EHCNA meaning
The letter uses four letters as though everybody already knows them. EHCNA stands for education, health and care needs assessment: the assessment a council carries out before it decides whether to issue an EHC plan. It is the stage families are turned down at, and a refusal here is a council decision rather than a verdict. Your own council's published refusal rate is on our league table.
What EHCNA means, in the words the law uses
The statute does not use the abbreviation. The Children and Families Act 2014 calls it an EHC needs assessment and defines it as an assessment of the educational, health care and social care needs of a child or young person (Children and Families Act 2014, section 36, read at source 22/09/2026). EHCNA is the shorthand families, schools and councils type, and it appears in none of the four documents we read at source on 22/09/2026: section 36 of the Act, and regulations 5, 10 and 13 of the SEND Regulations 2014.
So when a letter, a school or a forum says EHCNA, read EHC needs assessment. It is the assessment stage. It is not the plan, and being assessed is not the same as being given a plan.
Who can request one
Three kinds of people, named in the Act itself: the child's parent, the young person, or a person acting on behalf of a school or post-16 institution (Children and Families Act 2014, section 36, read at source 22/09/2026). A school cannot block a parent's request, and a parent does not need the school's agreement to make one.
The test the council has to apply is lower than a refusal letter usually makes it sound. The authority must secure an assessment if it is of the opinion that the child or young person has or may have special educational needs, and that it may be necessary for special educational provision to be made in accordance with an EHC plan (Children and Families Act 2014, section 36). May have, and may be necessary: not a diagnosis, and not a school that has already spent a set amount.
The six week decision window
Once the council receives the request, it must notify the parent or young person as soon as practicable, and in any event within 6 weeks, of its decision whether or not it is necessary to secure an EHC needs assessment (SEND Regulations 2014, regulation 5, the decision whether to assess, read at source 22/09/2026).
If the answer is no, the same regulation requires the council to tell you three further things in that letter: your right to appeal that decision, the time limits for doing so, and the information about mediation (SEND Regulations 2014, regulation 5, the decision whether to assess). A refusal letter that says none of those things is a refusal letter that has not done what the regulation asks.
The twenty week EHCP timeline
The assessment sits inside a longer statutory clock, and every date in the table below is from the SEND Regulations 2014, read at source on 22/09/2026:
| Point in the clock | What must happen | The regulation |
|---|---|---|
| Week 0 | The written request for an EHC needs assessment reaches the council | Section 36 of the Act |
| Within 6 weeks | The council says whether it will assess. A refusal here carries a right of appeal | Regulation 5 |
| Within 16 weeks | Where it assessed and then decided not to issue a plan, it must say so. That refusal carries a right of appeal too | Regulation 10 |
| Draft plan, plus at least 15 days | You make representations on the draft and can ask for a particular school to be named | Regulation 13 |
| Within 20 weeks | The finalised EHC plan is sent | Regulation 13 |
Regulation 13 puts the two ends of that clock in one sentence: a council sending a draft plan must give at least 15 days for representations and a school request, and must send the finalised plan as soon as practicable and in any event within 20 weeks of receiving the request for an assessment (SEND Regulations 2014, regulation 13, timescales for EHC plans, read at source 22/09/2026). The 16 week point, the decision not to issue a plan after an assessment, is regulation 10 (SEND Regulations 2014, regulation 10, a decision not to secure an EHC plan, read at source 22/09/2026).
Both regulations allow the council to miss the deadline in narrow listed circumstances, such as a school closed for a continuous period of not less than 4 weeks. Neither of them makes a backlog one of those circumstances.
What a refusal means, and what it does not
It means the council formed an opinion. It does not mean a tribunal agreed with it, because no tribunal has seen it yet. There are two separate refusals that each open the same door: a refusal to secure an assessment at the 6 week point (regulation 5), and a decision not to issue a plan after the assessment, at the 16 week point (regulation 10).
Both letters must tell you about the right of appeal, the time limit and mediation (SEND Regulations 2014, regulation 5, the decision whether to assess, SEND Regulations 2014, regulation 10, a decision not to secure an EHC plan, read at source 22/09/2026). The appeal goes to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability), which is independent of the council (First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability), read at source 22/09/2026).
The appeal route, and the form that carries it
Refused to assess: the form is SEND35A. Refused to issue a plan after an assessment, refused to reassess, or a plan whose contents you disagree with: the form is SEND35. What the SEND35 form asks for, section by section, including where your reasons go.
The clock on either appeal is the same: the tribunal must receive it within 2 months of the date on the local authority's decision letter, or a month from the date of the mediation certificate, whichever is later (Appeal an education, health and care (EHC) plan decision, read at source 22/09/2026). You also have to consider mediation and get a certificate first, unless the appeal is only about which school or other institution the child or young person should attend, and the certificate is needed even if you decide against a meeting (Appeal an EHC plan decision: before you appeal, read at source 22/09/2026).
What to do tonight, free
Read the heading of the letter. Refused to secure an assessment is one route; assessed and then refused a plan is the other. The stages, in order.
Not the date you opened it. Two months from that date, or one month from the mediation certificate, whichever is later.
The letter names the service. You can take the certificate without taking the mediation.
The free model grounds document is the part the tribunal actually reads.
Look up its own refusal rate, or see every English council ranked. Context for you, not evidence for the tribunal.
Everything on this site that helps with this, free
- What an EHC plan is, and the stages before one
- The grounds document, free, with a model to copy
- Your council's own refusal rate, looked up
- Every English council ranked by refusal rate
- Education otherwise than at school, if the placement is the argument
If you want the grounds written for you
Everything above is free and stays free, including the model grounds document. The one paid item in this lane is the pack that turns your answers into the grounds themselves, matched to the right form.
Build my SEND appeal pack, £11.99Answer plain-English questions about the decision and your child, and get Tribunal-ready grounds in minutes, matched to the right HMCTS form, SEND35 or SEND35A.
Reading this with software? The composed answer is at /api/answer, described in /openapi.json; the plain-text index is /llms.txt, the dated change log /changes.json, and the orientation page /for-agents. Every page here also answers Accept: text/markdown, and the same document sits at the page path with .md added.
Where the dates on this page come from
- The 2 months, the one month from the mediation certificate, and the 30 working days the council gets to reply: GOV.UK, Appeal an education, health and care (EHC) plan decision, read at source 22/09/2026.
- Mediation before an appeal, and the certificate you need either way: GOV.UK, Appeal an EHC plan decision: before you appeal, read at source 22/09/2026.
- Which tribunal hears the appeal, and what it is independent of: GOV.UK, First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability), read at source 22/09/2026.
- What an EHC needs assessment is, who may request one and the test the council applies: legislation.gov.uk, Children and Families Act 2014, section 36, read at source 22/09/2026.
- The 6 weeks for the decision whether to assess, and what a refusal letter must tell you: legislation.gov.uk, SEND Regulations 2014, regulation 5, the decision whether to assess, read at source 22/09/2026.
- The 16 weeks for a decision not to issue a plan after an assessment: legislation.gov.uk, SEND Regulations 2014, regulation 10, a decision not to secure an EHC plan, read at source 22/09/2026.
- The 15 days on the draft plan and the 20 weeks to the finalised plan: legislation.gov.uk, SEND Regulations 2014, regulation 13, timescales for EHC plans, read at source 22/09/2026.
Other help on this site
Free on every page: the appeal letter builder, the deadline calculator, the discount checker and the operator check. These are the paid ones, each named once, so you can see which lane is yours:
- One operator's full POPLA record, £20 once, for when a private parking charge.
- The county court claim defence pack, £79 once, for when a claim form has arrived.
SEND35 form: the other question this door is asked in those words → · What an EHC plan is → · EHCP refusal rates, council by council →
Sources named above: POPLA, Parking on Private Land Appeals