EHC Annual Review Toolkit for Schools and Settings

What is an Annual Review of an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan?

When a child or young person has an Education, Health and Care plan (EHC plan) there is an ongoing requirement for the EHC plan to be reviewed by the local authority at least annually. This is referred to as the Annual Review.

In Early Years, 3–6-month reviews would complement the duty to carry out the review at least annually. These may be streamlined and not necessarily require the attendance of the full range of professionals, depending on the needs of the child/young person.

EHC plans should be used to actively monitor children and young people’s progress towards their outcomes and longer-term aspirations.  Reviews must focus on the child or young person’s progress toward achieving the outcomes specified in the EHC plan. The review must also consider whether these outcomes and supporting targets remain appropriate.

The diagram  below shows the timeline for the annual review that schools/settings should follow. The LA in the diagram stands for Local Authority which in this case means the SEND Support, Assessment and Review Team.

Arranging the annual review of the EHC plan

The review will be set up by you, the school/setting (this can differ for post-16 institutions). You will invite all the professionals that work with the child/young person to update their reports, and in some cases, attend the review meeting. 

All people attending the Review need at least two weeks’ notice so that they can provide feedback.  

Health and Social Care would really appreciate more notice in order to be able to provide the required information.

The Annual Review must be undertaken in partnership with the child/young person and their parent/carer. Or if the young person is age 16 or above, and has mental capacity, then the young person may wish to attend without parent/carers. For more information see IPSEA’s explanation of  Mental Capacity and Decision Making.

The review must take account of the child’s/young person’s views, wishes and feelings, including their right to request a Personal Budget.

When should Annual Reviews take place?

An EHC plan must be reviewed and amended in sufficient time prior to a child or young person moving between key phases of education, to allow for planning for and, where necessary, commissioning of support and provision at the new school/setting.

If the child/young person is moving from one school/setting to another, for example: 

• early years provider to school
• first school to middle school
• primary school to middle school
• primary school to secondary school, and
• middle school to secondary school.

You need to make sure that the SEND Support, Assessment and Review team know the parental preference for intended placement by 31^st October.  

The review and any amendments must be completed by 15^th February in the calendar year of the transfer, at the latest, for transfers into or between schools. The Law requires this.

Reviewing a plan prior to moving schools/settings is very important as this will probably be the last opportunity to update the plan before they leave their current school/setting. This is a formal review so no need for another annual review as well.

Moving from Primary to Secondary school

The same timescales apply as above but it is very important that a secondary transfer review should be held by the Summer Term of Year 5. 

For year 11 leavers and those post-16, the preferred schools/settings need to be with the SEND team by 31^st December. 

The review must be completed before 31^st March in the year of transfer.