Are EHCPs going to be scrapped? What we know so far - and why some experts say they're worth keeping
One psychologist says they are the only thing guaranteeing support for 270 thousand pupils with SEND 📜
- EHCPs are legal documents that ensure children with special educational needs get the support they need at school
- Officials haven’t ruled out changes to EHCPs as part of upcoming reforms - or getting rid of them altogether
- While many experts agree the system isn’t working as well as it could, some say EHCPs need to stay
- They warn removing them could create a two-tier system, or see more children missing out
The future of an important legal document used to make sure children with special educational needs can thrive at school remains uncertain - but some experts are calling for it to be saved.
It comes after a report released by the National Audit Office - the Government’s spending watchdog - late last year found that the current system for supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in schools was “not achieving value for money”. Nor was it leading to better outcomes for children, despite spending increasing 58% over the past decade to £10.7 billion a year.
Education, health and care plans, or EHCPs, are a core part of that system. These are legally-binding documents outlining what specific extra support and resources a child with SEND requires to thrive in education, and are drawn up after a child’s needs are assessed by the local authority.
Recently, the idea of scrapping EHCPs or narrowing their scope has been floated by officials working on reforms to the SEND system, which is generally agreed to be slow, expensive, and difficult to navigate. But what exactly has been said, and why if the system is really “not fit for purpose”, why do some experts think they should say?
Here’s what we know so far:
Is the Government considering getting rid of EHCPs?
Although some major reforms to the SEND system are reportedly underway, it still remains uncertain what role EHCPs will play in them. Back in May, education sector news site Schools Week said that it spoke with Dame Christine Lenehan - the Government’s strategic advisor on SEND - who told them discussions were ongoing about whether EHCPs should only apply to special school pupils.
“Do I think the structure around EHCPs will change? Yes, I think it probably will, because it’s not fit for purpose,” she said. “Do I think we will still be able to recognise and support children’s needs in any other structure? Yes.”
Meanwhile, school standards minister Catherine McKinnell told the Guardian that the current system was “not delivering” for pupils with additional learning needs. While she confirmed that a new system for SEND support was being developed, she declined to rule out whether EHCPs would be replaced altogether.
“No decisions have been taken yet,” she continued. “The change we want to see is just better support for children at the earliest stage possible. And clearly the system we’ve inherited is not delivering that... I think parents would agree that if we had a well-functioning system, if we had that good early support, then you wouldn’t need a complex legal process to access an education. Even when families secure an EHCP, it doesn’t necessarily deliver the education that’s been identified.”
The government’s proposals for change are expected to be set out in a schools white paper this October, the paper reported, meaning families and educators will likely get more clarity then.
Why do some parents and experts oppose scrapping them
But Dr Anna Cook, a developmental psychologist specialising in neurodiversity and Surrey Future Fellow at the University of Surrey, says that removing the EHCP system from mainstream schools risks dismantling a core legal safeguard for young people with SEND.
“While EHCPs are not perfect, they remain the only enforceable mechanism that guarantees support for over 270 thousand children with special educational needs and disabilities in mainstream settings,” she said. “Removing them risks a two-tier system where access to support depends on postcode or individual school ethos.”
Without a clear national accountability structure to replace EHCPs, Dr Cook warned that many children could be denied the help they needed to access and thrive in education. “The current system is slow, adversarial and over-reliant on diagnosis to trigger support. Diagnosis-based models often overlook children with complex or co-occurring needs and disproportionately disadvantage those from marginalised backgrounds. But the answer is not to remove rights – it is to reform and properly resource the system.
“We need a system that centres on professional judgement, relational understanding and flexible, timely support... Removing EHCPs without addressing these systemic issues is not reform - it’s erosion,” she continued. “If government wants to make change, it must first build a fair and accountable infrastructure that ensures all children get the support they need, regardless of setting.”
Law firm Slater and Gordon’s lead education lawyer, Gurvinder Samra, said she was extremely concerned to learn potential changes to the SEND legal framework may result in EHCPs being scrapped. “The answer to the problems with the current framework is not to remove EHCPs and parents’ legal rights to the critical SEND provision and support for children with disabilities, but, to ensure that local government bodies adhere to and apply the correct legislative rules within the current EHCP framework.
“Removing EHCPs will lead to more children out of education and more pressure on mainstream school and teachers to be trained to teach children with SEN,” she added. “How can a SEND system be removed that has not consistently been implemented in the correct manner by local government bodies, in accordance with legislation, since its inception?"
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