How to Prepare for Your Child's EHCP Annual Review

The annual review is your chance to make sure your child's Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) still reflects who they are today — not who they were a year ago. With the right preparation, it can be one of the most valuable meetings in your child's calendar, rather than one to dread.

An EHCP is a legal document, but it's also a living one. Children grow, needs shift, and the provision that worked well in Year 3 might not stretch far enough by Year 5. The annual review exists precisely to catch that drift before it becomes a problem for your child's learning or wellbeing — but only if parents come prepared to make the case for change where it's genuinely needed.

What is an EHCP annual review?

By law, every EHCP must be reviewed at least once every 12 months, and more often if circumstances change significantly. The review brings together parents, the young person (where appropriate to their age and understanding), the school or setting, and any relevant professionals to look at three core questions:

Review focus

What it means

Progress

Has your child made progress towards the outcomes set out in the plan?

Accuracy of needs

Does Section B (and other need sections) still describe your child accurately?

Sufficiency of provision

Is the support in Section F still enough — in type, frequency and hours?

If any of these have moved on, the plan can — and should — be amended. This isn't a token box-ticking exercise; a review that concludes "no changes needed" year after year, while your child continues to struggle, is a sign something isn't being looked at closely enough. Our EHCP support service covers exactly this stage of the process, from reviewing a draft plan line by line to attending the review meeting itself alongside you.

Who should be involved

Beyond you and your child's setting, the review can and should include anyone contributing meaningfully to your child's support — a speech and language therapist, an educational psychologist, an occupational therapist, or a paediatrician, for example. If a professional hasn't been invited but you think their input matters, it's reasonable to ask the school or local authority to include them, or to request their most recent report is tabled at the meeting.

Preparing ahead of the meeting

A little groundwork before the meeting makes a real difference to how the discussion goes on the day, and to the outcome you walk away with.

1. Re-read the current EHCP in full. Go section by section and note anything that no longer matches your child — a need that's grown, a strategy that's stopped working, or provision that's written into the plan but quietly isn't happening in practice.
2. Gather evidence. School reports, samples of work, letters or reports from professionals, and your own observations from home all carry weight. Recent, specific evidence is far more persuasive than general impressions.
3. Ask your child their views. Their voice should be represented in whatever way works best for them — written, drawn, recorded, or shared through a trusted adult who knows them well.
4. Write down your priorities. Three clear, specific points land far better in the room than a long list of scattered concerns. Rank them if you can, in case time runs short.
5. Check the timeline. The setting should send you paperwork, including reports from professionals, at least two weeks before the meeting. If you haven't received anything by then, chase it — you're entitled to time to read and digest it properly.

For children moving through primary, secondary or into post-16 education, needs and provision can look quite different at each stage of school life. Our page on support for children aged 5 and older explains how expectations and provision typically shift as your child grows, which can help you judge whether the current plan is keeping pace.

Making your voice heard on the day

You know your child better than anyone else in the room, and the review is your opportunity to make sure that knowledge is reflected in the final document. A few things help on the day itself:

• Bring your written notes and refer to them — don't rely on memory under pressure, especially in a room full of professionals.
• Ask for anything unclear or jargon-heavy to be explained properly before you move on.
• Don't be afraid to ask for provision to be strengthened where the evidence genuinely supports it — silence is often read as agreement.
• Ask what happens next, and by when. A review should lead to a formal decision — to maintain, amend, or cease the plan — within four weeks, not just an informal discussion that fades away.

If the outcome doesn't reflect what was agreed, or the plan isn't amended when it clearly should be, you have the right to challenge that decision. The Department for Education's official SEND: guide for parents and carers sets out these rights in detail, including what to do if you disagree with the outcome of a review.

Wondering what this means for your child?

Every EHCP and every annual review is different, and it's easy to feel out of your depth in a meeting full of professional language and acronyms. If you'd like a second pair of eyes on your child's plan, help preparing your evidence, or support in the meeting itself, book a free, no-obligation virtual consultation over Zoom — wherever you are in the UK.