I have concerns about my son’s EHC plan. The school says there will be an annual review meeting in the next few weeks so I want to know how to best influence the review and get more provision for him. What do I need to know?

It is important that the EHC plan properly specifies all of your son’s special educational needs (Section B) and the special educational provision (Section F) required to meet those needs. If your son’s current EHC plan lacks detail concerning his needs and provision requirements, the annual review process is a useful tool in trying to influence change to the EHC plan.

The first step is to clarify the date of the review meeting. The person arranging the meeting (usually the head teacher) must:

• give at least two weeks’ notice of the meeting date
• invite specified professionals to the meeting, and
• obtain advice in relation to your son. Any advice obtained as part of the review must be circulated at least two weeks before the review meeting.

There is more detail about this in the section on the annual review process. In particular, our annual review checklist contains tips on how to prepare for the meeting and sets out all of the steps that must be followed by the school or college and the LA.

An important element here will be the information and advice which should be gathered in advance of the meeting. These can be used to influence change to the EHC plan.

If there is a delay in carrying out or concluding the annual review, you can complain to the LA using our template letter.

If your LA decides to keep the EHC plan as it is, or to cease to maintain it, you will need to appeal to the SEND Tribunal.