Introduction
What is the purpose of an EHCP review?
To bring together your views, and those involved in helping you:
- to consider your progression towards the outcomes in the EHCP
- to consider if any changes need to be made to the EHCP and in some cases if it is still required
How often will an EHCP be reviewed?
Devon County Council must review an EHCP at least once within every 12-month period. We ask schools to arrange a review meeting, which should take place ten months after we send out the first EHCP. The school, college or other provider usually arranges and leads the annual review meeting.
A review may take place sooner than 12 months if your child/young person is transferring to a new school or college or there has been a significant change in their health, care or educational needs which will affect the support they require.
What is a significant change?
As you grow and develop, we would expect small changes which affect how your school or college supports you. However, if there are changes that affect your education, we may need to amend the plan. The changes could include:
- health needs
- social care needs
- your educational progression
- the support is no longer suitable
- the support is no longer required
If you think there has been a significant change, please talk to your school or education provider about having a review.
Invitation to the review
Here is a short video on using the EHC Hub to accept an invite to a meeting:
Step-by-step guidance to accepting an invite is available here.
When will I know about the review meeting?
At least two weeks’ notice must be given to all invitees.
However, we hope that in most circumstances you will be given a lot more. We recommend to meeting organisers (usually the schools SENDCO) to give at least a terms notice or around 16 weeks. This allows professionals time to plan their attendance or consider how they can contribute to the review if they can’t attend.
You will be asked to provide your views ahead of the meeting.
Who will attend?
On the invite, you will be able to see who has currently been invited to attend.
This will include representatives from education, health, social care and school or setting.
If you would like to have others invited who do not appear on the list, please contact the meeting organiser.
Next steps
- Confirm attendance or speak with the meeting organiser if the date is unsuitable.
- Make the meeting organiser aware of any special requirements such as access to the building.
- Consider if there are any professionals involved that the organiser has not invited but should be asked to contribute.
- Contact the Devon Information, Advice and Support (DIAS) service if you would like any support in preparing for the meeting.
How to contribute your views
Here is a short video on using the EHC Hub to contribute your views:
Step-by-step guidance to contributing your views is available here.
What information will I be asked for before the meeting?
Ahead of the scheduled EHCP review meeting, the meeting organiser will ask you to share your views. They may also ask for the views of your parent or carers. They will ask if you feel that progression is being made towards the outcomes set out in the current EHCP.
The EHC hub will prompt you to answer the following questions:
- Do you feel that progress is being made towards some or all of the outcomes set out in the EHC Plan?
- What do you feel has been working well?
- What do you feel is not working well and would like to be different?
These will be used in the final report.
It will also ask about:
- important things to know about your family history
- things that are working well at home and school
- things that are not working well and you would like to change
- your hopes and aspirations for the future
- other information you think is important
Please note these will not be used in the report but may help inform the discussion.
This information can be recorded as images, video or text and uploaded to the Hub.
If you need any help contributing your views you can contact DiAS for support.
What will be shared before the meeting?
In preparation for the meeting, the organiser will also request the views of all professionals, teams or organisations involved as well as gather any updated information, reports or assessments.
All information gathered will be shared with all those invited to the meeting two weeks before.
The meeting
The organizer will make note of those in attendance and share any apologies that have been received. They will also share any new information or reports that have not been previously shared.
During the meeting
All those in attendance will discuss:
- your views, feelings and wishes
- your progression towards the outcomes and whether they are still appropriate
- what provision is required to help you prepare for adulthood and independent living
- your right to a personal budget
They will also:
- review any interim targets set by the early years provider, school, college or other education provider
- set new interim targets for the coming year and, where appropriate, agree on new outcomes
- review any arrangements for direct payments
The meeting chair should ensure that the views on you are currently progressing towards each outcome, as well as any recommendations for changes/amendments to the EHCP are accurately recorded.
The report
Within two weeks of the meeting, you will receive the meeting report. This will also be shared with anyone who was invited to the meeting.
The report is a result of the discussions held at the review meeting and the views/information provided ahead of that meeting.
Each section of the report includes a view on how you are currently progressing towards each outcome, as well as any recommendations for changes/amendments to your EHCP.
We will consider the contents of the report and any supporting documentation/evidence and will publish our decision on whether the EHCP needs to be amended, ceased or maintained in its current form until the next annual review.
The decision
Within 4 weeks of the meeting taking place we will decide to either:
- keep the current EHCP as it is
- amend the EHCP
- cease to maintain the EHCP
We will also include a brief reason for our decision.
Keep the current EHC Plan as it is
The plan will continue to be maintained and will be reviewed within 12 months of the review being concluded.
Amend the EHCP
If the plan needs to be amended, we should start the process of amendment without delay. We will share a copy of the amended plan and you will have 15 days to comment on the proposed changes.
Cease to maintain the EHCP
We will cease a plan if:
- the review provides evidence that the outcomes have been met
- you are moving to higher education or employment
System support
For help with using the EHC Hub:
- email educationsystems@devon.gov.uk
- telephone 01392 380434 (option 2) – phone lines will be open 10 am to 12 pm and 2 pm to 4 pm on weekdays only.
Downloadable version of: Guidance for young people on EHCP reviews