Education, health and care needs assessments and plans

Find out how to get an assessment, when more help than special educational needs (SEN) support is needed.

A parent or guardian, professional or young person (over the age 16), can apply for an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment.

If your child is not making progress in school

What you can do

If your child finds it hard to learn, you can speak to their special educational needs coordinator (SENCo). They will be able to tell you what extra support is available.

At this stage, your child may be on the school SEN Register as receiving SEN Support.

What the school can do

If your child isn't making progress at school, the school SENCo should take a graduated approach to:

  • check your child's current written plan of support is accurate (this could be either a healthcare plan or plan of support)
  • use funding for specialist advice and assessments to understand your child’s specific needs
  • organise training on strategies to support your child
  • ask for support from the cluster or area inclusion partnership
  • make reasonable adjustments to the school, including equipment, adaptations and policy changes

If this approach does not help your child make progress, your child may benefit from an education, health and care needs assessment (EHCNA). This may lead to an education, health and care plan (EHCP) being issued. This is a legal document that details any special needs a child has and the support and provisions that must be in place to help them learn.

To apply for an assessment, a professional can complete an education, health and care needs assessment - professional referral form online. This should include any evidence gathered through the graduated approach.

If your family is new to the country and your child has special educational needs, please contact the school admissions team. They will help you find a mainstream school place for your child.

Apply for an assessment

Request an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment.

Professionals

To apply for an EHC needs assessment, you need to complete an education, health and care needs assessment - professional referral form online.

This should include any evidence gathered through the graduated approach.

We highly recommend providing the Synergy number. Not providing the Synergy number may delay the referral being processed.

Information you will need to complete the online form

Please make sure you have the following information ready for you and the person being referred, before you apply:       

  • your contact details
  • your school, setting or organisation details
  • child or young person details (including full name, date of birth and address)
  • child or young person school or setting
  • child or young person information (including their Synergy number). Not providing a Synergy Number may delay the referral being processed
  • parent or carer details
  • professional third parties already involved
  • child or young person care circumstances
  • educational context (details of reduced timetable, education in an alternative provision, any suspensions or exclusions and absence details)
  • educational attendance percentage
  • educational performance (attainment in Early Years or English, Maths, and Science)
  • child or young person strengths
  • health information
  • social information (provide the child or young person's care needs)
  • child or young person's voice including their views, interests and aspirations
  • details of outcomes

Additional needs

If any of the following needs are applicable, you need to summarise how you have supported the child or young person through the graduated approach:       

  • cognition and learning needs
  • communication and interaction needs
  • social, emotional and mental health needs
  • physical and sensory needs
  • independence and self-care needs
Make a professional referral
Parents, guardians or carers

Parents, carers or other legal representatives of the child or young person can request an EHC needs assessment (under section 36 of the Children and Families Act 2014).    

To apply for an EHC needs assessment, complete the online education, health, and care needs assessment - parent or carer request form.

We highly recommend that you read the guidance below as this will help you complete the online application form.

Important information to help to complete the online form

General hints and tips

Save and resume later

The form has been arranged so you can update it in stages, we encourage you to use the 'save and resume later' feature so that your pages are always saved and you can come back to your application later.

You have 28 days to complete your application.

If you are inactive on the online form for 20 minutes you will lose any information which has not been saved.

Save or print a copy

We recommend you save a copy of the form which you can do either before you submit the form, or after you click submit. You can do this by right clicking your mouse on the summary page and choose Print, then save as PDF.

Alternatively, you can select print from your browser options.

Other useful hints and tips:

  • you can edit the form by using the back button if you do need to change any information
  • text boxes have a character limit, and this is displayed under the text box
  • you can attach any additional information in the evidence section at the end of the form

By ticking the boxes you will be providing your consent for any personal and sensitive information provided to be collected, used, shared and held by Leeds City Council specifically for the assessment of the child or young person.

Information we will ask you:

  • some contact details including address, phone number and email address (if you have one)
  • your relationship to the child or young person

Information we will need about the child or young person:

  • some basic information including their name, date of birth, address details, ethnicity and language and how the child currently communicates
  • if at school, we will need the name of the registered school or place of education and how long they have been at their school

Special educational needs

Special educational needs (SEN) are learning difficulties or disabilities that make it harder for children to learn, than most children of the same age.

Medical and health needs

You will be asked if the child has any known or possible medical or health needs that have not already been covered within the information provided in the SEN section.

Care needs

You will be asked if the child has any possible or known independence or care needs that have not already been covered within the information provided in the SEN section.

What is working well and not working well

We would like to understand more about what has led you to making this application. Tell us what is working well and not working well for the child or young person at the moment.

We will also ask:

  • views, interests and hopes for the child or young person
  • outcomes or goals you want to achieve and support needed to achieve them
  • why you feel that your child or young person needs or may need an Education, Health and Care Plan to support their SEN

Professionals you want us to contact

On the form you can provide any medical or support therapists, social workers or other professionals or agencies that have supported the child or young person.

If you decide to add the professional you will need to include an email address.

Attach any evidence that would support your request

You will be able to attach evidence of any diagnosis or other evidence from the last year to support your request. This could be medical reports, assessments, school reports and other documentation that will help support this request.

You can attach up to 10 files, each file must be less than 10MB.

Read the full form guidance for parents and carers on the Leeds SEND Local Offer website.

Help, advice and feedback

If you need help filling out the form or wish to discuss alternative formats, call the SENSAP team on 0113 376 0062 or email sensap@leeds.gov.uk.

For impartial advice, contact the SENDIASS team at 0113 378 5020 or sendiass@leeds.gov.uk.

If you have any technical issues or wish to feedback on the online form, please email ehcpreview@leeds.gov.uk.

Make a parent or carer request
Self-request

If you are over the age of 16, you can apply for an EHC needs assessment (under section 36 of the Children and Families Act 2014).

To apply for an EHC needs assessment, complete the online education, health and care needs assessment - self-request form.

We highly recommend that you read the guidance below as this will help you complete the online application form.

Important information to help to complete the online form

General hints and tips

Save and resume later

The form has been arranged so you can update it in stages, we encourage you to use the 'save and resume later' feature so that your pages are always saved and you can come back to your application later.

You have 28 days to complete your application.

You will need an email address to use this feature. If you do not have an email address you find guidance on how to set one up on the Learn My Way website.

If you are inactive on the online form for 20 minutes you will lose any information which has not been saved.

Save or print a copy

We recommend you save a copy of the form which you can do either before you submit the form, or after you click submit. You can do this by right clicking your mouse on the summary page and choose Print, then save as PDF.

Alternatively, you can select print from your browser options.

Other useful hints and tips:

  • you can edit the form by using the back button if you do need to change any information
  • text boxes have a character limit, and this is displayed under the text box
  • you can attach any additional information in the evidence section at the end of the form

Declaration and consent

By ticking the boxes on the application you will be providing your consent for any personal and sensitive information provided to be collected, used, shared and held by Leeds City Council specifically for the assessment to ensure adequate support is provided to meet your special educational needs.

Information we will ask you:

  • some contact details including address, phone number and email address (if you have one)
  • communication or support needs that you may have if we need to contact you about this application. For example having any written communications in larger text or spoken contact instead of written information
  • if you are at school, or college or not attending a place of education
  • if you are in school, we will ask you for the name of the registered school or place of education along with which year group you started at

Special educational needs

This section will ask you what your special educational needs (SEN) are.

If you would like to know more about SEN, then the Leeds SENDIASS service can help you. You can visit their website, email leedssendiass@leeds.gov.uk or call them on 0113 378 5020 and leave a voicemail for a callback.

Medical and health needs

You will be asked if you have any medical needs which have not already been mentioned on the application. These are usually diagnosed by a health professional.

Care needs

You will be asked if you think you will need support from services to help you to be independent, look after yourself and keep yourself safe and well.

What is working well and not working well

You will be asked if you can tell us what you think is working well for you at the moment? You could include your strengths, what are you good at and what really helps and makes a difference for you.

We will also ask:

  • what your views, interests and hopes are
  • about your outcomes or goals you want to achieve and support needed to achieve them
  • why you feel you would need or may need an Education, Health and Care Plan to support you

Professionals you want us to contact

On the form you can provide the contact details of anyone that supports you, or works with you that you would like us to speak to about your special educational needs. 

If you decide to add the professional you will need to include an email address.

Attach any evidence that would support your request

You will be able to attach evidence of any diagnosis or other evidence from the last year to support your request. This could be medical reports, assessments, school reports and other documentation that will help support this request.

You can attach up to 10 files, each file must be less than 10MB.

Read the full form guidance for self-requests on the Leeds SEND Local Offer website.

Help, advice and feedback

If you need help filling out the form or wish to discuss alternative formats, call the SENSAP team on 0113 376 0062 or email sensap@leeds.gov.uk.

For impartial advice, contact the SENDIASS team at 0113 378 5020 or sendiass@leeds.gov.uk.

If you have any technical issues or wish to feedback on the online form, please email ehcpreview@leeds.gov.uk.

Make a self-request

Assessment steps and timescales

Assessments take up to 20 weeks to complete. They focus on the educational needs and the support needed to be able to learn.

  1. Making a decision

    We have up to six weeks to decide if an assessment is needed. To do this, we hold a panel to discuss needs and decide if an assessment is needed. 

  2. Making a decision at the panel

    We will decide if an assessment is needed or not based on the evidence provided. When making a decision, we'll review a wide range of evidence, including: 

    • checking academic attainment, developmental milestones and rate of progress records
    • information about the SEN and care or health needs
    • assessing any actions already being taken to meet needs
    • giving consideration to information provided by the parent or carer and child or young person
  3. Gathering evidence

    If we think an assessment is needed, we will gather any further evidence from our own teams, the school SENCo, parents and carers and any healthcare professionals involved.

  4. If a plan is not to be created

    We will notify you if a decision has been made not to create an education health and care plan (EHCP). You will be notified of the decision, your right to appeal, and your right to a meeting to discuss the reasons and voice objections. 

  5. Writing a draft plan

    If it is agreed that an EHCP is needed, we will start to write a draft plan. We will send you a copy of the draft EHCP and you will have 15 days to respond in writing. 

  6. Final version of the plan

    A final version of the plan will be available.

Education, health and care plan (EHCP)

Within 20 weeks of the request for an assessment, if it is agreed that your child needs an EHCP, a final version of the plan must be available.

EHCP's are reviewed at least every 12 months to make sure that they're up to date and still needed. For children under five years old, reviews are at least every six months.