If you think your child or young person may need an EHC needs assessment:

1. Speak to their school, college or early years setting about your concerns and the support already in place
2. Work together to gather information about their needs, progress and the support they have received
3. Include the views of your child or young person, as well as your own views as their parent or carer
4. Send the request to our SEN Assessment Team at SENAssess@herefordshire.gov.uk

You can also send your request by post to:

SEN Assessment Team
Herefordshire Council
Plough Lane
Hereford
HR4 0LE

Where possible, we recommend that families and education settings make the request together. It can be helpful at this stage to complete the Family Conversation which is usually completed as part of a meeting between you, your child or young person and professionals who know them well, such as your child's teacher or school SENCO. Schools, colleges and early years settings often hold important information about your child or young person’s needs, progress and the support that has already been tried.

Parents, carers and eligible young people have the right to request an assessment directly. Working with the educational setting can help ensure that relevant evidence is included from the start, but it does not affect your right to make your own request. You can request an EHC needs assessment even if the school, college or early years setting does not agree that one is needed.

View a model letter for requesting an EHC needs assessment. The model letter shows the information you may need to gather.

A request can be made by:

• A parent or carer
• A young person aged 16 to 25 who has left Year 11
• An early years provider, school or college
• Someone else who thinks an assessment may be needed, such as a doctor or health visitor

Young people making their own request can get free support from a SENDIASS Young Person's Adviser.

Before you request an assessment

It will help if you can gather information that shows:

• Your child or young person's strengths and needs
• Their views, wishes and goals
• Your views as their parent or carer
• The support they already receive at school or at home
• What additional support their educational setting has tried
• The progress they have made
• The impact the support has had
• Relevant information or reports from professionals

Providing as much relevant information as possible at the start can help avoid delays in the decision-making process. You do not need all of the information listed above to make a request for an assessment.

We encourage families and professionals to work together when considering an EHC needs assessment.

This may include a Family Conversation involving you, your child or young person and professionals who know them well, such as your child's teacher or school SENCO.

The conversation helps everyone build a shared understanding of:

• What is going well
• Your child or young person's needs
• Their views, wishes and aspirations
• What support has already been tried
• What difference that support has made
• What may need to happen next

Your child or young person's views can also be recorded using the child contribution form and one-page profile.

Step 1: We consider the request

We consider all the available information and decide whether an EHC needs assessment is necessary. If we decide that an assessment is not necessary, we will write to you within six weeks of receiving the request, explain our reasons and tell you about your rights to mediation and appeal.

Step 2: EHC needs assessment

If we agree to carry out an assessment, we gather information and advice from relevant professionals across education, health and social care.

The assessment considers:

• Your child or young person's needs
• The special educational provision they need
• Where or how that provision could be provided

Step 3: We decide whether an EHC Plan is needed

Once the assessment is complete, we use the information gathered to decide whether the child or young person needs an EHC plan.

If an EHC plan is needed, we will prepare a plan describing the child or young person's needs, the outcomes they are working towards and the provision required to meet those needs.

The final EHC plan must normally be issued within 20 weeks of the original assessment request. If we decide not to issue a plan, we will write to you explaining why, identify support that may still be available and provide information about mediation and appeal rights.

View the EHC needs assessment process timeline to see what to expect at each of the different stages.

You can also read the government's SEND guide for parents and carers and extra help for children with special educational needs guidance.

If you disagree with a decision we have made about an EHC needs assessment or EHC plan, there are different ways to try to resolve the issue.

Talk to us

We encourage you to contact the SEN Team first. Some disagreements can be resolved by discussing the concerns and agreeing a way forward.

If we decide not to carry out an EHC needs assessment or issue an EHC plan, you can discuss the decision at a Moving Forward meeting. Contact the SEN Assessment Team to ask for a meeting to talk through the reasons for the decision, share your concerns and discuss next steps.

Mediation

If you disagree with a decision that carries a right of appeal, you can ask for mediation. Herefordshire Council operates a framework arrangement with six mediation providers. When you request mediation, we send the request through the framework and invite providers to confirm whether they can offer mediation to your family. This provides greater flexibility to arrange mediation promptly and in the format that best meets your needs, either online or face to face.

Information about mediation and appeal rights is included in the decision letter sent to you when we make a decision that carries a right of appeal, including when a new or amended EHC plan is issued.

To request mediation, contact the team responsible for your child or young person's EHC plan and make clear that you would like us to arrange mediation. If the decision is about a first EHC plan, contact the SEN Assessment Team by phone 01432 383679 or email senassess@herefordshire.gov.uk If an EHC plan is already in place, contact the SEN Review Team by phone 01432 383331 or email SENReview@herefordshire.gov.uk

We arrange and pay for mediation.

If you have not received or cannot find your decision letter, contact the SEN Assessment Team and ask for a copy. It will explain our decision and provide the relevant mediation and appeal information.

If you do not want to take part in mediation, you will usually still need to contact the mediation service to obtain a mediation certificate before you can appeal to the SEND Tribunal.

Find out more about mediation on the IPSEA website.

Appeal to the SEND Tribunal

Parents and young people have a right of appeal in certain circumstances, including:

• Decision not to carry out an EHC needs assessment
• Decision not to reassess EHC needs
• Decision not to issue an EHC plan
• Decision not to amend an EHC plan
• Decision to cease to maintain an EHC plan
• The description of special educational needs in Section B
• The special educational provision in Section F
• The named school, college or other placement in Section I

Find out about appealing to the SEND Tribunal.

Read the easy-read guide to appealing a Special Educational Needs decision.