How to Review a Draft EHCP: A Step-by-Step Guide for Parents

The draft EHCP arrives in the post or by email. After months of waiting, assessment appointments, and professional reports, you finally have the document that is supposed to protect your child's education. Many parents open it with hope — and then a slow-spreading unease as they realise something is wrong, without quite being able to articulate what.

The draft stage is the most important intervention point in the entire EHCP process. Once the final plan is issued, your options narrow considerably. Here is how to review a draft thoroughly and push back effectively before it is locked in.

The 15-Day Window

When a local authority issues a draft EHCP, parents must be given a minimum of 15 days to review it, request amendments, and state their preference for an educational placement in Section I. This is a statutory minimum, not a suggested timeframe.

Use this window fully. Do not feel pressured to respond quickly simply because the caseworker wants to move the process forward.

Start With Section K

Before reading Section F, read Section K — the appendices. Section K contains all the professional reports and assessments that were gathered during the EHC needs assessment. These are the raw input documents that Section B (needs) and Section F (provision) should reflect.

Read each report and ask: does this need appear in Section B? Does the provision recommended in this report appear in Section F? Discrepancies between what professionals recommended and what ended up in the plan are common and important to identify early.

If an Educational Psychologist's report recommended 1:1 reading support three times per week and Section F says "access to literacy support as appropriate," that is a gap. The draft has diluted the professional recommendation.

Map Section B Against Section F

Create a simple two-column table. On the left: every need identified in Section B. On the right: the provision in Section F that addresses each need.

Every need in Section B must have corresponding provision in Section F. This is not optional — it is a legal requirement. Any need without a corresponding Section F provision means the LA is not committing to address it. Any provision that cannot be traced to a specific need in Section B is untethered.

Common gaps include:

• Sensory needs identified in Section B with no sensory provision in Section F
• Mental health or SEMH needs noted but no therapeutic input or emotional support specified
• Executive function difficulties mentioned but no scaffolding or organisational support detailed

Check Section F for Vague Language

The legal standard for Section F, established in L v Clarke and Somerset CC and codified in paragraph 9.69 of the SEND Code of Practice, requires provision to be "specific and clear" and "normally quantified" in terms of type, hours, frequency, and required expertise.

Go through Section F line by line. Flag every instance of:

• "Access to..."
• "Opportunities for..."
• "As required" / "when appropriate" / "when needed"
• "Regular" (without specifying how often)
• "Will benefit from..."
• "Support from a TA" (without specifying hours, frequency, or qualification level)

Each of these phrases needs to be replaced with specific, quantified language before you agree to the plan. For example, "opportunities for speech and language therapy" should become "45 minutes of direct SALT per week, delivered by a qualified Speech and Language Therapist registered with the HCPC, with a written programme reviewed termly."

Check Section E for SMART Outcomes

Section E should contain SMART outcomes — Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. Section E cannot be appealed to the SEND Tribunal after the plan is finalised, so getting the outcomes right now matters.

An outcome is what the child will be able to do differently, not what provision will be provided. "Will receive literacy intervention" is not an outcome. "By July 2027, [child] will read an unfamiliar passage at age-appropriate level with no more than two decoding errors, measured by a standardised assessment" is an outcome.

If the outcomes in Section E are vague, aspirational rather than measurable, or are actually descriptions of provision rather than expected achievements, push back.

Check That Section I Is Blank

Section I — the educational placement — must be left blank in the draft EHCP. This is a legal requirement. You must be given the opportunity to name your preferred school before the placement is decided. If Section I has already been filled in, contact the LA immediately and request that the draft be reissued with Section I blank.

Writing Your Response

Your response to the draft EHCP should be in writing. Set out your amendments clearly:

1. For each Section F item you want to change, quote the current wording and then propose the specific replacement wording you are requesting
2. For each Section B need that has no corresponding Section F provision, name the need and propose the provision required
3. For each Section E outcome that needs strengthening, quote it and propose the revised version
4. State your preference for the educational placement for Section I

Address the response to the named SEND caseworker and send it with a read receipt or equivalent proof of delivery. Keep a copy.

If the LA declines to make amendments you believe are legally required, you can appeal to the SEND Tribunal once the final plan is issued. Section B and F content is directly appealable.

The England EHCP & SEN Blueprint includes a draft EHCP review worksheet with a built-in wording checker and mapping tool — designed to help you work through any draft plan systematically.

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