Annual Reviews

As well as setting out a child or young person's needs and the provision required to meet those needs, EHC plans should be used as a tool to help actively monitor children and young people’s progress towards their outcomes and longer term aspirations. They must be reviewed by the local authority as a minimum every 12 months.

The SEND Code Of Practice states that the first review must be held within 12 months of the date when the EHC plan was issued, and then within 12 months of any previous review, and the local authority’s decision following the review meeting must be notified to the child’s parent or the young person within four weeks of the review meeting (and within 12 months of the date of issue of the EHC plan or previous review).

Annual Review Documents

Please find below two versions of the 'Family View' form, which should be given to you in advance of the meeting by your child's school. You can choose which version you would like to complete; they both contain the same questions but are set out in different ways. This form will form part of the discussions at the meeting and your child's school will then attach it to the rest of the Annual Review paperwork and send it in to the Local Authority.

At the review meeting, you will talk with your child's school and any other involved professionals about the progress your child is making, and any changes you think might be needed in the future. As part of this, you will together complete an Annual Review report. You can view what this report looks like below. 

Preparing for Adulthood: Annual Reviews from Y9 onwards

From Year 9 onwards, Annual Reviews start to have a focus on preparing your young person for adulthood. You may hear these referred to as Transition Reviews. The form you fill out together looks different to that used in earlier years. You can view what it looks like below. To read more about Annual Reviews in Year 9 upwards, please click here.

May 2024 update

Following consultation with a variety of education settings, a revised version of the EHCP Review Report has been co-produced and is now available above. During the Summer term 2024, both the old and new templates will be accepted and so if your child's annual review is already underway, you may see the old version of the form. We anticipate the new form will be used by all education settings by Autumn term 2024.

Further guidance for education settings

More detailed guidance for schools on how to hold an Annual Review meeting can be found on Suffolk Learning: Annual Reviews and Phase Transfers

There is also guidance available on filling out the Annual Review report here: Using the EHCP Annual Review report template - guidance for education settings