For schools in England, an EHC plan annual review is a statutory process, not only a meeting. The local authority must complete each review cycle at least every 12 months.
Count back from that deadline. Give at least two weeks' meeting notice and circulate advice by the same point. Send the review report within two weeks after the meeting.
The local authority must notify its maintain, amend or cease decision within four weeks after the meeting. If it amends, a separate eight-week clock runs from the amendment notice.
This guide is for schools in England and is accurate on 28 July 2026. It is not legal advice, and local-authority processes may add earlier operational dates.
Why the deadline is more than the meeting date
Section 44 of the Children and Families Act 2014 requires the local authority to review a maintained EHC plan at least every 12 months.
The SEND Code says the first review process must be completed within 12 months of issue, and later reviews within 12 months of the previous review.
That process includes the local authority's decision after the meeting. Holding the meeting on the anniversary date therefore leaves no room for the four-week decision stage.
A meeting date can look impressively punctual while the legal process waits in three other inboxes. Build the countdown around completion, not the most photogenic diary entry.
The latest national EHC plan statistics, published in June 2026, report the meeting, decision and amended-draft stages separately. The process has several clocks because reality declined to fit in one column.
No official development published in the previous 72 hours changed these duties. The countdown below applies the current Act, regulations and statutory guidance.
Start with the statutory completion date
Start with the verified plan issue date or previous review completion. Record its source, then calculate the date by which the next full review process must be completed.
- Legal anchor: the verified plan issue date or previous review date used for the next 12-month cycle.
- Review completion:the local authority's statutory endpoint, including its decision after the meeting.
- School submission: the meeting report and recommendations due within two weeks after the meeting.
- Phase transfer: any earlier statutory date for the next move between phases of education.
For children under five, the Code says local authorities should consider reviews every three to six months. These complement, rather than replace, the annual statutory duty.
Use this EHCP annual review countdown
The legal minimums are boundary dates; it is not a complete project plan. Add school and local-authority lead time where health, social care or specialist advice is needed.
| Calendar point | Action | Owner and evidence |
|---|---|---|
| 12-month endpoint | Complete the review process, including the LA decision | LA owns completion; SENCo retains the verified anchor and decision |
| Work backwards | Set the meeting early enough for the report and four-week decision | SENCo records the planning buffer and named review owner |
| Before statutory notice | Request advice and confirm accessible contribution routes | Review owner tracks requests, due dates and outstanding evidence |
| At least two weeks before | Give required invitees notice and send gathered advice to all invited | School retains invitations, advice and circulation evidence |
| Meeting | Review progress, outcomes, provision and any needed changes | Chair records views, attendance, differences and recommendations |
| Within two weeks after | Prepare and send the report and recommendations to everyone invited | Arranging body records submission and differing recommendations |
| Within four weeks after | Track the LA decision to maintain, amend or cease the plan | LA owns the decision; school records receipt and resulting actions |
| If the LA will amend | Track the amendment notice, at least 15 days for representations and final plan | LA must finalise within eight weeks of sending the amendment notice |
The school planning buffer is deliberately not labelled as law. Set it from your local process, staff capacity and the time contributors need.
A countdown that begins at the two-week statutory notice point has confused the last safe moment with a sensible start.
Place transition reviews first
Phase transfers override the temptation to schedule solely by anniversary. Regulation 18 requires review and any necessary amendment by 15 February for transfers into or between schools.
For transfer from secondary school to a post-16 institution, the deadline is 31 March in the calendar year of transfer.
Transfers between post-16 institutions need separate handling. Where a transfer is proposed within the next 12 months, review and any necessary amendment must occur at least five months before it.
Put these pupils into the autumn planning window first, then work backwards with the local authority. Do not wait for the ordinary anniversary if that would make the transfer deadline impossible.
From Year 9 onwards, reviews must include a preparation-for-adulthood focus. Reserve time to gather the young person's views and the relevant education, health, care and future-planning evidence.
A worked evidence trail
Consider a fictional composite Year 9 pupil whose review anniversary falls in January. The countdown shows a November meeting, but a date alone cannot show whether the review is ready.
The EHC plan lists communication and independence outcomes. Provision records show that one agreed activity started late, while attendance context shows missed sessions on the delivery days.
Pupil voice says the travel routine limits an after-school activity. These records change the question from “Is the paperwork ready?” to “What evidence is needed to review access and preparation for adulthood fairly?”
The SENCo asks the pupil and family what matters, checks delivery with staff, requests relevant professional advice and assigns a due date for the missing evidence before circulation.
The combined data does not prove that attendance caused slower progress or that the EHC plan must be amended. It identifies an evidence gap and a professional question.
What the calendar and data cannot prove
An overdue marker does not by itself establish who breached a duty. Verify the plan type, legal anchor, event history and the local authority's decision record.
A scheduled meeting does not prove that views were gathered, advice was circulated, provision was delivered or the local authority completed its decision.
Attendance, attainment or behaviour patterns cannot diagnose need or dictate an annual review outcome. They can prompt proportionate enquiry when interpreted with the pupil, family and relevant professionals.
Keep facts, views, professional judgements and system flags distinct. The ICO's accuracy guidance also supports recording the source and status of personal data where accuracy is challenged.
How the workflow sits in Student Radar
In Student Radar, the Annual Review workflow can show the review due-by date, advice circulation, meeting, local authority decision and next-review milestones together for authorised staff.
It can track information requests and send staged reminders when a requested contribution is approaching its due date or remains outstanding. A identified owner can then follow up the evidence gap.
That supports co-ordination, but software does not transfer the local authority's statutory duty to the school or make a review compliant by displaying a green date.
What staff should leave with
- Export or list every active EHC plan and verify its legal anchor.
- Mark phase transfers, Year 9 reviews and under-five reviews.
- Place transition deadlines before ordinary anniversary scheduling.
- Work back from completion through decision, report, meeting and advice.
- Assign an owner and evidence source to every step.
- Record the report submission and local-authority decision separately.
- Track amendment notices and final plans when changes are proposed.
If the source dates are unreliable, run the review-date audit first. For a connected annual-review walkthrough, contact Student Radar.
Sources and further reading
- Children and Families Act 2014, section 44, UK Parliament, 2014.
- Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014, regulation 18, UK Parliament, 2014.
- Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014, regulation 20, UK Parliament, 2014.
- Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014, regulation 22, UK Parliament, 2014.
- Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care, SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years, published 11 June 2014 and page updated 12 September 2024.
- Department for Education, High needs funding: 2026 to 2027 operational guide, updated 6 July 2026.
- Department for Education, Education, health and care plans: 2026, published 25 June 2026 and updated 30 June 2026.
- Information Commissioner's Office, Principle (d): Accuracy, current guidance accessed 28 July 2026.