SEN Support without an EHCP
Children can receive SEN support without an EHCP. A formal diagnosis is not a prerequisite: support should respond to your child's needs, as IPSEA explains. Professional assessments can still help identify suitable support.
For mainstream state schools, including academies, the governing body or proprietor must use its “best endeavours” to secure the special educational provision needed. This means doing everything that could reasonably be expected, not simply waiting for a diagnosis or assessment. Section 66's duty does not apply to every school type; special and independent schools have a different legal position.
Ask the teacher and SENCo to follow Assess, Plan, Do, Review: identify needs, agree support, deliver it, then check whether it helps. Ask who will do what, how often, and when you will review it together.
If your child may need provision through an EHCP, you can request an EHC needs assessment yourself. School agreement is not required. Requesting assessment does not guarantee a plan.
Make the difficulty specific
Keep a short dated record of missed support, distress, attendance difficulties or work your child cannot access. Include your child's own words where possible. Note what has helped, too. A child appearing settled in class may still be struggling elsewhere.
Before a SENCo meeting, read the school's SEN information report and gather the current support plan, relevant reports and recent emails. Choose two or three priorities rather than trying to resolve everything at once. For example:
“My child is struggling to understand classroom instructions. Please arrange a SEN support review. Could we agree the support to be provided, who is responsible, and a review date? Please send me a written summary afterwards.”
Confirm agreed actions by email. If the school's account differs from yours, ask what evidence it used and how your child's views will inform the plan.
If distress or attendance barriers are part of the picture, see help preparing for a school meeting about EBSA.
School not following the EHCP? Check Section F
If EHCP provision is not being provided, start with Section F, which specifies special educational provision. Compare its actual wording with what your child receives: frequency, duration, staffing and specialist input. Keep a record of missing Section F support, but do not delay raising known gaps while collecting evidence.
Under section 42(2) of the Children and Families Act 2014, the local authority maintaining the plan must secure the specified special educational provision. The school may deliver it, but the authority cannot simply pass responsibility to the school. The law includes an exception where parents or the young person have made suitable alternative arrangements.
Write to the authority's SEND team, copying the SENCo. Identify the Section F wording, what is missing and since when. Ask how and when delivery will be restored. IPSEA's template letter 6 can help. You do not need to wait for the annual review to raise missing provision.
A consultant can help compare the wording with the delivery record and prepare questions or correspondence within an agreed scope. That does not guarantee enforcement or restoration of support. Serious or urgent failures may need prompt specialist legal advice.
Plan wording versus delivery
Missing delivery: the plan already specifies the support, but it is not being provided. Raise the gap with the LA responsible for securing it.
Wording or provision that needs changing: the plan is vague, omits an assessed need or specifies insufficient provision. Review the needs and recommendations alongside the plan, then consider amendment requests or the relevant appeal route. An annual review may help, but it does not remove the duty to secure existing Section F provision.
No plan: use SEN Support review questions and, where provision through a plan may be necessary, consider an assessment request. An existing support concern, a refusal to assess and a refusal after assessment are different stages.
Complaints and EHCP appeals do different jobs
School SEN support concerns: after speaking to the SENCo, use the school's published complaints procedure if matters remain unresolved. Follow its stages, which may involve the headteacher, governors or academy trust. GOV.UK explains the school complaint route.
Missing Section F provision: raise it with the authority and consider its complaints process. Serious or urgent failures may need prompt specialist legal advice about enforcement rather than a lengthy complaint.
Disagreement with an EHCP decision: a refusal to assess or issue a plan, or disagreement about needs, provision or placement, may carry a SEND Tribunal appeal right. See our EHCP refusal and appeal guidance, or the specific pages for refusal to assess and refusal to issue after assessment. An appeal challenges a decision; it is not the usual route for enforcing provision already specified.
Check deadlines immediately. For most EHC decision appeals, the tribunal must receive the appeal within two calendar months from the date of the decision letter or one month from the date of the mediation certificate, whichever is later. Complaining or booking a consultation does not pause it. In most cases you must consider mediation and obtain a certificate, but attending mediation is optional. Section I-only placement appeals do not require mediation consideration; check the deadline for your particular appeal rather than assuming a certificate extension applies.
Paid and free help: choose the scope
Hourly Consultation: £95 per hour
Agree selected support-plan wording, observations or delivery records to review, or questions for a SENCo meeting. The published hourly service includes up to one hour of professional time per £95 booking and brief written notes after the session. Confirm whether those notes will cover a wording-to-delivery comparison or meeting questions, and how much review and preparation fits the agreed time. It is not a full bundle audit, clinical assessment or enforcement service.
Initial Consultation: £175
Provide one recent agreed document for pre-reading, followed by a 60-minute video or telephone call and written next steps. This includes up to 3.5 hours of professional time in total, not a review of every report or ongoing casework. You can discuss whether further focused work would help without committing to it.
EHCP Review & Strengthening: £550
If the plan itself needs reviewing, agree the current EHCP, relevant reports and questions. The published A–K section-by-section review includes a written report with recommended changes and amendment requests, with up to 11 hours of professional time. Confirm document limits and the review-stage boundaries before commissioning it. This is not automatic meeting attendance, a clinical assessment or a guarantee that the LA will amend or enforce the plan.
The EHCP advisory page and paid service catalogue explain the available outputs, fees and time. Agree scope, timing and secure document transfer first; additional work requires prior written agreement. Stephen is not a solicitor. None of these options guarantees provision, appeal or school outcomes.
Free 30-minute consultation and written next-step summary
The free call (£0) starts with your brief account and discussion, not document pre-reading. Afterwards, receive a summary, normally 1–2 pages: the issue discussed, up to three next steps or questions, relevant resources and whether scoped paid support may fit.
It is not a free document or evidence audit. It excludes drafted letters, appeal grounds, representation, a legal merits opinion, ongoing casework and deadline management. There is no fixed turnaround promise; discuss timing on the call. Booking does not pause deadlines or appoint Stephen as your consultant. Do not send medical records or a full bundle with an initial enquiry; agree secure transfer if paid work is commissioned.
No obligation: neither the free call nor a book purchase is required before a paid enquiry. Our parent resources are also available.
Book a free 30-minute consultationQuestions parents ask
What can I do if SENCo support is not helping?
Ask for a SEN support review with your child’s teacher and SENCo. Describe the difficulty, the support already agreed and what has or has not helped. You do not need to decide who is at fault to ask for a clearer plan.
For a child receiving SEN Support, ask what needs school has identified, what support staff will provide, who is responsible and when you will review its impact together. Include your child’s views and ask for a written record of agreed actions. The SEND code of practice for England describes Assess, Plan, Do, Review and involving parents in revising support (paragraphs 6.44–6.55), with a record shared with parents (6.71). Our meeting preparation example can help you put the request into words.
If concerns remain unresolved after talking to the SENCo, check the school’s SEN information report and follow its published complaints procedure. GOV.UK explains this route and the option of local disagreement resolution. A complaint does not guarantee a particular result.
If your child already has an EHCP and specified Section F support is missing, raise the gap with the local authority maintaining the plan as well as the school: section 42 sets out the authority’s duty, subject to its suitable-alternative-arrangements exception. See how to check missing provision. Without a plan, you can ask the local authority for an EHC needs assessment if you think your child needs one; a request does not guarantee a plan. School-support complaints and appeals against EHC decisions are separate routes.
Do I need to wait for the annual review to raise missing provision?
No. Raise known missing Section F provision with the LA promptly. Reviewing whether the plan needs changing is a separate task.
Is a complaint the same as an EHCP appeal?
No. A complaint about delivery or school support and an appeal against an LA decision serve different purposes. Check which route and deadline apply to your issue.
Sources and further reading
The links throughout this guide lead to legislation, GOV.UK and IPSEA. You can also read GOV.UK's overview of SEN support and IPSEA's EHCP enforcement guide.
IPSEA and your local SENDIASS offer free SEND information and support. Paying a consultant is optional. For Stephen's background, see about Stephen.
Prefer to read first? The Parent’s Shield is an optional EHCP resource, not a requirement before contacting Stephen.
This is general educational guidance for England, not individual legal case advice. If your child's safety or access to education is at immediate risk, seek appropriate urgent support.