The EHCP annual review

The legal timescales

• The review must happen at least every 12 months. For children under 5, the Code of Practice says every 3 to 6 months.
• The school must ask for advice (from you, the council, health and social care) and send it to everyone at least 2 weeks before the meeting.
• The school must send a report to the council within 2 weeks of the meeting.
• The council must tell you within 4 weeks of the meeting whether it will keep the plan as it is, amend it, or stop it.
• If it amends the plan, it sends you the proposed changes. You have at least 15 days to comment, and the final amended plan should be issued within 8 weeks of the proposals.

The final amended plan (or a decision not to amend) gives you a new right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal.

How to prepare

1. Re-read the whole plan. Is Section B still an accurate picture of your child? Is every need in B matched by support in F?
2. Check the support actually happened. Ask the school for records of therapy sessions and support hours. Missing provision is a section 42 issue (see late plans & missing support).
3. Gather up-to-date reports. If reports are more than a year old, ask for new ones before the meeting.
4. Run Section F through our wording checker to spot vague words like "access to" or "regular".
5. Get your child's views in whatever way works for them: drawings, a few sentences, a short video.
6. Send your written views in advance (letter below), so they're in the papers.

At the meeting

• Go through the plan section by section. Ask for each change you want to be written into the review report.
• Ask who will do what, and by when.
• You can bring someone with you, such as a friend, a family member or a SENDIASS adviser.
• Afterwards, check the review report says what was agreed. If it doesn't, write to correct it.

Phase transfers: moving school

When your child moves between key phases, the plan must be reviewed and amended, naming the new school, by fixed dates:

• 15 February in the year of transfer: early years to school, infant to junior, primary to secondary, middle to secondary.
• 31 March: moving from secondary school to post-16 education.

From Year 9, every review must cover preparing for adulthood: further education, employment, independent living and community life.

Your views letter

Sources: Children and Families Act 2014, s.44; SEND Regulations 2014, regs 2, 18–22; SEND Code of Practice 2015, paras 9.166–9.211.