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Statements of Special Educational Needs were the predecessor to Education, Health and Care Plans. Most have been converted to EHCPs since 2014. This guide explains what statements were, how they related to EHCPs and what this means for families today.
A statement of special educational needs was the legal document that described the educational needs of children with complex SEN and the special educational provision that had to be made for them in England. Statements were introduced by the Education Act 1981 and were the primary legal mechanism for securing specialist SEN provision for children who needed more than schools could provide from their own resources. In 2014, the Children and Families Act replaced statements with a new document called the Education, Health and Care Plan, and from 2018 all remaining statements were converted to EHCPs.
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A statement of SEN had five parts: a description of the child’s needs; the special educational provision to be made; the type and name of the school the child should attend; any non-educational needs; and any non-educational provision for those needs. The statement was issued by the local education authority following a statutory assessment and the educational provision specified in Part 3 of the statement was legally binding.
The Children and Families Act 2014 replaced statements with EHCPs for several reasons. Statements focused primarily on educational needs, whereas EHCPs bring together education, health and care needs in a single document. Statements had a narrower age range (birth to 16, extended to 19 in some cases) whereas EHCPs extend to age 25. The EHCP framework also introduced stronger rights to participation for children, young people and families. The new framework was intended to produce more holistic, joined-up planning across education, health and care services.
All children with statements were required to be transferred to EHCPs by the end of March 2018. Local authorities were required to conduct EHC needs assessments for all statement holders and to issue EHCPs reflecting current needs before the statement lapsed. Families were supposed to be fully involved in the transition review process. In practice, the quality of transition reviews varied significantly between local authorities, and some families found that the EHCP issued following transition did not fully reflect their child’s needs.
EHCPs differ from statements in several important ways. They cover education, health and care needs jointly. They extend to age 25 for young people in education or training. They introduce a personal budget for some families. They require outcomes to be specified for each area of need. They introduce stronger rights to request a personal budget and to challenge decisions through the SEND tribunal. The EHCP is also intended to be produced through a more collaborative process involving the family and the child or young person directly.
Families whose children previously had a statement should now have an EHCP. If a child is newly identified as needing this level of provision, the process begins with a request for an EHC needs assessment. Families should not encounter statements in practice, though some older documentation in a child’s school file may refer to statements. Understanding the history of statements helps families understand older EHCP documents that were originally created through statement transition rather than a new EHC needs assessment.
An EHCP has the same legal significance as a statement had: the special educational provision specified in Section F of the EHCP must be delivered by the named school and the local authority. Failure to deliver specified provision is a breach of the statutory duty and can be challenged. Families who believe provision is not being delivered can complain to the school, the local authority or ultimately appeal to the SEND tribunal. The legal enforceability of the EHCP is one of its most important features for families with children with complex SEN.
For related information see our articles on How to Apply for an EHCP and Special Educational Needs Meaning.
A statement of special educational needs was a legal document describing the educational needs of a child with complex SEN and the provision that had to be made for them. Statements were replaced by Education, Health and Care Plans under the Children and Families Act 2014 and all remaining statements were converted to EHCPs by April 2018.
No. All statements of SEN were converted to Education, Health and Care Plans by April 2018. If your child previously had a statement, they should now have an EHCP. If they do not, you should contact your local authority immediately. The EHCP has the same legal force as the statement it replaced.
An EHCP is needed when a child has SEN that cannot be met through the support a school can provide from its own resources. This is sometimes described as needing provision that goes beyond what most schools can provide as part of normal SEN support. If you believe your child may need an EHCP, you or the school can request a statutory EHC needs assessment from your local authority. The local authority must decide within 6 weeks whether to carry out an assessment.
Visit our SEN London Resource Hub for more guides on EHCP rights, SEN legislation, staffing costs, agency use, Ofsted expectations and borough-by-borough funding variations across the capital.
The information in this article is provided for general guidance only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. Legislation, funding and local authority policies change: always verify current requirements with the relevant authority. SENDhelp Education Limited accepts no responsibility or liability for any loss or damage arising from reliance on this content. Any links to third-party websites are provided for convenience only and do not constitute endorsement of their content.
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