The annual review email lands and your stomach drops, because somewhere in the house is a year of reports you’re meant to turn into a view on whether the plan is working. Skimming it the night before isn’t a failing, it’s what happens when the job is bigger than your time. Here’s a calmer way through: let the free SEND Parents Help assistant compare your child’s plan against the year’s reports and help you walk in prepared. If you’re still getting your head around plans, start with what an EHCP is and whether your child needs one.
Start with this prompt
Gather the year’s paperwork, open the assistant, paste this in, and fill in the brackets. It sets up the whole comparison in one go.
I’m preparing for my child’s EHCP annual review. My child is [age] and their main needs are [brief summary]. Here is Section F of the current plan: [paste Section F]. Here are this year’s reports: [paste the reports, or upload them]. Please give me: 1) a list of what Section F requires versus what the reports show is actually happening, flagging anything that looks undelivered or watered down, 2) any signs that my child’s needs have changed since the plan was written, 3) a draft parent contribution of about one page that I can edit, and 4) a list of questions and points to raise at the review meeting.
One tap opens the assistant with this prompt ready. Edit the parts in [square brackets] once you are there. Prefer to do it by hand? Copy it and paste it in yourself.
Open the assistant with this promptThe assistant asks questions before it drafts, so a rough start is fine. New to ChatGPT? Our two-minute setup guide gets you a free account. If your reports are on paper or in PDFs, our free Doc Tools page pulls the text out in your browser, with nothing uploaded, ready to paste in.
What to bring to the review
- Gather evidence of progress against outcomes. Pull together the last 12 months: school progress reports, therapy updates, Educational Psychologist input, and your own notes, alongside Section B (needs) and Section F (provision).
- Name what’s working and what isn’t. Section F is legally binding and the LA must deliver every word of it, so put what it promises next to what the reports show. If something is missing, check whether it happened and just wasn’t written up before you raise it.
- Propose specific changes to provision. If needs have changed, say so plainly and ask for it to be recorded. If therapy genuinely isn’t happening, that’s a legal problem, not a budget question, and you can raise a complaint with the school or council using AI.
- Request amendments in writing. Disagreements should go in the meeting record, because the written report is what the LA acts on. Send your one-page parent contribution to the school beforehand so it’s circulated with the other reports.
A few key facts
- Your Local Authority (LA) must review the EHCP at least every 12 months under section 44 of the Children and Families Act 2014.
- You must get at least 2 weeks’ notice, and all reports must be circulated at least 2 weeks before the meeting, under regulation 20 of the SEND Regulations 2014. If they haven’t arrived, you can ask for the meeting to be postponed.
- If your child is changing school phase, the amended final plan must be issued by 15 February for a primary-to-secondary transfer, or 31 March for moves into post-16, under regulation 18.
- In 2024, around 70,900 plans nationally were overdue a review, according to the Department for Education’s EHCP statistics. Missed deadlines are common but never lawful.
The clock after the meeting is set by the SEND Regulations 2014 and it binds the LA, not you. The school sends its report to the LA within 2 weeks. The LA then has 4 weeks to tell you in writing whether it will keep, amend, or cease the plan, and any amended final plan must follow within 8 more weeks: a maximum of 12 weeks from meeting to final plan. If the decision letter hasn’t arrived 4 weeks after the meeting, chase it in writing and ask the assistant to help you draft the letter. If the LA ceases the plan or amends it in ways you disagree with, you can appeal to the SEND Tribunal.
Check it yourself before the meeting
The assistant makes preparation faster, but a few things still need your own eyes:
- Quotes from Section F. Check any wording the assistant attributes to the plan against the actual document before you cite it.
- Dates and deadlines. Count the 2-week and 4-week windows from your own calendar, using the real meeting date.
- What actually happened. The reports may say sessions were delivered. You know whether your child came home talking about them.
- Your contribution. Read the final draft aloud. It should sound like you, with your examples, not a template.
If your child is in Year 9 or above, the review must also cover preparing for adulthood, and from 16 your young person holds the rights in the process themselves, so involve them where you can.
Getting help
- IPSEA publishes template letters and a checklist for annual reviews, including when the LA misses deadlines.
- Your local SENDIASS can help you prepare and may attend with you. Find yours through the Council for Disabled Children.
- Contact, the charity for families with disabled children, runs a free helpline and plain-English guidance on EHCP reviews.
Sources and further reading
Legislation and official guidance
- Children and Families Act 2014, section 44 (the duty to review every 12 months)
- SEND Regulations 2014, regulation 20 (review meeting notice, circulation, and reporting deadlines)
- SEND Regulations 2014, regulation 18 (phase transfer deadlines)
- SEND Code of Practice 0 to 25 (statutory guidance on reviews)
Statistics
- Education, health and care plans: January 2025 (DfE annual review compliance data)