Following the re-assessment, your local authority (LA) will consider all the information gathered and decide whether the EHC plan needs to be changed.

If your LA decides the EHC plan needs to be changed

You must be sent a draft EHC plan and given at least 15 days to make comments (representations) about the contents and to request that a particular school or college is named. You can use our template letter to help you provide your comments, Template letter 3: responding to a draft EHC plan.

Your LA must then send a finalised EHC plan within 14 weeks of the date on which it agreed to re-assess (or decided to re-assess, if relevant).

Once the EHC plan has been issued, if you are unhappy about the contents, including the setting (or type) named, then you can appeal. You will also have the right to mediation. You can find out more information on our appealing contents page, Appeals about the contents of an EHC plan.

This new plan will replace the previous plan and be legally valid. This means the old plan  no longer has any effect, and the new EHC plan applies (even if you are appealing its contents).

If your LA decides the EHC plan does not need to be changed 

If your LA decides not to amend the EHC plan, it must tell you about this and send you the final EHC plan within 14 weeks of the date on which it agreed to re-assess (or decided itself to re-assess).

That said, we think some changes to an EHC plan will always be required following a re-assessment. Section K (advice and information gathered during the EHC needs assessment) will, at the very least, need to be updated and contain the new information.

If your LA decides not to amend the plan and you are unhappy about this, you can appeal to the SEND Tribunal and ask it to order the changes you want.

When will the next annual review be?

Normally annual reviews must be concluded within 12 months from the day an EHC plan is first issued and then annually.

However, having a re-assessment carried out changes the annual review ‘clock’.

Instead, your LA must review the EHC plan within 12 months of the date on which a copy of the new finalised plan is sent to you. So, when you receive the finalised plan, make a note in your diary for about 9 months to remind you that the deadline is coming up. Each subsequent annual review must be annual from that 12 month point.

If you need further support, please contact us.

Back: What happens in a re-assessment?

For more general information about appeals and mediation, please see:

Appealing to the SEND tribunal

Mediation

Where can I get help?

General advice for all appeals