About the Citizen Portal
Somerset’s Citizen Portal is a simple and secure online service for residents. If you need to request an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment for a child or young person, you can use the portal to:
- Complete the Appendix A form online to request an EHC needs assessment
- Upload important documents and information safely
- Check your application progress at any time
- Receive updates and messages about your case
Using the portal makes the EHC assessment process easier to understand and more convenient for families and young people.
How to access the Citizen Portal
You can access the Citizen Portal here. If you have already used it before (for example, to apply for a school place) you may already have an account. However, there are a few extra steps you will need to follow to make sure you can access the SEND section of the portal. These steps help us keep your child or young person’s information safe.
If you do not have a Citizen Portal account yet, please follow the guidance below on how to register.
Registering for the Citizen Portal
- Select ‘Register’ on the homepage.
- Enter your email address – Type the email address you wish to use for your account, then enter is again to confirm it.
- Set your password – You will be asked to set a password for your account. Your password must:
- Be between 10 and 128 characters long
- Include at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number and one special character such as ! £ $
- Be different from your username
- Not repeat any of your previous 10 passwords
- Not be a simple change to your previous password (for example, changing “Password32!” to “Password33!” will not be accepted)
- You will be asked to change your password every 60 days.
- Add your personal details – Complete all required fields, marked with a red asterisk. These include your name, contact details and your home address. You can also add your phone number. Providing accurate details helps us contact you if we need more information about your EHC assessment.
Activating your account
After you complete your registration, you will receive an email from onlineadmissions@somerset.gov.uk. If you do not see it in your inbox, please check your junk or spam folder.
Open the email and click the activation link. This confirms your email address and completes your registration. You will see a message confirming that your account has been activated.
You can now log in to the Citizen Portal using the email address and password you created
Turning on Two-Step Verification
Two‑Step Verification is an extra layer of security that helps protect your personal information. It works much like online banking. When it is turned on, you will receive a unique code each time you log in. You must enter this code before you can access the SEND section of the Portal.
Follow these steps to switch it on.
- Log in to the Citizen Portal – Go to the Portal login page and sign in with the email address and password you used when you created your account.
- Select the SEND Section – After you log on, you will see a SEND button on your homepage. Select this option. This area requires Two-Step Verification.
- Turn on Two-Step Verification – The Portal will guide you through switching on Two-Step Verification. You will usually need to confirm your email address so the system can send you one-time verification codes.
- Check your email for a verification code – Each time you log in to view SEND information, you will receive a single-use code by email.
- Enter the code on the portal when asked for it.
- The code should consist of 6 numbers
- It can be used for up to an hour.
The code must be entered correctly before you can see any secure details relating to our EHC assessment.
Accessing your child or young person’s details
To view information about a child or young person in the SEND Citizen Portal, our SEND Assessment Hub Team may need to carry out an additional check to confirm you are the correct person to access this information.
You should request access if:
- You already have a Citizen Portal account but cannot see SEND information
- You need to be linked to a specific child or young person to follow their EHC assessment
Completing your Appendix A online
Please see our Completing the Education Health and Care needs assessment page for information that you will need to do this and a step-by-step guide.