What is an EHCP and does my child need one?

What an EHCP actually is

An EHCP is a legally binding plan (ages 0-25) for a child whose special educational needs can't be met by ordinary school support. Most children with SEND don't need one, and no diagnosis is required to ask. EHCP stands for Education, Health and Care Plan: it sets out your child's special educational needs, the outcomes you're working towards, and the specific support the council must put in place to meet those needs, including any health and social care support reasonably required.

Because the plan is legally binding, the council has to secure the education support it names. That is the practical difference between an EHCP and a school's own SEN Support: SEN Support is what the school does from its own budget and isn't legally enforceable in the same way.

Does your child need one?

Probably not, and that's not a brush-off. An EHCP is for children whose needs cannot reasonably be met from the resources a mainstream school normally has. Most children with special educational needs are correctly and lawfully supported through SEN Support, the graduated “assess, plan, do, review” approach every school must run. An EHCP is the right tool when that support, done properly, still isn't enough.

Two things the top search results often get wrong are worth saying plainly:

• You don't need a diagnosis. The legal test is about your child's needs and the support those needs require, not about having a label. The council must carry out an EHC needs assessment where a child may have special educational needs and it may be necessary for provision to be made through a plan (Children and Families Act 2014, s.36). That is a deliberately low threshold.
• You don't need the school's agreement. You can ask the council directly. If, after the assessment, a plan is necessary, the council must prepare and maintain one (Children and Families Act 2014, s.37).

What's changing, and what isn't (yet)

Everything above is current law. But the government's Schools White Paper Every child achieving and thriving (23 February 2026) signals a direction of travel: a new statutory Individual Support Plan for children with SEND in mainstream settings, with EHCPs narrowed over the longer term to children with the most complex needs.

This is a proposal, not the law today. The government has said there will be no changes before September 2030, and children who already hold an EHCP will keep it and be protected. So if your child needs an assessment now, the route that exists today is the one to use.

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