What is an Annual Review?
When a child or young person has an education, health and care plan (EHCP) this must be reviewed every 12 months.
The annual review is a formal process that must follow certain legal requirements. It includes a meeting, but this is not the only part of the process.
Annual reviews must:
- happen at least every 12 months
- focus on progress towards achieving the outcomes specified in the EHCP
- consider whether these outcomes and supporting targets are still appropriate
Watch a short video on what an annual review is on the Council for Disabled Children website.
The role of parents, carers and young people
Parents, carers and the child or young person should be fully involved in the annual review process. The process should be person centred.
Some children and young people might want to attend the whole meeting. For others this might be overwhelming. They could attend part of the meeting, or they might want to write, draw or explain their needs to someone they trust before the meeting.
You can find advice on how to prepare for an annual review meeting on the Contact website.
The following steps must take place in an annual review (see ARP1 Annual Review guidance for settings):
- An annual review meeting must take place to discuss the EHC plan.
- Information must be gathered from parents and young people and from professionals about the child/young person and then circulated two weeks before the meeting.
- The LA must take account of parent carer and the child/young person's views, wishes and feelings.
- Amendments and/or updates to the EHCP Plan must be made with ‘Track changes'.
- After the meeting, the school will complete an annual review meeting form AR1.
- The documents from the Annual Review Meeting, including parent and child/young person views, must all be sent to the SEND Service as one pack by the Lead Professional/education setting.
- After the meeting, the LA reviews the EHC plan and updates if there are significant changes to be made. The updated EHC plan will be sent to parent/carers and school setting.
The purpose of the review is to:
- Listen and consider the young person’s views on how their year has been, discussing areas of strength and difficulty to bring together the views of everyone who supports the child.
- Review the special educational needs and consider what has been working well and where there needs to be changes to support the learner.
- Review the outcomes in the EHCP and assess whether these have been achieved and discuss whether long term targets remain challenging and appropriate.
- Review provision and consider any changes or adaptions.
- Set new SMART targets for the coming school year.
For children who already have an EHCP who reach Year 9 (age 14 and above) the annual review must include a discussion of the needs, provision and outcomes relating to the Preparation for Adulthood (PfA) four categories :
- employment
- independent living and housing
- friends, relationships and community
- good health.
It is however good practice to consider this for all ages and year groups:
The LA has a PfA advisor who can offer support in setting appropriate targets if needed. There is a Preparation for Adulthood information guide that is available on the Local Offer to give guidance and support.
Review meetings may include representatives from post 16 institutions such as colleges. This is so that they can get to know the young person and what works for them.
Early/interim annual reviews
You can ask your child’s setting for an early annual review if you think that:
- your child’s education, health or social care needs have changed a lot
- the education, health or social care provision in the EHCP is no longer meeting their needs
- your child has been excluded or is at risk of exclusion
Speak to your school's Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) to ask for an early annual review.
If school believe that an interim review is needed, they must submit an Interim Review Meeting Form to the SEND team. This will be discussed by lead SEND Officer/SEND Manager and a decision is made whether to proceed with the interim review.