Findings from EHC plan and annual review audits done between December 2020 and February 2021.
EHC plan and annual review audits
Each month, we do:
- 5 education, health and care (EHC) plan audits
- 5 annual review audits
EHC plan and annual review audits aim to understand the child or young person’s journey through the EHC plan or annual review process. Audits help improve the process by identifying what we’re doing well and what we need to improve.
These findings are for EHC plans and annual review audits completed between December 2020 and February 2021.
The EHC plan process
What we're doing well
- Most parents and carers felt involved in the EHC plan decision-making process and were happy with the final content of the EHC plan.
- Most parents and carers felt that the right support was in place for their child at school.
- Most parents were happy with the final content of the EHC plan.
- Almost half of all EHC plan and annual review audits were graded good or outstanding.
What we need to improve
- The child or young person's voice in the EHC plan process. However, audits have identified an improvement in this area.
- We need to simplify the EHC plan process and explain it more clearly.
- We're working to improve the timeliness of educational psychology, health and social care contributions to the EHC plan process.
- We're working to improve the quality of children and young people's health contributions to the EHC plan process.
- We're developing our equality strategy to make sure everyone can access the the EHC plan process.
The annual review process
What we're doing well
- All parents interviewed said they received the annual review paperwork before the annual review meeting. All parents said that they had enough time to read it before the meeting.
- Almost all parents interviewed said that they felt involved with the annual review process and any decision being made for their child.
- Case note quality has significantly improved from previous annual review audits.
What we need to improve
- Primary and secondary schools need more training and support on the annual review process to improve quality and timeliness.
- We're working to make sure that all schools and colleges know which children and young people’s EHC plans are due to be reviewed in the coming term.
- We're working with the NHS to improve contributions to annual reviews for children and young people with complex health needs.
- We're working to simplify and improve annual review paperwork, so that it’s easy to understand.
- We're developing our equality strategy to make sure everyone can access the annual review process.
