Introduction
We know waiting for support can be stressful. Families have told us they value openness and clear information. Below you’ll find the average waiting times for each stage of the Education, Health, and Care Plan plan process. These figures are updated every month.
We share these averages to help you understand what most families experience, but they are not a guarantee. We’re doing everything we can to carry out assessments as quickly and as fairly as possible by working through requests in the order they were received. There are a small number of exceptions to this, such as children who are looked after.
Our aim is always to meet the statutory deadlines, and we are not satisfied when we don’t. Like many areas, we are working against increasing national pressures, but we are doing everything we can to improve and keep families informed.
Average timescales
We measure each stage of the process separately so you can see the most up‑to‑date information. The average time means we add up the time taken for all cases that finished that stage in the last 3 months, then divide by the number of cases. This gives a clear picture of how long that stage usually takes.
The average times for cases that completed each stage in the last 3 months are:
- Request to panel (see more at deciding if an assessment is needed) – 1 month (4 weeks)
- Panel to assessment start – 0 weeks
- Assessment (see more at completing the Education Health and Care needs assessment) – 6 months (29 weeks)
- Assessment complete to draft (see more at drafting the Education, Health and Care plan) – 1 month (5 weeks)
- Draft to final Education, Health, and Care Plan (see more at issuing the Education, Health and Care plan) – 3 months (12 weeks)
Please note: Each stage is measured on its own so we can share the latest data without waiting for the full process to finish. For plans completed in the last 3 months, the whole process took an average of 10 months (43 weeks).
Requests received and finalised plans
- Requests in last 3 months – 499
- Education, Health, and Care Plans finalised in last 3 months – 144
Support while waiting
We know waiting for an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment can be stressful. We also know how important clear and timely communication is for you. It helps you understand what’s happening, why there might be delays, and when you’ll get updates. While your assessment is in progress, there is help available. This is sometimes called ‘waiting well’.
Citizen Portal
The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Citizen Portal lets you to see who has been asked to provide advice for the assessment, and view that submitted advice once it’s available. Find out more on completing the education health and care needs assessment page.
Locality Areas
While we gather advice for your child or young person’s assessment, their case may also be looked at through our Locality Triage. This helps us bring services together and check what support can be offered now. It means you may be linked with other helpful services while you wait, so you can get the right support as early as possible.
These pages may also help you:
Working to improve
Somerset Council has had a big rise in requests for Education, Health and Care Needs Assessments – over 50% more in the 2024/25 school year. This means extra pressure on the Educational Psychology Service, so assessments are taking longer than usual. We want to be fair. Apart from a few exceptions, like Children Looked After, we are working through requests in the order they were received. An Educational Psychologist will contact you soon to confirm when their part of the assessment will happen.
We’re working to reduce waiting times. To help with this, an external Educational Psychology team will complete some assessments remotely instead of face to face. We’ll always think about your child’s needs and the information we already hold before choosing a remote assessment. Remote assessments meet all professional standards. If you have any worries about this, you can talk to us. You can choose a face-to-face assessment instead, but this may mean you wait longer.
The Council is proud to be among a growing number of local authorities at the forefront of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how it can be used for good. One tool, called the EHC Plan Digital Assistant, helps organise and process information quickly. It reduces the time staff spend on paperwork so they can focus more on supporting families. Find out more about improving education health and care plan processes.