guide explains what actually happens between the yes decision and the outcome, and how to make sure the assessment your child gets is a thorough one.

What an EHC needs assessment actually is

Despite the name, an EHC needs assessment is not a single appointment or a test your child sits. It is an information gathering exercise. The local authority collects written advice from the people who know your child and from professionals who assess them, asking each contributor two things: what are this child's needs, and what provision is required to meet them?

That advice becomes the raw material for everything that follows. If a plan is issued, the needs described in the advice feed section B of the plan and the provision recommended feeds section F. A plan can only ever be as good as the assessment behind it, which is why the rules about who must be consulted matter so much.

Who the council must ask (regulation 6(1))

Regulation 6(1) of the SEND Regulations 2014 sets out the advice the local authority must seek. This is not a menu it can pick from; every item on the list is required:

• You. The views and evidence of the parent, or of the young person, are part of the assessment by law, not a courtesy.
• Educational advice from your child's school or setting, usually written by the SENCO or head teacher.
• An educational psychologist. Psychological advice is required in every assessment.
• Health care advice about needs connected to your child's situation.
• Social care advice from the local authority's social care side.
• Preparation for adulthood advice where your child is in Year 9 or above, looking ahead to independence, further study and adult life.
• Advice from any other person you reasonably request. This last item is the parent's power tool, and it deserves its own section below.

If the local authority reaches its decision without one of these pieces of advice, the assessment is incomplete. It is entirely reasonable to ask, in writing, which advice has been requested and which has been received.

Your right to add professionals to the list

The final limb of regulation 6(1) requires the local authority to seek advice from any person the parent reasonably requests. If your child is under an occupational therapist, a speech and language therapist, a CAMHS clinician or a specialist teacher, you can ask for advice to be sought from them by name. "Reasonably" simply means the request must connect to your child's needs, and asking for advice from professionals already involved in your child's life will almost always clear that bar.

Make these requests in writing, as early in the assessment as possible, and explain in a sentence how each professional's advice relates to your child's needs. A request made in the first days of the assessment shapes it; the same request made in week 15 may arrive after the thinking is already done.

One special rule: where a child has a hearing impairment, a vision impairment or both, regulation 6(2) requires the educational advice to come from or after consultation with a person suitably qualified to teach children with that impairment. If this applies to your child, quote the regulation in your first letter. Generic educational advice does not satisfy it.

Private reports must be considered (regulation 7(b))

Under regulation 7(b), the local authority must consider any information provided by you or at your request, and that includes private assessments and reports. If you have paid for an independent educational psychology, speech and language or occupational therapy report, send it in; the council cannot set it aside because it was privately commissioned. The duty runs through the whole assessment, so forward anything new the moment it arrives.

What the advice looks like in practice

Each advice giver produces a written report describing your child's needs and the provision required to meet them. The educational psychologist will normally see your child, often at school, and may observe them in class, work with them directly and speak with you and the teaching staff. The school writes up your child's attainment, the support already tried and what difference it made. Health and social care advice tends to be detailed where those services already know your child and brief where they do not.

Two practical points. First, ask for a copy of each piece of advice as it comes in rather than waiting for the end; seeing the advice early lets you spot gaps and misunderstandings while there is still time to fix them. Second, every report gathered is listed in section K of any plan that follows, so you will be able to check that nothing was left out. If a report misstates something important, say so in writing at the time.

What you contribute

Your own advice carries real weight, because you are the only contributor who sees your child across every setting: mornings, evenings, weekends, holidays and the fallout after school that teachers never witness. Set out your views in a structured written document rather than relying on a phone call. Describe your child's needs area by area, what daily life actually looks like, what has been tried and what you believe your child requires. Specific frequencies and dated examples do the heavy lifting. Our guide to writing parental views covers the structure in full.

The two deadlines at the end

The law fixes the endpoints of the assessment, and both are counted from the date of your original request, not from the yes decision:

• 16 weeks: if the local authority assesses your child and decides not to issue a plan, it must tell you within 16 weeks of the request (regulation 10). That decision comes with appeal rights, and our guide to a refusal to issue after assessment explains the next move.
• 20 weeks: if a plan is being issued, you receive a draft first, with at least 15 days to comment, and the final plan must be in place within 20 weeks of the request (regulation 13(2)).

How to keep the assessment on track

• Reply quickly to anything the council asks of you, and keep dated copies of every email and letter.
• Put your professional requests under regulation 6(1) in writing during the first days of the assessment.
• Send in your parental views and every report you hold, then forward new evidence as it arrives.
• Keep an incident diary going; fresh, dated examples strengthen the picture the professionals see.
• Diary week 16 and week 20 from the date of your request, and chase politely in writing if either approaches in silence.

The assessment is the foundation of everything that follows, including any appeal you might one day need. Treat every document you send as evidence, because that is exactly what it becomes.

Frequently asked questions