Quick Guide to EHCP Annual Reviews

An Annual Review is a special meeting that happens once a year to make sure that the plan made for a child or young person is still helping them. This plan is called an EHC Plan and it is meant to support the child and help them make progress. If the child is under 5 years old, the review happens every 6 months instead of once a year. The Annual Review has three important parts: getting ready for the meeting, having the meeting, and following up after the meeting.

We have Annual Reviews to check how well the child or young person is doing and to make sure they are getting the right help and support. The Annual Review helps us see if anything needs to change in the plan as the child grows and their needs change.

The most important part of the Annual Review is the meeting. This is when the child or young person, their parents or carers, their school or other education place, and other people involved in their plan come together to talk about how the child is doing. They discuss what is working well, what could be better, and if the support they have is making a positive difference. It's really important that everyone at the meeting gets a chance to share their thoughts and be heard. During the meeting, changes can be made to the EHC Plan if needed, or everyone can agree to keep going because things are going well. Sometimes, if the child has made a lot of progress, they might not need the plan anymore.

The rest of the process involves getting ready for the meeting by reading the existing EHC Plan, thinking about how the child has done over the past year, and preparing your own thoughts and ideas. After the meeting, there may be some changes made to the support and services, or updates to the plan and goals.

The child or young person, their parents or carers, and their school or education place are always involved in the Annual Review. Usually, someone from the school, like a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator or the Headteacher, will lead the meeting. If the child is being educated at home, a person called an Annual Review Officer will organize and lead the meeting.

Depending on the child's needs, other professionals may be invited to the meeting, like a Social Worker, a Doctor, a Therapist, or someone who helps with mental health. They come to the meeting to share their thoughts and advice based on what the child needs.

The Annual Review Officers try to attend as many meetings as they can, but they may not be able to come to all of them. They prioritize attending meetings for certain situations, like when the child is going through big changes or when significant changes are expected in the plan.

After the Annual Review, there can be three different outcomes:

Maintain: This means the EHC Plan is working well and should continue as it is.

Amend: This means changes have been agreed upon during the meeting and need to be added to the EHC Plan.

Cease: This happens when the child has made so much progress that they no longer need the EHC Plan or special educational support.

An Annual Review can be requested at any time, but if it happens before the regular 12-month period (or 6-month period for children under 5), it's called an Interim Review. An Interim Review is needed when there's a need for quicker discussion and action. This usually happens when there has been significant changes or progress, or when the child is at risk of being excluded or if the school is struggling to meet their needs.

The school, Children's Services, Adults Services, and parents or carers can ask for an Interim Review.

An Interim Review should be prepared and conducted in the same way as the regular Annual Reviews. It should involve gathering advice from different professionals and considering the opinions of the parents and child. It's important to document these views in the appropriate advice forms whenever possible.