Guide · England
Every statutory deadline in the EHCP process
The clocks the council and you must keep to, with the regulation for each.
Council must tell you whether it will assess (council's duty)
6 weeks from the trigger. The council must notify you of its decision within 6 weeks of receiving the request. If this date passes with no letter, the council is in breach: keep a note and chase in writing.
If the council will not issue a plan, it must tell you by now (council's duty)
16 weeks from the trigger. Where the council assesses but decides not to issue a plan, it must notify you within 16 weeks of the original request.
Final plan due (20-week limit) (council's duty)
20 weeks from the trigger. The whole process, from the request to the final plan, must take no more than 20 weeks. Exceptions exist (for example if you or the school delay providing information), but the council must explain any delay.
Contact mediation or lodge your appeal (you)
2 months from the trigger. You have 2 months from the date of the decision letter to appeal to the SEND Tribunal. Unless the appeal is only about the school named, you must first contact a mediation adviser and get a certificate (you do not have to actually mediate). Your appeal deadline then becomes 1 month from the certificate, if that is later.
Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (HESC) Rules 2008, rule 20(1)(a); CFA 2014 s55
Contact mediation or lodge your appeal (you)
2 months from the trigger. You have 2 months from the date of the decision letter to appeal the refusal to issue a plan. Contact a mediation adviser first to get a certificate; the appeal deadline becomes 1 month from the certificate if that is later.
Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (HESC) Rules 2008, rule 20(1)(a); CFA 2014 s55
Lodge your appeal (1 month from the mediation certificate) (you)
1 months from the trigger. With a mediation certificate in hand, your appeal must reach the Tribunal within 1 month of the certificate date, or 2 months from the council's decision letter, whichever is later.
Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (HESC) Rules 2008, rule 20(1)(b)
Your comments on the draft plan due (you)
15 calendar days from the trigger. You have at least 15 days to comment on the draft, ask for changes, ask for a meeting, and say which school or setting you want named. Do not let this pass in silence: everything you do not challenge now is harder to change later.
Amended final plan due (council's duty)
8 weeks from the trigger. After sending you notice of proposed amendments, the council must issue the amended final plan within 8 weeks.
Your comments on the proposed amendments due (you)
15 calendar days from the trigger. You have at least 15 days to comment on the proposed changes and request a school.
Council must tell you its decision after the review (council's duty)
4 weeks from the trigger. Within 4 weeks of the review meeting the council must tell you whether it will keep the plan as it is, amend it, or cease it. Silence past this date is a breach.
Next annual review due (council's duty)
12 months from the trigger. The plan must be reviewed at least every 12 months. Under-5s are reviewed every 3 to 6 months. The school usually hosts the meeting, but the duty is the council's.
Next annual review due (council's duty)
12 months from the trigger. The plan must be reviewed at least every 12 months from the last review.
Appeal the decision to cease the plan (you)
2 months from the trigger. You can appeal a decision to cease the plan. The plan stays in force until the appeal is decided.
Deadline to appeal the contents of the final plan (you)
2 months from the trigger. If you disagree with Sections B, F or I of the final plan, you have 2 months from the date of the final plan to appeal (after contacting mediation, unless it is only about Section I).
Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (HESC) Rules 2008, rule 20(1)
Amended plan naming the new school due (15 February) (council's duty)
15 February in the calendar year of the move. Where your child moves between school phases in September, the council must review and amend the plan, naming the new school, by 15 February of that year.
Amended plan naming the post-16 place due (31 March) (council's duty)
31 March in the calendar year of the move. For a move into post-16 education in September, the council must issue the amended plan by 31 March of that year.
Council's response to your appeal due (check your registration letter) (council's duty)
30 working days from the trigger. The Tribunal's standard directions give the council 30 working days from registration to respond. Your registration letter states the exact date; use that if it differs.
Put your own dates in and see your deadlines.
Recording events and seeing every deadline is free.
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