Annual review: the preparation pack

The duty: a review every 12 months

“A local authority must review an EHC plan that it maintains— in the period of 12 months starting with the date on which the plan was first made, and in each subsequent period of 12 months starting with the date on which the plan was last reviewed under this section.”

Children and Families Act 2014, s.44(1)

The clock runs from when the plan was first made, then from each review — not from the school year. If a phase transfer is coming (a new school phase, or moving to post-16), the review has earlier, fixed deadlines of its own: the 15 February / 31 March countdown.

The meeting: what the regulations require

• Notice: “At least two weeks' notice of the date of the meeting must be given.” (SEND Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/1530), reg 20(3))
• Papers in advance: “The person arranging the review meeting must obtain advice and information about the child or young person from the persons referred to in paragraph (2) and must circulate it to those persons at least two weeks in advance of the review meeting.” (SEND Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/1530), reg 20(4)) — if reports land on you at the meeting itself, that is not what the regulation says should happen.
• The agenda is progress: “The child or young person's progress towards achieving the outcomes specified in the EHC plan must be considered at the meeting.” (SEND Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/1530), reg 20(5)) — and from Year 9 the meeting must also consider preparation for adulthood and independent living (reg 20(6)).

After the meeting: the four-week decision

A written report of the review must be prepared within two weeks of the meeting (reg 20(9)). Then comes the decision with the clock on it:

“The local authority must then decide whether it proposes to— (a) continue to maintain the EHC plan in its current form; (b) amend it; or (c) cease to maintain it, and must notify the child's parent or the young person and the person referred to in paragraph (2)(b) within four weeks of the review meeting.”

SEND Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/1530), reg 20(10)

Three outcomes are possible: continue the plan as it is, amend it, or cease it. If the LA proposes to continue unamended or to cease, it must also tell you about your appeal right and its time limits (reg 20(11)). If it proposes to cease, read the cease-to-maintain rights card before anything else.

How often is the four-week duty met? The DfE's first official data on annual reviews says: “In 2024 the outcome of 44.4% of annual reviews were notified within 4 weeks where dates were recorded.” The same release reports coverage of the reviews themselves: “Of the 638,700 EHC plans active as at January 2025, 82.1% (524,700) were expected to have an annual review during the 2024 calendar year. Of which, the majority, 86.5% (453,800) did have an annual review recorded as expected.” (DfE, “Education, health and care plans: England 2025”, official statistics, June 2025 (first-year collection, data for calendar year 2024)). Two honest caveats: this was the first year the data was collected and the DfE itself expects data-quality limitations; and the release does not say how late the remaining reviews or decisions were, so we publish no figure for that. The duties above are the law regardless of how often they are missed.

If the LA amends: your windows

Amendment after a review follows the draft-plan procedure. The LA must send you the plan with a notice of the proposed amendments and the evidence for them, and then:

“give them at least 15 days, beginning with the day on which the draft plan was served, in which to— (i) make representations about the content of the draft plan; (ii) request that a particular school or other institution be named in the plan; (iii) request a meeting with an officer of the local authority, if they wish to make representations orally.”

SEND Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/1530), reg 22(2)(c)

Use that window the same way you would a first draft — the Section B/F checklist applies to an amended draft exactly as it does to a new one. Then the finalisation clock: “it must send the finalised EHC plan to— (a) the child's parent or to the young person … as soon as practicable, and in any event within 8 weeks of the local authority sending a copy of the EHC plan in accordance with paragraph (2)(a).” (SEND Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/1530), reg 22(3)).

If instead the LA decides not to amend after proposing to: “Where the local authority decides not to amend the EHC plan, it must notify the child's parent or the young person of its decision and its reasons for this as soon as practicable and in any event within 8 weeks of the local authority sending a copy of the EHC plan in accordance with paragraph (2)(a).” (SEND Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/1530), reg 22(4)). A refusal to amend following a review is itself appealable — the appealable matters in section 51(2) include “a decision of a local authority not to secure the amendment or replacement of an EHC plan it maintains for the child or young person following a review or re-assessment under section 44” (Children and Families Act 2014, s.51(2)(e)). For the appeal clock, work out your exact deadline.

The evidence checklist

This checklist is preparation guidance from us, not a legal requirement: nothing below is a duty on you, and arriving without it does not weaken your rights. It maps to the plan's sections so the meeting covers the plan, not just the year.

Letter one: ask for the amendments, on the record

Amendments requested verbally at the meeting have a way of not surviving the minutes. This letter puts your requested changes, and the evidence for each, in writing against the regulation 22 procedure.

Letter two: chase an overdue decision

If more than four weeks have passed since the review meeting and no decision has arrived, this letter cites the duty and asks for the decision — plus the appeal-rights notice that must come with it — within 7 days.