How do we manage a growing EHCP caseload as a SENCO?

Treat a growing EHCP caseload as a leadership-resourcing issue, not a SENCO-alone task: ask SLT in writing for protected time, delegate review coordination, and calendar every plan's annual-review deadline. The instinct to absorb the extra reviews and evidence-gathering yourself is the trap. The SEND Code of Practice frames your role as strategic, and it works best when you are part of the senior leadership team (paragraph 6.87) — so the first move is a resourcing conversation, not a longer to-do list.

First: put a protected-time and capacity ask to SLT in writing

Count your current EHC plans against the non-contact time you actually have, and send the headteacher a short written summary: the plan count, the trend over the last two or three years, and the gap between the coordination the Code expects and the hours available. The Code lists co-ordinating provision for pupils with SEN, including those with EHC plans, among your core responsibilities (paragraph 6.90), and names the head and governing board as joint owners of strategic SEN development (paragraph 6.87). That makes capacity their decision to fund, not yours to soak up. Ask for one specific thing — ring-fenced administrative support, a deputy or assistant SENCO, or named non-contact hours — rather than a general plea for help.

Then: build a forward calendar and triage by need

Plot every plan's annual-review month for the year ahead and work backwards from each date for paperwork, advice-gathering and invitations. Triage by urgency and complexity: transition years (Year 6, Year 11), plans where provision is not being met, and reviews the council has flagged come first. Delegate the things that do not need your professional judgement — scheduling, room-booking, minute-taking, chasing reports — to administrative staff or a trained assistant. Knowing what your duties at each annual review actually are lets you protect your own time for the parts only you can do.

Escalate it as a strategic SEND question, not a personal one

If the numbers still do not work, raise capacity with the governing board as a strategic agenda item. The annual-review legal deadline — at least every twelve months — sits with the local authority, not with you personally (section 44, Children and Families Act 2014). Schools run reviews operationally, but you can lean on the council's review timetable rather than inventing your own, and you can hold them to it. Use the funding conversation you would have with governors anyway: see how to make the case for more SEND funding to governors.

One change worth watching: the government's February 2026 Schools White Paper and the Education for All Bill propose a new statutory Individual Support Plan and narrowing EHCPs to the most complex needs by 2035. A consultation ran until May 2026, but nothing takes effect before September 2030 and current plans are protected — so your duties for the caseload in front of you are unchanged. Plan around today's law, not the headlines. You can read the proposals on GOV.UK.

This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.