We use cookies 🍪
We use essential cookies to keep you logged in. We also use analytics cookies to understand how parents use SEN Letters UK so we can improve it. Cookie Policy | Privacy Policy
Many parents wait for the school to refer their child for an EHC needs assessment. Most do not realise they can make the request themselves, and the school's agreement is not required.
This guide explains the legal framework and what you need to know. When you are ready to write the actual letter, SEN Letters UK generates it for you.
One of the most significant and underused rights in the SEND system is the parental right to request an EHC needs assessment directly from the local authority. Parents frequently spend months, sometimes years, trying to persuade a school to initiate the process when they have always had the power to do it themselves.
This article explains what the right involves, what the assessment looks like, what evidence carries weight, and what the local authority is required to do when you make your request.
An EHC needs assessment is a process, not a document. The local authority gathers information from the school, from professionals involved in your child's care, and from you as the parent, to determine whether your child's needs require the level of support that can only be provided through an EHC plan.
Not every assessment results in a plan. The local authority reviews all the evidence gathered and makes a decision about whether a plan is necessary. If it decides one is not needed, you can appeal that decision. If it decides one is needed, the plan must be issued within 20 weeks of your initial request.
Section 36(1) of the Children and Families Act 2014 gives parents, and young people aged 16 to 25, the right to request an EHC needs assessment from the local authority. The school does not need to support the request or agree with it. The request does not need to go through the school at all.
Once you make the request, Section 36(3) requires the local authority to respond within six weeks. It must either agree to carry out an assessment or notify you that it will not, giving its reasons.
If the local authority refuses to assess, you have the right to appeal its decision to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability). Understanding that this right exists is often what makes the difference between a parent who is told "your child doesn't meet the threshold" and one who pursues the matter to a successful outcome.
The local authority is required to consider your request and decide whether it is necessary to carry out an assessment. It will look at evidence of your child's needs and whether those needs can be met without an EHC plan.
The evidence that tends to carry the most weight includes: reports from educational psychologists, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, or other professionals working with your child; school records including intervention records, progress data, and support plans; medical letters or consultant reports; and your own written account of how your child's difficulties affect them at home and at school.
What many parents do not realise is that a professional diagnosis is not required. The question is not whether your child has a named condition, it is whether they have needs that cannot be met through the resources ordinarily available to a mainstream school.
Your request letter to the local authority is not the place to make an emotional appeal. It is the place to establish, factually and specifically, that your child has significant needs, that those needs have been identified and documented, that provision has been tried, and that provision has been insufficient.
The request should cite Section 36(1) explicitly. It should describe your child's needs and their impact with specificity. It should reference any professional assessments or reports. And it should make clear that you expect a response within the statutory six-week period.
The strength of your initial request letter often shapes how the local authority engages with the process that follows.
If the local authority agrees to assess, it will contact the school, professionals, and you to gather information. You will have the opportunity to provide your own written evidence and the names of professionals you believe should be contacted.
If it refuses, it must give written reasons. You then have two months from that decision to lodge an appeal with the First-tier Tribunal. You do not need a solicitor to appeal, but SENDIASS can help you prepare.
The request must be in writing. SEN Letters UK generates a formally worded request letter citing the correct legislation, structured to meet the statutory requirements. It takes around two minutes and produces a letter you can send immediately.
SEN Letters UK writes the letter for you, professionally worded, legally informed, tailored to your child's situation.
Preview free. Full letters from £4.99, credits never expire.
Get notified of new articles
We publish plain-English articles on SEN rights, EHCPs, and school support. No spam, just useful information when it's ready.
Found this useful?
Share it in your SEND Facebook group, another parent will thank you for it.
MORE GUIDES