!
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to use this page.
!
Please unblock cookies in your browser to use this page.
Find out more about
cookies , including how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them.
You can submit a needs assessment request to the Statutory Special Educational Needs Team online.
Make a request To request an EHC needs assessment, you need to fill in one of the following documents:
Once you have completed the request template, you can use our online form to submit this:
Request a needs assessment
What happens next Once you or the education setting has requested a needs assessment, the full assessment process should take a maximum of 20 weeks.
Waiting and learning well Like many areas B&NES council is currently experiencing a very high number of requests for statutory assessment, which means we cannot always meet the timeframe.
Find out more about how we help meet your child's needs while they wait for an Education, Health and Care needs assessment .
Last updated: 22 April 2026
You can submit a needs assessment request to the Statutory Special Educational Needs Team online.
Make a request To request an EHC needs assessment, please fill in one of the following documents’:
Once you have completed the request template, you can use our online form to submit this:
Request a needs assessment
What happens next Once you or the education setting has requested a needs assessment, the full assessment process should take a maximum of 20 weeks.
Waiting and learning well Like many areas B&NES council is currently experiencing a very high number of requests for statutory assessment, which means we cannot always meet the timeframe.
Find out more about how we help meet your child's needs while they wait for an Education, Health and Care needs assessment .
Once you have submitted a needs assessment request, you will be told within 6 weeks if an EHC needs assessment will be carried out.
If it has been agreed that an EHC Needs Assessment will not be carried out, you can meet with a Senior Inclusion Officer who can explain the decision. You may be offered a Way Forward Meeting . You can also make an appeal about this decision .
If we agree to carry out the EHC Needs Assessment, a SEND Practitioner will arrange a face-to-face meeting with the parents/carers and young people to explain the process in more depth.
What happens during the needs assessment As part of the needs assessment, we will ask any professionals who have been involved with your child's education, health and social care needs about your child. This will include information about:
your child’s education, health and care needs the desired outcomes for your child the special educational, health and care provision that might be required to meet their needs and achieve the desired outcomes. What happens next Parents or carers will be notified within 16 weeks whether or not a Draft EHC plan will be issued.
If it has been agreed that an EHC plan has not been issued, you can meet with a Senior Inclusion Officer who can explain the decision. A SEND Support plan (non-statutory) will be issued instead of an EHC plan. You can appeal this decision .
If an EHC Plan is agreed, we will issue a Draft EHC plan. There is a 15-day period when you can respond to the draft plan. You can discuss a personal budget at this stage.
During this draft stage, you can request changes to the plan. This helps to make sure that the plan reflects your child or young person’s individual special educational needs and the provision needed to support them.
After you have agreed the draft EHC plan with us, we will consult with your preferred schools or colleges regarding a placement. This could be a mainstream education setting or a specialist provision.
We will send the educational setting(s) a copy of the EHC Plan to see whether they can meet the needs in it.
Once this has been agreed, a final EHC plan with a named educational setting(s) will be issued.
