If you are considering making the request for an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment yourself, it is important to provide the Local Authority with as much possible Information, and evidence, for them to be able to properly consider your request.

Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years [2015] (section 9.14) includes a checklist of information required for the local authority to properly consider a request for an EHC needs assessment. The SEND Code of Practice is legal guidance about Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Schools and local authorities must have regard to the Code when a child or young person is identified as having SEND.

You do not have to be able to provide all of this information yourself.

This checklist has been included to show you the information that the Local Authority will have to collect from your child’s school or other education setting (Appendix B) before they will be able to make an informed decision.

• Evidence of the child or young person’s academic attainment (or developmental milestones in younger children) and rate of progress
• Information about the nature, extent and context of the child or young person’s SEND
• Evidence of the action already being taken by the early years provider, school or post-16 institution to meet the child or young person’s SEND
• Evidence that where progress has been made, it has only been as the result of much additional intervention and support over and above that which is usually provided
• Evidence of the child or young person’s physical, emotional and social development and health needs, drawing on relevant evidence from clinicians and other health professionals and what has been done to meet these by other agencies, and
• Where a young person is aged over 18, the local authority must consider whether the young person requires additional time, in comparison to the majority of others of the same age who do not have special educational needs, to complete their education or training. Remaining in formal education or training should help young people to achieve education and training outcomes, building on what they have learned before and preparing them for adult life.

Regardless of who makes the request, both:

• educational providers (pre-school, school, college etc.), and
• parents/carers/young people,

will need to have submitted their views and evidence before the Local Authority makes a decision.

So, it may be useful for you to consider collecting evidence before submitting a request yourself or asking the education provider to submit a request.