Before a request for an EHC assessment is made, your child or young person's school would normally have a support plan in place.  This would show how they have identified your child's needs, what strategies and interventions are being used to support your child, and what impact these have made.

If, in spite of the additional support, your child is still not making expected progress, your child may need a statutory education, health and care (EHC) assessment to work out what extra help they need and, if necessary, to record this extra help in a legally binding education, health and care plan (EHCP).

The Statutory Assessment Team are responsible for managing the EHC assessment process at Hertfordshire County Council.  If you have a query which your SENCo is unable to answer, you can contact the team by calling 01442 453300 or emailing ehcneedsassessment@hertfordshire.gov.uk. 

How to make a request for an EHC Assessment

You can make a request however you wish, however, we provide a standard form which helps our officers to handle information efficiently. 

You can download a form and return to the SEND team at the email address shown at the bottom of the form. The should fill in the relevant form based on the age your child is when you start the application.

For further information follow this link to Hertfordshire County Council:

https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/microsites/local-offer/education-health-and-care-plans/requesting-an-assessment.aspx

Timeline for EHC Assessments

What happens after an EHC is awarded?

Once a final education, health and care (EHC) plan has been produced, your  child (or you, as a young person) is legally entitled to the special educational provision set out in that plan. Your Local Authority (LA) must ensure that all the provision is in place on the date when the final EHC plan is issued.

Your LA must first have issued a draft EHC plan and consulted with you about its contents. If you requested that a particular school, college or other institution was named in the EHC plan, your LA had a duty to consult with that institution.

The final EHC plan must be issued within a maximum of 20 weeks from the request for an EHC needs assessment. This is set out in Regulation 13(2) of The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014. 

Once an EHC has been awarded, we will book a meeting to discuss its implementation and rights moving forward.