Annual review

The yearly check that an EHCP is still right. The one predictable chance to change a plan without a fight.

What it is

Every EHCP must be reviewed at least every 12 months. The review looks at progress towards the outcomes, whether the plan is still accurate, and whether anything should change.

For children under five it must be at least every six months.

Where it applies

Every child or young person with an EHCP, wherever they are educated — including at home or in an independent school.

How it works

The school usually holds the meeting, but the DUTY is the council's. The school sends a report to the council; the council must then decide within **4 weeks** of the meeting whether to keep the plan as it is, amend it, or cease it, and tell you.

If it decides to amend, it must send you the proposed amendments and give you **at least 15 days** to comment, then issue the final amended plan within **8 weeks** of the original amendment notice.

Those decision letters carry appeal rights. A review that produces no decision letter has not finished.

What you can ask for

Ask for the meeting to be arranged with enough notice for you to prepare, and send your own written contribution beforehand — it must be circulated at least two weeks in advance along with everyone else's.

Ask for the year 9 review onwards to cover preparing for adulthood. That is a legal requirement, not an option.

If provision has not been delivered this year, say so at the review and get it minuted. That record is what makes the next step possible.

Where to get help

SENDIASS will often attend with you. IPSEA has detailed guidance on the timescales, which councils miss routinely.