How do I prepare for my child's Annual Review?

What the annual review actually is

Once your child has an EHCP, the council has a duty to review it at least once every 12 months (Children and Families Act 2014, section 44(1); SEND Code 9.166). The review is run by the school (or the post-16 setting), who chairs the meeting on the council's behalf and then sends a report to the council with recommendations.

After the meeting, the council has 4 weeks to decide whether to:

• Maintain the plan as it is.
• Amend the plan (the most common outcome where parents prepare well).
• Cease the plan (rare; only when needs no longer warrant one).

This is the moment when changes to your child's plan happen. Section F (the legally binding provision) is the bit that matters most. See the sibling answer “What is Section F of an EHCP and why does it matter?”.

The two weeks before the meeting

The school must send you, the council, and everyone invited a copy of the paperwork at least 2 weeks before the meeting (SEND Code paragraph 9.176). The pack includes the current EHCP, any progress reports, and a draft agenda.

This is your prep window. Three things to do in it:

1. Write your parent contribution. Specific, dated, evidenced. Not “Sam is doing well in maths”; “Sam has met his reading age target a year early but is two years behind in writing; the school's Spring 2026 reading age assessment showed X; the writing assessment showed Y.” Send it to the SENDCO before the meeting and ask for it to be circulated with the pack.
2. List the amendments you want, by section. Section F first. Use the specific-and-quantified standard from paragraph 9.69. If you currently have “access to some 1:1 literacy support”, your proposed amendment is “30-minute 1:1 literacy intervention three times per week, delivered by a TA trained in the Toe-By-Toe programme”. Numbers, frequencies, named professionals.
3. Gather evidence for each proposed amendment. Recent school reports, photographs of work, emails from teachers documenting incidents, any clinician letters, parent diary entries. One piece of evidence per amendment is the minimum; two is better.

At the meeting

The meeting is typically 60–90 minutes. The chair (usually the SENDCO) walks through the EHCP section by section. Your job is to land your amendments: to make sure each one is recorded in the chair's notes with the specific wording you proposed.

You can bring someone with you. Bring them. A second adult who isn't carrying the emotional weight of the conversation will catch what gets glossed and will make sure the actions list at the end of the meeting includes your asks.

Your child can attend if it's appropriate for them. If not, the chair has a duty to seek your child's views and reflect them in the review report.

After the meeting

Within 2 weeks of the meeting, the chair sends the review report to the council with the recommendations (SEND Code paragraph 9.176). Within 4 weeks of the meeting, the council writes to you with their decision: maintain, amend, or cease.

If they decide to amend, they'll issue a draft amended EHCP. You have 15 days to respond to the draft with further changes. The same specific-and-quantified test applies to anything in the new Section F. After your 15-day response window, the council issues the final amended plan.

If the council decides not to amend (or amends in a way that misses your asks), you can appeal to the SEND Tribunal within 2 months of the decision. The appeal route is the same as for any other EHCP decision; see “What do I do if my EHCP application is refused?”.

This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.