Annual reviews

12 mins read

This advice applies in England only. Read information for families in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales.

If your child has an education, health and care (EHC) plan, the local authority must review it at least every 12 months. The review looks at your child’s progress and whether the plan needs to change.

What is an annual review?

An annual review is the formal process for reviewing your child’s EHC plan. The process includes the annual review meeting, as well as the steps that happen before and after this meeting. At the end of the review, the local authority must decide whether to keep the EHC plan as it is, change it, or cease to maintain it.

The local authority is responsible for making sure the review happens. If your child attends a school or other educational setting, such as a nursery or college, the local authority will usually ask the setting to organise the meeting. (Where there is a reference to schools on this page, this also includes nurseries and colleges.)

Your child’s first annual review must be completed within 12 months of their EHC plan being issued. After that, each review must take place within 12 months of the previous review. For children under five, the local authority should consider reviewing the EHC plan at least every three to six months, where appropriate, because of the rapid rate of development during these years.

The local authority must review your child’s EHC plan at least once a year if you home educate or your child receives education otherwise than at school (EOTAS). Visit our webpage on home education for more information.

Watch this animation from our friends at the Council for Disabled Children (CDC) on EHC plan annual reviews.

Before the annual review meeting

The annual review process has several stages. This section looks at what happens before the annual review meeting:

Local authority notifies the school

Each term, the local authority should notify schools which of their pupils’ EHC plans need reviewing in the coming term.

Invitation to the annual review meeting

The school then normally organises the annual review meeting. The SEND Code of Practice, paragraph 9.176, says the following people must be invited:

The child’s parents or the young person.
A representative of the school or other institution attended.
A local authority SEN officer.
A health service representative.
A local authority social care representative.

Other people relevant to your child’s review should also be invited, for example a teaching assistant, a speech and language therapist, or a specialist advisory teacher. In practice, who attends will very much depend on your child’s needs and circumstances. If a professional is unable to attend the meeting, they are still able to submit a report.

You must have at least two weeks’ notice of the date of the review meeting.

Circulation of reports before the meeting

Before the meeting, the school must ask everyone who has been invited to contribute written advice (reports) in advance.

The school must share these reports with everyone invited at least two weeks before the meeting.

Your views

The person organising the review meeting will ask for your and your child’s views. These will be shared with the people invited to the review.

To help you, they may send you a form to fill in. You don’t have to limit yourself to the questions on this.

Think about the past year:

What has gone well and what has not gone so well?
Has your child made progress towards the outcomes and any targets that were set at their last review?
How is your child doing both academically and socially?
Has your child received all the support set out in their EHC plan?
Have there been any problems at school, for example, behaviour, bullying, attendance or anxiety?

Read the circulated reports

You should receive copies of any written reports contributed to the annual review two weeks before the date of the meeting. If you haven’t, you can request them from the meeting co-ordinator who sent you the invitation to the annual review meeting.

Go through all the reports and make a note of anything you would like to discuss at the meeting.

Do you agree with the view’s others have expressed about your child and the support they are receiving?
Do the reports make any recommendations for changes to your child’s support?

Read the EHC plan

Read through your child’s EHC plan carefully. The annual review is your chance to say if you think the EHC plan needs any changes. In particular, look closely at:

Section B – special educational needs

This should accurately describe all your child’s special educational needs. Does it still describe your child as you know them?

Check that any needs identified in professional reports are included. If you think something is missing, make a note of the evidence that supports this.

Section F – special educational provision

This describes all the extra help your child must get, for example 1-1 support from a teaching assistant, or weekly therapy.

Is it clear how much help and what kind of support your child must receive? Is it clear how often this help should be given and who should be giving it? Do you think your child’s needs have changed in the past year? Do you think they need more help, or a different kind of help?

Section I – education placement

Are you happy with the school placement, or do you think your child should go to a different kind of school or college? If so, you can say what you would prefer.

Section E – outcomes

How is your child progressing towards the outcomes set in section E? Do these need revising because your child has met them, or they are no longer appropriate?

Other sections

Depending on your child’s needs, you may also want to ask for changes to the health or social care sections of the EHC plan. If so, ask the person co-ordinating the review whether they can invite relevant professionals, such as your child’s health practitioner or social worker, to discuss any changes needed.

Our page on EHC plans explains the different sections in more detail.

The annual review is also a chance to ask for a personal budget if you didn’t do this when the EHC plan was first made. See our page on personal budgets for more information.

Plan for the meeting

Ahead of the meeting, you might like to consider the following:

Is there anyone you would like to attend the meeting with you? The school does not have to invite anyone you request, but they must take account of your wishes, views and feelings, as well those of your child.
Do you have any other reports or evidence that you would like to send in? These might be from private practitioners working with your child, or from people outside the education setting, such as a youth club leader or sports coach.
How is your child going to be involved in the review? There is a duty on the local authority to consult your child. Some children and young people want to give their views in person and attend all or part of the meeting. Others find this overwhelming and prefer to write, draw or talk to a trusted person.
Do you want anyone to go with you to take notes? This could be a partner, friend, relative or someone from your local SENDIASS service or another support organisation.

The annual review meeting

The purpose of the meeting is to review your child’s progress and discuss whether any changes are needed to their EHC plan. The meeting must consider:

Your child’s progress towards achieving the outcomes in the EHC plan.
Whether the outcomes in the plan are still appropriate.
For young people in year 9 and above, what support they need to prepare for adulthood.

And the meeting should also consider whether:

The special educational provision in the EHC plan is effective.
The health and social care provision is helping your child make progress towards their outcomes.
Your child still needs an EHC plan.
Any changes needed to the plan, for example a different type of support or a change of school.
Plans for the next year, including setting new interim targets and, if appropriate, new outcomes.

After the annual review meeting

The review report

After the meeting, the school must prepare a written report that:

Sets out any recommended changes to the EHC plan.
Includes the information and advice gathered as part of the review (including your views).
Records where recommendations differ.

The report must be sent to the local authority and everyone invited to the meeting, including you, within two weeks of the meeting.

The local authority’s decision

Within four weeks of the annual review meeting, the local authority must tell you whether it will:

Maintain the plan as it is.
Make changes (amend) the plan.
Cease (end) the plan.

If the local authority decides to make changes to the plan, it must send you a copy of the EHC plan, the changes it proposes to make and any evidence supporting those changes. You then have at least 15 days to give your views on the proposed changes.

The local authority must then issue the final amended plan as soon as possible, and within eight weeks of sending the proposed amendments.

Unhappy with the outcome of the annual review?

You may be able to appeal to the First tier (SEND) Tribunal if:

The local authority decides to cease the EHC plan and you want it to continue.
The local authority decides not to amend the plan but you want changes.
The local authority has made changes that you disagree with.

In most cases, you must consider mediation before you can appeal.

For more information about your rights and what to do next, see our page on Tribunal appeals.

Asking for EHC plan changes outside the annual review

You do not need to wait until the annual review to raise concerns about your child’s EHC Plan or the support they are receiving.

If you have concerns at any time, you can discuss these with your child’s school or the local authority.

If your child isn’t getting the support in their plan

As a first step, you can request a meeting and raise your concerns with your child’s special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO). This gives the school a chance to put things right. Be specific about what is not being provided and put your concerns in writing. You may also want to arrange a follow-up meeting to check the problem has been resolved.

If the support in the plan is still not being provided, the next step is to go to your local authority. The local authority has a legal duty to make sure the special educational provision in the EHC plan is provided.

When you could ask for an interim review

If your child’s needs or circumstances have changed significantly, you do not necessarily have to wait until the next annual review.

You can ask the local authority for the annual review to be brought forward. This is sometimes also known as an emergency or early review. You may wish to do this if, for example, your child’s school placement is at risk or breaking down.

Any such review is at the discretion of the local authority. There is no legal duty on them to arrange it. It may help if you can get the school’s backing, for example if it is no longer a suitable placement. If an early review is agreed, ask for the local authority to confirm they agree to this in writing.

When you could ask for a reassessment

The annual review should help keep your child’s EHC plan up-to-date. However, things have changed significantly since their last review, their EHC plan may no longer accurately reflect their needs.

In these circumstances, you can ask your local authority to carry out a reassessment of your child’s needs. A reassessment provides an opportunity to:

Identify your child’s current needs.
Consider the support and provision they require.
Review whether the outcomes in the EHC plan are still appropriate.
Ensure the plan reflects your child’s present situation.

Once you have requested a reassessment, the local authority must tell you within 15 days whether it will agree to carry one out. If the local authority decides not to reassess your child, you have the right to appeal the decision to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability).

If you are thinking about requesting a reassessment, we recommend contacting our helpline for advice about your individual circumstances and the evidence that may support your request.

Where can I get more information?

You can find out more about annual reviews in our FAQ on Annual Reviews.

You can read about related topics on these webpages:

Do you need more help?

Our parent advisers can help with any questions you have about your child’s SEN support. You can call our free helpline, email us via our web form or contact us using Charlie, our chatbot, on our website.

You can also contact your local Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information, Advice and Support Services (SENDIAS). Every local authority must provide this impartial service. You can find details of your local service on our webpage Local advice and support organisations.

Related information

Parent guides and factsheets

Factsheet: Education, health and care needs assessments

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