How do I ask for an EHC needs assessment?
Short answer. Write to the council's SEND service, using its request form or your own letter or email, and say why you think your child needs an assessment. A parent, a young person aged 16 or over, or the child's school can ask. A school needs your consent. The council must tell you within 6 weeks whether it will assess. In 2025 it made 85% of these decisions within 6 weeks (England 87%).
DfE figures for requests made in 2025. This is not legal advice.
An EHC needs assessment is the council's check of your child's education, health and care needs. It is the first step to getting an EHC plan, which is a legal document setting out the support your child must get.
Who can ask
- You, as the child's parent or carer.
- A young person aged 16 or over can ask for themselves.
- Your child's school, nursery or college. The council says a school needs your consent first, and should meet you to talk about your child's needs and the support they get (London Borough of Waltham Forest, Referrals and assessments for Education health and care plans (Local Offer) (October 2026)).
The law gives these people the right to ask (Children and Families Act 2014, section 36(1)). The council says other professionals who work with your child can also send a request, with your consent (London Borough of Waltham Forest, Referrals and assessments for Education health and care plans (Local Offer) (October 2026)). You don't need anyone's support to ask yourself.
How to ask in Waltham Forest
The council says you can do any of these (London Borough of Waltham Forest, Referrals and assessments for Education health and care plans (Local Offer) (October 2026)):
- fill in its parent request form, on its referrals and assessments page
- write your own letter or email saying why you think your child needs an assessment
- ask your child's school to make the request
Send it to the SEND service by email to [email protected], or by post to SEND Service, Fellowship Square, Walthamstow, London E17 4JF. Keep a copy and note the date you sent it: the legal deadlines count from the day the council gets it.
What to say
The council must assess if your child has or may have special educational needs, and it may be necessary for them to get support through an EHC plan (Children and Families Act 2014, section 36(8)). So it helps to say:
- what your child finds hard, at school or nursery and at home
- what support they already get, and whether it is enough
- any reports you have, for example from the school, a speech and language therapist, a doctor or an educational psychologist
Your child doesn't need a diagnosis, and you can ask even if the school doesn't agree. IPSEA has model letters for asking for an assessment, and Waltham Forest SENDIASS can help you write one.
What happens next
- The council asks for your views. Before it decides, it must consult you. If it is thinking of assessing, it must tell you that you can give your views and send evidence (Children and Families Act 2014, section 36(4) and (7)).
- It decides whether to assess: 6 weeks. It must tell you within 6 weeks of getting your request (SEND Regulations 2014, regulation 5(1)). If it says no, it must give its reasons and tell you how to appeal (Children and Families Act 2014, section 36(5)). See what to do if the council refuses.
- If it assesses, the final plan is due in 20 weeks from your request. See how long EHC plans take in Waltham Forest.
Enter the date the council got your request in the deadlines calculator to see each date.
Requests in Waltham Forest
The council received 703 requests in 2025. They rose from 390 in 2019 to 871 in 2023, and have fallen since. To compare areas of different sizes, the table divides requests by the number of children aged 2 to 18 living in each area.
| Area | Requests | Per 1,000 children aged 2 to 18 | Decided within 6 weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waltham Forest | 703 | 12.6 | 84.9% |
| London | 22,024 | 12.7 | 86.1% |
| England | 162,702 | 14.2 | 87.4% |
Source: DfE, Education, health and care plans: Requests for an education, health and care needs assessment received during the calendar year (downloaded 2026-10-25); ONS, Population estimates for England and Wales: Population estimates - local authority based by single year of age (downloaded 2026-10-25). Figures for 2025.
Waltham Forest made decisions on time for 84.9% of requests, 20th of 32 London boroughs (1st = best). In 2023 the figure was 97.1%. For charts and rankings, see assessments.
Council plans that could affect requests
The council has plans aimed at slowing the growth in EHC plans, such as giving schools more specialist advice and keeping some children on early years funding for longer. They don't change your right to ask for an assessment, or the legal test the council must apply (Children and Families Act 2014, section 36). See changes that could affect who gets assessed.
What these figures don't tell you
- A fall in requests doesn't show on its own whether fewer children need support or fewer families are asking.
- The council has said data from its case management system is inaccurate (London Borough of Waltham Forest, SEND Improvement Plan - Progress So Far (October 2025), p. 5).