Annual or EHCP Reviews

As well as setting out a child or young person's needs and the provision required to meet those needs, EHC plans should be used as a tool to help actively monitor children and young people’s progress towards their outcomes and longer term aspirations. They must be reviewed by the local authority as a minimum every 12 months.

The SEND Code Of Practice states that the first review must be held within 12 months of the date when the EHC plan was issued, and then within 12 months of any previous review, and the local authority’s decision following the review meeting must be notified to the child’s parent or the young person within four weeks of the review meeting (and within 12 months of the date of issue of the EHC plan or previous review).

Annual / EHCP Review Documents

Please find below two versions of the 'Family View' form, which should be given to you in advance of the meeting by your child's school. You can choose which version you would like to complete; they both contain the same questions but are set out in different ways. This form will form part of the discussions at the meeting and your child's school will then attach it to the rest of the Annual Review paperwork and send it in to the Local Authority.

At the review meeting, you will talk with your child's school and any other involved professionals about the progress your child is making, and any changes you think might be needed in the future. As part of this, you will together complete an Annual Review report. You can view what this report looks like below. 

Preparing for Adulthood: Annual / EHCP Reviews from Y9 onwards

From Year 9 onwards, Annual Reviews start to have a focus on preparing your young person for adulthood. You may hear these referred to as Transition Reviews. To read more about Annual Reviews in Year 9 upwards, please click here.

November 2024 update

Following coproduction, new versions of the Family/ Carers views form (previously Family Views Form) and Child/ Young Person Views Cover Sheet (previously Child and Young Person Views forms) for the Education, Health and Care Plan Review process will be made available on this page and the Suffolk Learning website from Monday 25^th November.

Key changes to be aware of:

• Changes have been made to the questions asked within the forms to improve how we gather and capture views of children, young people, and parents and carers to input to the review of an Education, Health and Care Plan.
• The new forms include additional information about how the completed views forms are part of the review process.
• The forms include a section to gather views on whether the support provided by the EHCP is helping the child/ young person make progress, to inform answers to this question within the new EHCP review report launched earlier this year.
• The child and young person views forms are to be replaced by the new Child and Young Person Views Cover Sheet. The new cover sheet includes:
• Various prompts to gather views on what is working well, what is not working so well, what is important to children and young people, and what will help them to achieve their hopes and dreams.
• A resource bank, providing a range of resources to be used to capture views, in a format that best suits the child/ young person.

Further guidance for education settings

More detailed guidance for schools on how to hold an Annual Review meeting can be found on Suffolk Learning: Annual Reviews and Phase Transfers

There is also guidance available on filling out the Annual Review report here: Using the EHCP Annual Review report template - guidance for education settings

Please follow this link to the SCC Annual Review Training and Guide.