EHCP Checklist: Check Your Child’s Draft or Final Plan

EHCP Sections at a Glance

The Golden Rule: Section B → Section F

The Golden EHCP Checklist

Work through this checklist when reviewing a draft or finalised EHCP. Print it out, or use it alongside the document.

✅ Section B — Does it clearly describe your child?

• ☐ Does Section B describe your child's needs specifically, not generically?
• ☐ Are needs described in detail — not just "has autism" but how autism affects them?
• ☐ Does it cover communication and interaction needs?
• ☐ Does it cover sensory and physical needs?
• ☐ Does it cover cognition and learning needs?
• ☐ Does it cover social, emotional and mental health needs?
• ☐ Are any health-related educational needs included (e.g. fatigue, anxiety affecting learning)?
• ☐ Were your views as a parent incorporated?
• ☐ Were your child's own views incorporated (if appropriate)?
• ☐ Is the professional advice from assessments reflected accurately?

✅ Section F — Is provision specific and quantified?

• ☐ Is every need in Section B addressed by a provision in Section F?
• ☐ Is each provision specific — naming the type of support (e.g. "1:1 SALT therapy, not group")?
• ☐ Is provision normally quantified, with enough detail about amount, frequency and duration to know what must be arranged?
• ☐ Does it name who provides the support (e.g. "qualified speech and language therapist")?
• ☐ Are any TA hours described as specialist where appropriate (not just general TA)?
• ☐ Does it specify whether provision is 1:1 or group?
• ☐ Are sensory accommodations described specifically?
• ☐ Is any emotional regulation support specified?
• ☐ Does it address communication needs with sufficient detail?
• ☐ Are transition support arrangements described?

✅ Section I — Initial draft or final plan?

• ☐ In an initial draft, Section I must not name a school or type of setting. Have you used the response period to request the setting you want considered?
• ☐ In a final plan, check the named school or institution, or type, against the needs and provision. A type-only plan is not automatically unlawful, but you can challenge the absence of a named setting where an appeal right exists.
• ☐ If all education is arranged through EOTAS and no setting will be attended, seek advice about leaving Section I blank and specifying the package in Section F.

See IPSEA’s draft-plan guide and placement and EOTAS guidance.

✅ Cross-Checking B vs F

Go through Section B line by line. For each need, ask: "Where is this addressed in Section F?" If you can't find it, note the gap.

• ☐ Speech and language difficulties → SALT provision named in F?
• ☐ Sensory processing needs → sensory environment/supports named in F?
• ☐ Anxiety and SEMH needs → emotional regulation support named in F?
• ☐ Communication differences → AAC, visual supports, or communication strategies named in F?
• ☐ Social interaction difficulties → social skills/peer support named in F?
• ☐ Literacy and numeracy gaps → specialist intervention named in F?
• ☐ Executive function difficulties → structured routines, prompting strategies named in F?

Common Pitfalls to Watch For

• "As appropriate" / "as needed" — ask who decides, using what criteria, and what support must be available. Such wording may need more detail.
• "Access to" — check whether the plan says what the child will actually receive, how often and from whom.
• Amount unclear — request detail supported by the evidence. Missing hours do not give the school unrestricted discretion.
• Qualified vs unqualified staff — the plan should specify the qualification level of the person delivering provision.
• Missing needs — ask for all identified SEN to be recorded in Section B and matched with required Section F provision. An omission is a reason to seek correction, not proof that support cannot be funded.

What to Do If You Find Gaps

1. Initial draft: send written comments identifying the need, missing provision and supporting evidence. You must have at least 15 days for representations, to request a meeting and to request a setting.
2. Recently issued final plan: check the decision letter for an appeal right and deadline immediately. Do not wait for a review if an appeal deadline is running.
3. Existing plan: you can request an early review if circumstances change, but the request creates no new fixed deadline. A refusal to make an informal change is not automatically a new appealable decision.
4. After a statutory review: a decision to maintain without changes, cease, or issue an amended final plan can give an appeal right. The usual deadline is the later of two months from the decision letter or one month from the mediation certificate; most education appeals require a certificate, while a placement-only Section I appeal is exempt.
5. Provision not delivered: notify KCC about missing Section F provision. Seek advice about a complaint or urgent enforcement; a contents appeal is a different route.

Use GOV.UK’s appeal guidance, IPSEA’s review guidance and Section F enforcement guidance. Free advice is available from IPSEA and IASK.

Useful Resources

• IPSEA — Independent Provider of Special Education Advice (free legal advice)
• SOS!SEN — Special Educational Needs helpline
• GOV.UK — EHC needs assessments
• Kent SENDIASS — free, impartial advice for Kent families
• SENDPath — EHCP Solicitors directory