Responding to a Draft EHCP: How to Request Amendments Before the Final Plan

The draft EHCP lands in your inbox. After weeks or months of waiting — often well beyond the 20-week statutory timeline — the plan that is supposed to secure your child's education is finally on paper. The instinct is relief. Then you read it properly.

The provision is vague. Section F says your child will have "access to support" and "opportunities for" speech and language therapy. The school named in Section I is the mainstream school you have already explained is unsuitable. The needs in Section B do not reflect the assessment reports you submitted.

The draft is not the final plan. This is the moment to act.

What the Draft EHCP Is and What You Can Challenge

Under the Children and Families Act 2014, after a local authority completes an EHC needs assessment, it must send the family a draft EHCP before issuing a final plan. This is a legal requirement, not a courtesy.

You have 15 days from receiving the draft to respond with your comments — though the LA must give you a reasonable opportunity to respond, and many families negotiate additional time if the draft is complex. Use every day of this window.

You can challenge:

• Section B (Special Educational Needs) — whether it accurately and completely describes your child's needs as identified through the assessment
• Section F (Special Educational Provision) — whether provision is specific, quantified, and legally enforceable, or whether it uses vague language that creates no real obligation
• Section I (Educational Placement) — whether the school named, or the type of school described, is appropriate for your child's needs
• Section C and G (Health needs and provision) — whether health requirements from the assessment are reflected, particularly any therapeutic provision

You can also raise concerns about missing information — for example, if the final psychological assessment report was not reflected in the draft, or if provision recommended by the speech and language therapist was omitted entirely.

The Section F Problem: Why Vague Language Matters

The most common — and most consequential — issue with draft EHCPs is vague provision in Section F.

Under Section 42(2) of the CFA 2014, the local authority has an absolute, non-delegable legal duty to secure the provision specified in Section F. "Absolute" means there are no exceptions. If it is in Section F, the LA must ensure it is delivered.

Local authorities know this. Which is why they routinely draft Section F in language that creates the appearance of provision without the substance of an enforceable obligation. Watch for:

• "Access to" (implies availability, not delivery)
• "Opportunities for" (suggests possibility, not commitment)
• "As appropriate" or "as required" (transfers discretion to the school)
• "Regular support" (no frequency specified)
• "A familiar adult" (no qualification specified)

The SEND Code of Practice paragraph 9.69 is clear: provision must be "detailed and specific and should normally be quantified, for example, in terms of the type, hours and frequency of support and level of expertise." Upper Tribunal case law — particularly B-M and B-M v Oxfordshire CC (SEN) [2018] UKUT 35 (AAC) — has firmly established that vague provision fails the legal standard even when the child is placed in a specialist setting.

Lawful Section F wording looks like this:

• "Direct 1:1 speech and language therapy for 45 minutes, twice weekly, delivered by an HCPC-registered Speech and Language Therapist"
• "A dedicated 1:1 Teaching Assistant, trained in ELKLAN Level 3, for 15 minutes at the start of each core lesson to chunk and present verbal instructions in written format"
• "Access to a low-arousal breakout space for 10 minutes, twice daily, supervised by a named member of staff"

If the draft uses the vague version, your response letter must request the specific version.

How to Structure Your Response Letter

Your draft EHCP response letter should be formal, factual, and structured. This is legal correspondence. Address it to the EHCP Coordinator or the Director of Children's Services, depending on your LA's process.

Open with a clear statement of your position. State that you have received the draft EHCP dated [date] and that you are writing within the consultation period to request specific amendments. Confirm you remain engaged in the process.

Work section by section. Do not write a general complaint. Address each section of the EHCP in order. For each concern:

• State which section you are referring to
• Quote the specific text in the draft you are challenging
• State precisely what it should say, with reference to the assessment evidence

Example format:

Section F — Speech and Language Therapy The current draft states: "access to speech and language therapy as appropriate." I request this be amended to: "Direct 1:1 speech and language therapy for 45 minutes, twice weekly, delivered by an HCPC-registered Speech and Language Therapist, as recommended in the SALT assessment report dated [date]." This reflects the explicit recommendation in Section 4.3 of the attached assessment report and meets the specificity requirements under paragraph 9.69 of the SEND Code of Practice.

Cite your supporting evidence. Every amendment request should be grounded in the assessment reports, clinical recommendations, or the child's demonstrable needs. Do not ask for provision that has not been professionally recommended — this weakens your position. Do ask for everything that has been recommended, in the exact terms the professional used.

Reference the legal standard. Citing Section 42(2) of the CFA 2014 and the specificity requirement in paragraph 9.69 of the SEND Code of Practice demonstrates that your request is grounded in statute, not preference.

Set a response deadline. Request the LA responds in writing — typically within two to three weeks of your letter.

Requesting Amendment After the Final Plan: The Annual Review Route

If the plan has already been finalised and you want amendments made, the process is different. You cannot amend a final EHCP through correspondence alone unless the LA agrees voluntarily. Your formal routes are:

1. The Annual Review — every EHCP must be reviewed at least annually. The Annual Review is the mechanism for proposing amendments to the plan. You can request an interim review (at any time, not just annually) if there has been a significant change in circumstances.

2. Tribunal appeal — if you disagree with the contents of Sections B, F, or I of the final EHCP, you have a right of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (SEND). You must contact a Mediation Information and Advice Service (MIAS) first to obtain a mediation certificate (unless the appeal is limited to Section I only), and then lodge the appeal using form SEND35 within two months of the LA's decision letter.

Key Elements Your Response Letter Must Include

Whether you are drafting from scratch or adapting a template, your letter must contain:

• Clear identification — your child's full name, DOB, and reference number for the draft EHCP
• Section-by-section amendment requests — each request citing the draft text, your proposed replacement, and the assessment evidence it is based on
• Legal grounding — reference to paragraph 9.69 of the SEND Code of Practice (specificity requirement) and Section 42(2) CFA 2014 (absolute duty to secure provision)
• A response deadline — request the LA confirms in writing how your comments have been addressed before the final plan is issued

Keep a copy of every letter you send. If the LA does not respond, does not address your amendments, or issues a final plan that ignores your requests, that documentation becomes part of your Tribunal evidence bundle.

For a complete guide to challenging an EHCP — from the draft stage through to Tribunal preparation — the England SEND Tribunal Playbook covers every step of the process, including how to identify unlawful provision wording and what evidence the Tribunal panel will expect to see.

The draft stage is your best opportunity to fix a plan without formal litigation. Use it with precision.

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