The EHCP System Is Broken — Here's What We Faced

If you're in the UK and your child has additional needs, you've likely heard of an EHCP. What nobody tells you is how adversarial the process can become.

We applied when our son was six. We waited eleven months for an assessment decision. The first draft of the plan contained errors, generalised language, and quantified nothing — which meant it was legally unenforceable.

We had to learn, fast, about our rights. IPSEA became essential. The Disabled Children's Partnership reports year after year that the majority of tribunal appeals are won by parents — which tells you something about how the original decisions are made.

This post isn't to demoralise you. It's to say: you're not imagining it. The system is genuinely difficult. But it can be navigated, and you don't have to do it alone.