What is an EHCP?

An Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP, or sometimes called an EHC Plan) is a legal document that outlines a child or young person’s Special Educational, Health and Care Needs, along with the support that a setting needs to address them.

They’re designed for children and young people between the ages of 0 and 25 who need more support than their educational setting can reasonably provide. You might seek one if the learner in your life has dyslexia, for example, or other learning disabilities, physical disabilities, emotional or mental health challenges, social or communication needs, or other needs such as those that arise from complex traumas.

An EHCP’s purpose is to ensure that learners who need additional support receive an appropriate level of help that enables them to achieve their full potential in education, and experience a successful transition to adulthood and the world of work.

The important part to remember is that an EHCP is a legally binding document that means a learner’s Local Authority has to provide the specialist educational provision outlined in the plan, and within a designated timeframe, too.

(…that last part doesn’t always pan out, though.)

What can students get an EHCP for?

Not all children who have Special Educational Needs and Disabilities require an EHCP. They’re typically for those students who have more complex needs, and there are two key eligibility requirements that a student has to fill in order to access EHCP support.

These two main legal criteria required to apply to the Local Authority for an EHCP are often referred to as the "Legal Test":

✔️The child or young person has, or may have, SEND.

✔️It may be necessary for special educational provision to be made through an EHCP because the support needed goes beyond the usual SEN support provided by the school or educational setting.

In addition, the child or young person in prospective receipt of the EHCP must be aged under 25 to be eligible to apply. The application can be made by them, but it doesn’t have to be: most of the time, an EHCP application comes from their parents and carers and often with the support of their school, but they can be requested by teachers, young people themselves, or anybody else concerned about that learner’s educational needs.

If these conditions are met, an application for an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment (EHCNA) can be made (and there’s more on that side of the process below).

…But it’s important to note that agreeing to assess does not guarantee that an EHCP will be issued. The assessment may also show that the child or young person can be supported by the school without an EHCP, if additional support beyond ordinary SEN provision is not deemed necessary.

How can EHCP funding support dyslexic students?

The EHCP process

✔️Everything kicks off when you apply for an EHCNA, either as a parent or carer or through your learner’s school SENCo. You’ll direct it to the EHCP Team who work for your local council— if you’re a parent or carer, your learner’s school or SENCo will likely be able to advise you on exactly where to send this, what to include, and where to get hold of your council’s application form if they have one. Some councils still process these requests via email.

✔️…And then your case will be assessed. Once the Local Authority receives an EHCNA request, a SEN casework professional will be assigned to you and will usually arrange a visit to talk you through the EHCP process and prospective assessment. At this point, it’s a good idea to start developing your understanding of support and what manner of solutions will help that learner overcome their learning barriers.

If your Local Authority decides an EHCNA needs to take place, they’ll need to carry one out within 6 weeks. During the assessment, they’ll seek advice from a number of sources on that learner’s needs, the provision required to meet those needs, and expected outcomes.

The list of individuals that the Local Authority must seek advice from during an EHCNA is set out in Regulation 6-1 of The SEND Regulations (2014)as follows:

• The parent or carer of the child or young person

• Education advice from their headteacher, or school or college lead

➡️Where this isn’t available, from another person who the LA is satisfied has adequate experience of teaching children and young people with SEN and differing provision

➡️If a child or young person is currently not attending school/Post-16, from the person who is responsible for their educational provision

• Medical advice and information from a healthcare professional identified by the responsible commissioning body

• Psychological advice and information from an educational psychologist

• Advice and information from any other person the local authority thinks is appropriate where the child or young person is in or beyond Year 9, advice and information in relation to provision to assist the child or young person in preparation for adulthood and independent living

• Advice and information from any person the child's parent or young person reasonably requests that the local authority seek advice from.

It's also at this point that your EHCP application can be rejected: this happens when the Local Authority decide that an EHCP isn’t necessary for that learner to be adequately provided for in their current setting. If you disagree with that decision, you can then appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal.Your decision letter from the Local Authority will explain this process in more detail.

✔️Once the Local Authority has agreed that your young person should have an EHCP, the focus shifts to planning how the right support will be put in place.

Before a plan is written, the Local Authority will review all the information gathered so far — including the help your child has already received, their specific needs, and professional advice from those involved in their education and care.

When the draft plan is ready, it will be sent to you. You’ll usually have 15 days to read it through and let the Local Authority know whether it’s accurate, or if changes are needed. You’ll also be invited to a “next steps” meeting. This meeting gives you space to talk through the draft, share your feedback, and request any adjustments.

There will also be a discussion about the personal budget—a way for you to have a say in how some of the support is arranged for your child.

Once the plan is finalised, copies will be sent to you and all professionals involved. The EHCP is reviewed every year to make sure it’s still meeting your child’s needs, and can be updated if things change.

✔️After the EHCP has been finalised, signed off and the learner’s recommended provisions are confirmed, the next phase is implementation. This stage is critical, as effective delivery of the plan leads to the most positive outcomes for the learner.

A strong working relationship between parents or caregivers and the school—including the teaching staff—is necessary to ensure that the support provided addresses both educational requirements and broader needs such as pastoral care and life skills. Maintaining clear communication throughout this process is essential. Parents should be informed about who holds responsibility for ensuring the plan is carried out properly.

✔️And remember that this EHCP outlines specific outcomes, some of which are measurable and linked to educational standards… and some that aren’t. Regular reviews and check-ins with those involved in delivering the plan are essential to assess how well interventions or provisions are supporting your child, but it’s also important to consider the young person’s perspective here: have the provisions helped improve their confidence and ability to interact with peers? Do the interventions support their engagement? Have they done anything to combat any anxiety that was present?

These social and emotional goals can be just as important as academic progress, and consistent monitoring helps determine whether the expected progress is being made.

The future of the EHCP in schools

But changes may be on the horizon— officials appear to be considering a ‘shake-up’ of the Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) system that would likely lead to a narrowing of EHCP

support eligibility, or a switch to a new SEND support criteria and implementation system altogether.

Speaking to Schools Week, Dame Christine Lenehan— the Government’s Strategic Advisor on SEND— said that discussions were ongoing about whether EHCPs should only apply and be available to pupils in specialist schools.

“Do I think the structure around EHCPs will change? Yes, I think it probably will, because it’s not fit for purpose. Do I think we will still be able to recognise and support children’s needs in any other structure? Yes.

Predictably, this has many parents worried.

The current EHCP system is creaking under the weight

Earlier this year, demand for an EHCP topped 400 applications a day.They’re up11% on 2024, and the number of plans awarded has more than doubled since 2016: at almost 500,000 plans active, numbers are a far cry from the small group of learners that the plans were introduced for in 2014.

The rapid rise in EHCPs has overwhelmed local systems, making it difficult for schools to meet statutory obligations and provide adequate tailored support. Many councils have huge delays in assessments, and parents report inconsistent quality of support and further delays in EHCPs being filled.

But if EHCP eligibility narrows, some questions arise: where does that leave learners who need extra support—and the schools and teachers who have to pick up that slack if the next generation of learners finds themselves gated from support they need to thrive?

Making EHCP funding work for your students with reading pens by C-Pen

An EHCP doesn’t hand out cash to schools directly: it’s not as simple as ‘hand in your learner’s plan and receive funding to the value of it’.

Instead, your EHCP triggers a mix of school and local authority funding to pay for the support it details. Schools first cover the initial £6,000 of help from their own SEN budget, then if more is needed, the local authority chips in with extra “top-up” funding from its High Needs budget. This combined pot is used for whatever the child needs to thrive — from specialist staff and resources to therapies and interventions — and in some cases, parents can even request a personal budget to commission support themselves.

In short: EHCP sets the plan, and the funding follows to make it happen. But schools often still find themselves with shortfalls: finding that initial £6,000 in an era where many are having to engage in a complex balancing act to avoid staff redundancies and keep supplies topped up, and it’s now more important than ever that reading support really delivers on the reading results. There’s no financial margin for error—and students need support that adapts to their needs as they develop, not needs replacing or updating every few terms.

…That’s where reading pens come in.

When students can’t understand the words on the page, they’re not learning.

But when you choose a reading pen by C-Pen to support a dyslexic student, you add a tool into the equation that allows that learner to understand. By listening to the words on the page, support their reading skills with audio feedback and break down the barrier to understanding that the words on the page represent. Grades go up, and so does their learning confidence.

But it’s not just about making things easier. When students use a reading pen from C-Pen to support their reading skills, they’re also building vital literacy skills for the future: students who use text-to-speech during study develop stronger literacy faster, as well as increase their confidence and independence when it comes to the world of words.

✅Simple user interface

✅Award-winning tech

✅Real reading results

And featuring customisable word pauses, reading speed, accent and dictionary definition software, these tools adapt and flex with the situational support required by learners, so that as student skills grow and they find they need support less—or as they encounter more complex terminology in science classes, or start language lessons, need support more— reading pens provide them with a dependable safety net that’s never above or below the level of need.

We’re always here to help out with more information.

If you’re a parent, you can find out more about how reading pens support learners at all ages and stages at the Scanning Pens blog.

And whether you’re a school, work for a Local Authorityor arethe leader of a MAT, our team of reading pen experts is on-hand five days a week, every week, ready to help you work out which reading pen is right for your setting, how you can trial them, and which of our in-depth implementation and training materials can support you along the way.

📧Email us: ukinfo@scanningpens.com

☎️Call us: +44 (0) 207 976 4910