After an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment (EHCNA) request has been submitted:
- you will receive a letter from a planning coordinator from the Special Education Needs and Assessment Team (SENAT)
- your planning coordinator will gather all the relevant information, predominantly from the educational setting, and refer the request to the EHCNA Consideration Panel.
The panel follows a fair and consistent process for all new EHCNA requests. As well as using the information and evidence provided, it particularly refers to Section 9.14 of the SEN Code of Practice in its decision-making:
In considering whether an EHCNA is necessary, the local authority should consider whether there is evidence that, despite the early years provider, school or post-16 institution having taken relevant and purposeful action to identify, assess and meet the special educational needs of the child or young person, the child or young person has not made expected progress.
The local authority has six weeks from the date the EHCNA request was received to gather all this information and decide whether an education, health and care needs assessment is required.
Once the panel has made its decision, it will share this with you, along with information about the next steps.
See our Local Offer site for further EHC needs assessment guidance, criteria and information.
This is a summary of the process; full terms of reference are available from your usual contact in the SEN Assessment Team.