Reviewing Education, Health and Care Plans

Your child's school or college will arrange the annual review and give you at least two weeks' notice in writing of the meeting. Your child's school or college should also provide you with 'pre-annual review' paperwork. This will be update reports from all professionals working with your child. This will usually be the teachers. In some instances it will also include reports that have been undertaken (within that academic year) by an external professional, such as an Educational Psychologist.

The meeting normally takes place at your child's school or college. People who work with your child will be at the meeting to talk about how things are going.

The Council for Disabled Children has created a flowchart of an overview of the timescales involved for an annual review. Visit the Council for Disabled Children website to download the flowchart.

The following people will attend your child's annual review:     

• Your child   
• You, as the parent or carer
• A Social Worker, if your child has one   
• Someone from your child's school who knows them well    
• Someone who knows about your child's health (where appropriate)    
• Anyone else who's been working with your child or might need to work with them in the future. 
• A Local Authority (LA) representative may also attend if necessary 
          
  

Schools or colleges will request a report from all those invited to the review meeting (including yourself and your child). These should be submitted and circulated at least two weeks before the meeting.

To make sure you get the most out of the annual review, you and your child should prepare for it.

It can be useful to think about:    

• What was talked about and agreed in the last review and how your child has been progressing   
• What hopes you and your child have for their future    
• What's worked well
• What's not working
          
  

As your child gets older they'll become more involved in decisions about their future. Go to the when can a young person make their own decisions page to find out more.

Support at an annual review

You can request that someone from the Special Educational Needs and Disability Information, Advice and Support Service comes with you to your child's annual review to support you.

A review meeting will last between one to one and a half hours. Normally the headteacher or the school's special educational needs coordinator (SENCO) will be in charge of the annual review meeting. They'll make sure everything gets talked about that needs to.

The following matters will be discussed:    

• What is important to your child   
• What is going well    
• What needs changing
• Outcomes from last year
  

The members of the group including yourself and your child will then agree what help and support your child needs to make progress over the next year.

After the annual review, all things discussed will be populated onto the annual review forms that the schools and colleges will have. This will also include any recommendations that the schools or yourself would like the Local Authority (LA) to consider. The school will then have 2 weeks to return the paperwork the LA. If there has been no change to the Education, Health and Care Plan, then it will continue as it is, and the LA will write to you to inform you of this.

If there are recommendations from the annual review, this will be considered by the LA, and you should receive the outcome of this within 8 weeks from the date of your child's annual review.

From year 9, annual reviews will have more focus on preparing for adulthood.

This will look at:    

• What you'll do after you're 16
• Planning for living independently    
• Staying healthy    
• Support in participating in society   
• Developing and maintaining friendships
  
  

Social Care

If it looks like you'll need, help from social care when you reach 18, the transition social worker will arrange to complete an assessment. This will look at the support you'll need as an adult.

The transition social worker will speak to the people they need to so that your plan will be ready by 31 March of the school year.

For further information go to the becoming an adult section.

An Education, Health and Care Plan will end when a child or young person meets their outcomes, a young person moves into employment, higher education or higher level apprenticeship. 

Any other services, such as social care or health, will continue if they have been agreed, but they will have their own arrangements for providing this. 

Visit the becoming an adult section to find out more.

If you disagree with any changes in the Education, Health and Care Plan you can find out what to do on the unhappy with a decision page.

You can find out about available support on the special educational needs and disability information advice and support service (SENDIASS) web page.

Come along to the special educational needs drop in service for help and advice for all things related to special educational needs including annual reviews.

• GOV.UK website - guide to the SEND Code of Practice for parents
• Council for disabled children website - Information for parents
• Council for disabled children website - What children and young people need to know about the SEND reforms
  
• IPSEA website - Education, Health and Care plans
• Irwin Mitchell website - factsheets and template letters

Schools facilitate arranging annual reviews, the expectation is that annual reviews will take a person-centred approach. This means putting children, young people and families at the centre of decisions and advocating that everyone has the right to exercise choice and control in directing their lives and support.

To find out more read our guidance on person centred reviews for schools: 

• Person-centred reviews: Guidance for schools and other services (PDF document)