No — most children with SEN get help through 'SEN support', which schools must by law provide using their 'best endeavours'. An EHCP is only needed when that support isn't enough to meet your child's needs. If you've been told your child can't be helped until they have a plan, that is a common and costly mistake.
What the two levels of support actually are
The school system has two tiers. SEN support is the first and by far the most common. It is the help an ordinary school arranges from its own staff and budget: a tweaked seating plan, a reading intervention, extra time, a movement break, a small-group nurture session. Most pupils with special educational needs (SEN) never go beyond this level, and they don’t need to.
An EHCP, or Education, Health and Care plan, is the higher tier. It is a legal document issued by the local council (the local authority) for children who need more or different help than a mainstream school can reasonably provide from its own resources. The council, not the school, carries the duties set out in an EHCP under Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014. You ask for one through an EHC needs assessment, and only a minority of children with SEN have one.
SEN support is a legal duty, not optional goodwill
This is the part schools sometimes leave out. Where a registered pupil has SEN, the school must use its ‘best endeavours’ to secure the special educational provision their needs call for (section 66 of the Children and Families Act 2014). The charity IPSEA sums it up plainly: the school must do everything it can to meet a child’s needs from its own resources, whether or not the child has an EHCP. It applies to mainstream schools, academies, nurseries and sixth forms alike.
Two things follow that parents are often told the opposite of:
- No diagnosis is required. SEN support is triggered by need, not by a label. A child waiting months for an autism or ADHD assessment is entitled to support now, on the basis of the difficulties the school can see. “Come back when you have a diagnosis” is not a lawful reason to do nothing.
- No EHCP is required. The school cannot make help conditional on a plan it has not even helped you apply for. SEN support comes first; the EHCP route is what you turn to when SEN support has been tried properly and is still not meeting the need.
SEN support runs on a cycle the SEND Code of Practice calls assess, plan, do, review: the school works out what is getting in your child’s way, agrees what it will put in place, delivers it, then reviews whether it worked and adjusts. You should be invited to each review, usually about three times a year.
Why this matters, and what is changing
Knowing the duty exists changes the conversation. You are not asking the school for a favour while you wait for a plan; you are asking it to meet an obligation it already holds. If the school still says it can do nothing, that is the point to put the request in writing and, if needed, escalate.
One thing to watch: the Government’s Schools White Paper, published in February 2026, proposes a new statutory Individual Support Plan for every child with additional needs and, over the longer term, narrowing EHCPs to the most complex needs. No changes to the support EHCPs give begin before September 2030, and children who already hold a plan are protected. A consultation is open, so the detail may shift. For now the answer stands as it has for years: SEN support first, an EHCP when that is not enough.
Where the law comes from
Related
This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.