Stage 1 of 2
Assessment
The Local Authority finds out what support your child needs, and whether that support falls within what the school is .
There are actually two steps here: first the Local Authority decides whether to do the assessment at all. Only if the legal tests are met will they carry it out.
How this stage goes
Someone asks the Local Authority to assess
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You or the school can ask for an assessment (so can a young person aged 16 or over). In practice it is usually better if the school makes the request. They have all the information that the Local Authority will need, so you need them to be proactive and on-side. But if the school won't make the request, or you think they are taking too long about it, you can make the request yourself.
The Local Authority will probably have a form they want you or the school to fill in. You don't have to use their form, but it will make the process much easier if you do.
The Local Authority then decides whether to assess. They are really asking two things:
1. Might your child have a special educational need?
2. Might they need more help than the school is ?
How can they answer these questions without an assessment?
It may be easier to consider this the other way around:
If it looks like your child can be supported through the things the school would , then the Local Authority won't assess.
But if it looks like your child may need more help than school should normally offer, then they will do an assessment to find out for sure.
What information should you send them? The form will be long, and ask for lots of information. The crucial information, though, is evidence which indicates that your child might need more support than the school would . What support are they receiving now? Is that already close to or beyond the limit of what the school should be expected to do? Are they making progress with the current level of support?
A "costed provision map" is the best evidence, if the school has this: a simple list of interventions and costs. If this adds up to more than £6k, or more than 16 hours a week of 1:1 support, then this is very strong evidence that an assessment is needed.
Not asked yet? Learn more about what school should be doing first.
The Local Authority decides whether to assess
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If the evidence so far indicates that your child might need more support than school is , the Local Authority should carry out the assessment.
If not, they won't carry out the assessment.
If they decide to assess, they will seek more information
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The Local Authority asks for advice from school, an , health and social care. They must ask you too.
Your view counts. But the crucial information — about what support is currently provided and whether that is working — is held by school.
The Local Authority decides whether to write an EHCP
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The same two questions as before, but rather than "may have SEN / may need extra support" the questions are "has SEN / needs extra support", based on the reports gathered during the assessment. If the reports describe a need bigger than the school can meet through what it is , then the Local Authority should agree to issue an EHCP.