Yes. You can ask your local authority for an EHC needs assessment yourself, without the school's agreement, a diagnosis, or an EP report. The law names parents directly, and the council must then decide within 6 weeks.
The rule: parents can request directly
An EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan) is a legal document that sets out a child's special educational needs and the support they must get. Before a plan exists, the council has to carry out an EHC needs assessment. Section 36 of the Children and Families Act 2014 lists who can ask for that assessment, and a child's parent is named in the law itself (s.36(1)). So you do not need the school to apply for you, and you do not need its permission. As the disability charity Scope confirms, you also do not need an educational psychologist (EP) report or a medical diagnosis to make the request.
What applying yourself does and doesn't change
Applying yourself does not lower the legal test, and it does not guarantee a plan. The council still has to be of the opinion that your child has or may have special educational needs, and that it may be necessary for support to be made through an EHC plan rather than the help a school can normally give. That is a low bar to clear, but it is still a test you have to meet with evidence.
The school's view is only one piece of evidence the council weighs. It cannot veto your request. If the school has told you an EHCP "isn't needed", that is its opinion, not the decision; the decision is the council's. One thing does change with age: once a young person is over compulsory school age (the last Friday in June of Year 11), the right to request transfers from you to the young person themselves, and people aged 19 to 25 can request an assessment in their own right (GOV.UK).
How to make the request
Write or email the council's SEN team (not the school) and say plainly that you are requesting an EHC needs assessment for your child under section 36 of the Children and Families Act 2014. Attach anything you already have, such as school reports, records of the support tried so far, and any diagnosis or clinic letters. None of these are mandatory, so do not wait for a diagnosis or an EP report before you apply. From the day the council receives your request, it has 6 weeks to tell you whether it will assess (regulation 5, SEND Regulations 2014). If it refuses to assess, you have the right to appeal to the SEND Tribunal.
It is worth knowing the direction of travel too. The 2026 Schools White Paper and Education for All Bill propose narrowing EHCPs towards children with the most complex needs over the longer term, but no changes take effect before September 2030, and the route for parents to request an assessment is unchanged now. If your child needs an assessment, apply under the rules that apply today.
Two questions worth reading next: can a school refuse to apply for an EHCP? and what do I do if my EHCP application is refused?
Where the law comes from
Related
This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.