- Step 1 - School/educational setting identifies a young person who has SEND, with parent/carers and other professionals involved.
- Step 2 - School/educational setting creates a plan with parent/carers and other professionals to describe how they will support the young person.
- Step 3 - School/educational setting puts agreed support in place and writes this down in a plan (such as in a My Support Plan or I-APDR).
- Step 4 - School/educational setting reviews the plan to see if the young person has made progress and makes changes if needed.
- Step 5 - If no progress is made after a number of reviews (ideally 3) of the plan, then an application for an EHCP can be made.
How to apply for an EHC Needs Assessment (EHCNA)
Educational settings are responsible for providing support for children with SEND, if the educational setting has gradually increased the amount of support being put in place and carrying out regular reviews to see if progress is being made and can demonstrate that further support is needed – this is called the graduated approach (See page about Support in Schools - opens link in new window) then they, the parent/carer or the young person if over 16 can apply for an EHCP.
To speak with someone about EHCP's first please speak with the SENDCO at the education setting, or you can speak with The EHCP Team.
The EHCP Team can be contacted on 01484 456888 or EHCP.Team@kirklees.gov.uk
The Local Offer has a service called the Inclusion Support Offer (ISO) which provides support for all educational settings from 0-25 to help to make sure they are doing everything they can to support children with SEND, without necessarily looking at additional funding or making referrals to assessed services.
You can find more information about this service on our ISO information page. This service is for schools use only, they do not take calls from parents or carers, but you can mention it to your child's educational setting and ask them to get in touch.
The parent/carer or young person’s application form can be found at the bottom of this page.
A request for an EHC (Education, Health and Care) assessment needs to show that the educational setting has identified your child’s needs and then provided support which is relevant to their needs and which has a clear outcome, they also need to demonstrate that despite this support the young person has not made expected progress.
The request needs to include things like a reviewed I-APDR, My Support Plan, learning levels, what progress has been, other professionals reports and any other information which is about your child’s additional or special needs. The following flow chart may help explain the process in an easier way. (this is also explained in the drop down box below this image)
The request for assessment needs to be sent to the special needs department in the council which is called The EHCP Team.
As soon as the application is received, a letter will be sent to you to say they have received the request.
The request will then be looked at by a Request for Assessment panel (see below) who will make a decision to carry out an EHC assessment or not, this decision will be made and we will inform whomever applied for the assessment within 6 weeks of The EHCP Team first receiving your request for assessment.
Once you have completed the form it can be sent via post to:
Kirklees Council
Education, Safeguarding and Inclusion SEND Assessment & Commissioning Team
PO Box 1720
HUDDERSFIELD
HD1 9EL
Tel: 01484 456888
Or via email to
To speak with someone about EHCP's first please speak with the SENDCO at the education setting, or you can speak with The EHCP Team.
The EHCP Team can be contacted on 01484 456888 or EHCP.Team@kirklees.gov.uk
For impartial advice about EHCP's you call call KIAS (Kirklees Independent Information Advice and Support) on 07771977384
The Request for Assessment panel is made up of a range of professionals from schools, educational psychology, health, social care and The EHCP Team. They look at the information that has been submitted for a child or young person and decide whether an EHC assessment needs to be carried out or whether the school should continue to provide support through the graduated approach.
When deciding whether or not to carry out an EHC assessment, the Request for Assessment panel will consider two things (this is called the Legal Test):
- Whether the information provided shows that the child or young person has or may have special educational needs
- Whether the information provided shows that it may be necessary for additional support to be provided for the child or young person above what would be normally available in school.
They will also consider the following:
- Has the educational setting identified the young person’s needs and then provided support which is relevant to these needs and which has a clear outcome?
- Have learning levels and rates of progress been provided?
- Have they included relevant reports from other professionals?
If they agree that carry out an EHC assessment they will say which professionals need to carry out an assessment of the child or young person, this includes (but is not limited to) an Educational Psychologist It may also include therapy service such as SALT or other health colleagues. They will also seek advice from any relevant social care practitioners”
This assessment will look at all of the young persons additional needs and what support they need in order to make progress, these assessments can sometimes identify specific learning needs if these have not been identified yet.
If it is agreed to carry out an EHC needs assessment, this does not guarantee that an EHCP will be issued. In some cases, an EHC assessment is agreed but the assessment shows that the child or young person does not need the additional support (and funding) that an EHCP brings. It may be that the assessment shows that the child or young person can be supported by a school or setting without additional funding.
This is an agreement to assess the child or young person and if this reveals that they do need additional support from and EHCP, then a plan will be issued.
If they feel that an assessment is not to be carried out at this time then they will clearly state the reasons why in a letter they will send to you.
The EHCP Team will let you know what their decision is within 6 weeks of the application being sent in.
How do I get to know the outcome of Request for Assessment group?
Everything that is discussed at the Request for Assessment panel is written down (called minutes) and the individual decisions are sent out around a week after the group has taken place stating whether the Request for Assessment group has agreed to the request for an EHC assessment or not. The decision will always be sent out in writing to you however we are always happy to discuss the decision with you over the phone.
The process for getting an EHCP takes 20 weeks. The process is as follows:
- Application for assessment (EHCNA) sent to The EHCP Team (week 1)
- Decision to assess made within 6 weeks of receiving a request for assessment
- Decision to assess (DTA) or not to assess (DNTA) sent to family and the applicant (ie school)
If the decision is to carry out an assessment:
- Advice from professionals (Ie Educational Psychologist, SALT etc) provided within 6 weeks of DTA
- Draft of plan issued to family and other professionals by week 16
- Final plan issued by week 20
When a decision not to carry out an EHC assessment has been made, we will always write to you with the reasons why. This may include some feedback around the information in the request and what to include if another application for an EHC assessment is made.
Another option is that we can go through a process called Mediation which is a conversation with parents, the council and other professionals to discuss the disagreement and try to resolve it. This is run by another professional called a mediator who helps to keep the conversation on track. Based on the information shared at the mediation meeting, the council may decide to overturn the decision.
If mediation does not help, then an appeal can be made to the tribunal. This is more formal process where the case is presented to a tribunal judge to make a decision, however the council will work hard to reach an agreement before it gets to the point of needing the judge to make a decision.
Details of how to appeal a decision will be in the letter that the Local Authority send to you informing you of the Request for Assessment groups decision.
The EHCP Team can be contacted via a dedicated email address.
en-GBLast updated: 29/09/2020