Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans

The purpose of an EHC plan is to make special educational provision to meet the special educational needs of the child or young person, to secure the best possible outcomes for them across education, health and social care and, as they get older, prepare them for adulthood.

To achieve this, local authorities use the information from the assessment to:

• Establish and record the views, interests and aspirations of the parents and child or young person

• Provide a full description of the child or young person’s special educational needs and any health and social care needs

• Establish outcomes across education, health and social care based on the child or young person’s needs and aspirations

• Specify the provision required and how education, health and care services will work together to meet the child or young person’s needs and support the achievement of the agreed outcomes EHCPs replace the current Statement of Special Educational Needs and Section 139a Learning Difficulty Assessment and have the same protection in law as a Statement of SEN.

You can find more information about the timescales involved in the statutory assessment process by clicking here.