Education and Health Care Plans: some stats and links
Families I have spoken with recently have described challenges with EHCPs. If you are in the midst of pursuing an Education and Health Care assessment, waiting for an EHCP (49% of cases took over 20 weeks in 2023), or appealing an EHCP decision, you are not alone. Between 2017 and 2023:
for 6% assessed for EHCPs, there was a decision not to issue
The number of appeals have gone up year on year, with 28% of appeals against refusal of Local Authorities to conduct an Education and Health Care assessment
The Children’s Commissioner report (Jan 2024) notes that while only 32% of pupils with EHCPs were autistic, 45% of appeals related to autistic children, suggesting that these families are finding it particularly challenging to access support.
If you or your family are waiting for or thinking of appealing a decision:
- Government advice is available here: https://www.gov.uk/appeal-ehc-plan-decision
- IPSEA (https://www.ipsea.org.uk/appeals-against-a-refusal-to-issue-an-ehc-plan) offers advice for appeals (with template letters).
- Local SENDIASS websites also have useful information
- Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal You Tube videos on the appeals process: https://councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/resources/all-resources/filter/inclusion-send/guidelines-parent-carers-looking-support-tribunals-or
- Autism Central feature EHCP workshops: https://www.autismcentral.org.uk/events
- If you are thinking of getting help with the appeal, the Council for Disabled Children Guidelines has guidelines for seeking support with tribunals: https://councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/resources/all-resources/filter/inclusion-send/guidelines-parent-carers-looking-support-tribunals-or or see https://www.specialneedsjungle.com/getting-help-with-ehcps-be-careful-out-there/
If you would like emotional support, please reach out to us at info@careforyoucoaching.co.uk. We support you to support your families.
For more sources of statistics see: