Check if your child can get an education, health and care (EHC) plan

Most children and young people who have special educational needs or disabilities get the support they need from their childcare provider, school or college without an EHC plan.

Who can get an education, health and care plan

Most children and young people who have special educational needs or disabilities get the support they need from their childcare provider, school or college. Professionals call this SEN support.

Find out about support your child can get from:

Children and young people can get an education, health and care (EHC) plan only if they are under 25 years of age, have complex needs and difficulties and can’t get the help they need with SEN support.

Four areas of complex needs and difficulties are:

  • communicating and interacting, for example speech, language and communication difficulties that make it harder to understand language and communicate well with others
  • cognition and learning, for example learning more slowly than other children of the same age
  • social, emotional and mental health difficulties, for example finding it harder to manage relationships with others
  • sensory and/or physical needs, for example having a visual and/or hearing impairment, or physical needs that means they must have additional ongoing support and equipment

How to ask for an EHC plan

You need to ask for an EHC assessment before you can get an EHC plan.

More information

Read more about EHC assessments and plans on the Amaze website.