Reporting year 2021

Education, health and care plans

Data guidance

Published 13 May 2021

Description

This document describes the data included in the Education, health and care (EHC) plans National Statistics release’s underlying data files. This data is released under the terms of the Open Government License (opens in a new tab) and is intended to meet at least 3 stars for Open Data (opens in a new tab). The methodology document should be referenced alongside this data. It provides information on the data sources, their coverage and quality as well as explaining methodology used in producing the data.

Coverage

This release provides information on the EHC plan process including: 

• number of active EHC plans at January of the calendar year
• number of new EHC plans in the previous calendar year
• the administration of requests for assessments for an EHC plan 

The information is based on local authority level data collected via the SEN2 data collection. The underlying data files include national, regional and local authority level data

File formats and conventions

The dataset and outputs have not had suppression or rounding applied

The following convention is used throughout the underlying data. 

z - Not applicable

Data files

All data files associated with this releases are listed below with guidance on their content. To download any of these files, please visit our data catalogue.

01 - EHC plans - by age - January 2010 to 2021

• Filename: sen2_age_caseload_20210513.csv
• Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
• Time period: 2010 to 2021
• Content:

  Number of children and young people with an EHC plan, broken down by age band

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
characteristic_age	Age group - Filter by age group
Total_all	Number of statements and EHC plans combined
Total_all_pc	Percentage of statements and EHC plans combined
Total_ehc	Number of EHC plans
Total_ehc_pc	Percentage of EHC plans
Total_st	Number of statements
Total_st_pc	Percentage of statements

Footnotes

1. Percentage of all statements of SEN
2. Percentage of all EHC plans
3. Percentage of all EHC plans and statements of SEN combined

02 - EHC plans - by establishment type - January 2010 to 2021

• Filename: sen2_estab_caseload_20210513.csv
• Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
• Time period: 2010 to 2021
• Content:

  Number of children and young people with an EHC plan, broken down by establishment type

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
establishment_group	Establishment group - Filter by type of establishment group
establishment_type	Establishment type - Filter by type of establishment
Total_all	Number of statements and EHC plans combined
Total_all_pc	Percentage of statements and EHC plans combined
Total_ehc	Number of EHC plans
Total_ehc_pc	Percentage of EHC plans
Total_st	Number of statements
Total_st_pc	Percentage of statements

Footnotes

1. Percentage of all statements of SEN
2. Percentage of all EHC plans
3. Percentage of all EHC plans and statements of SEN combined

03 - New EHC plans - by age - 2009 to 2020

• Filename: sen2_age_new_plans_20210513.csv
• Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
• Time period: 2009 to 2020
• Content:

  Number of children and young people with a new EHC plan in the calendar year, broken down by age band

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
characteristic_age	Age group - Filter by age group
Total_new_all	Number of new statements and EHC plans combined
Total_new_all_pc	Percentage of new statements and EHC plans combined
Total_new_ehc	Number of new EHC plans
Total_new_ehc_pc	Percentage of new EHC plans
Total_new_st	Number of new statements
Total_new_st_pc	Percentage of new statements

Footnotes

1. Percentage of all new EHC plans and statements of SEN combined in the calendar year
2. Percentage of all new statements of SEN in the calendar year
3. Percentage of all new EHC plans in the calendar year

04 - New EHC plans - by establishment type - 2009 to 2020

• Filename: sen2_estab_new_plans_20210513.csv
• Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
• Time period: 2009 to 2020
• Content:

  Number of children and young people with a new EHC plan in the calendar year, broken down by establishment type

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
establishment_group	Establishment group - Filter by type of establishment group
establishment_type	Establishment type - Filter by type of establishment
Total_new_all	Number of new statements and EHC plans combined
Total_new_all_pc	Percentage of new statements and EHC plans combined
Total_new_ehc	Number of new EHC plans
Total_new_ehc_pc	Percentage of new EHC plans
Total_new_st	Number of new statements
Total_new_st_pc	Percentage of new statements

Footnotes

1. Percentage of all new EHC plans and statements of SEN combined in the calendar year
2. Percentage of all new statements of SEN in the calendar year
3. Percentage of all new EHC plans in the calendar year

05 - Requests, assessments, discontinued plans, 20 week timeliness, mainstream to special transfers, mediation and tribunals

• Filename: sen2_assess_requests_20weeks.csv
• Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
• Time period: 2014 to 2020
• Content:

  Data on the administration of statements and EHC plans, including;

  • Requests for assessment
  • decisions to assess
  • decisions to issue
  • 20 week timeliness
  • Mediation
  • Transfers between school types

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
Assnodecision	Still being assessed or where assessment has been completed but no decision taken for a statement of SEN at the calendar year end
AssnodecisionEHC	Still being assessed or where assessment has been completed but no decision taken for an EHC plan at the calendar year end
Assnone	Assessments where it was decided not to issue a statement of SEN
AssnoneEHC	Assessments where it was decided not to issue an EHC plan
AssnoneEHC_pc	Percentage of assessments during the calendar year where it was decided not to issue an EHC plan
AssRefused	Initial requests for assessment for a statement of SEN that were refused
AssRefusedEHC	Initial requests for assessment for an EHC plan that were refused
AssRefusedEHC_pc	Percentage of initial requests for assessment for an EHC plan that were refused during the calendar year
Dislea	Statement of SEN discontinued as transferred to another LA
DisleaEHC	EHC plan discontinued as transferred to another LA
Disleft	Statement of SEN discontinued because pupils have left school at the end of compulsory schooling or after
DisleftEHC	EHC plan discontinued because pupils have left school at the end of compulsory schooling or after
Dismet	Statement of SEN discontinued as special needs being met without an EHC plan
DismetEHC	EHC plan discontinued as special needs being met without an EHC plan
Disoth	Statement of SEN discontinued for other reasons
DisothEHC	EHC plan discontinued for other reasons
IncExc20weekEHC	EHC plans including exceptions issued within 20 weeks
IncExc20weekRate	Rate of EHC plans including exceptions issued within 20 weeks
IncExc26week	Statements including exceptions issued within 26 weeks
InreqEHC	Initial requests for an EHC plan
InreqryaEHC	Initial requests for an EHC plan when detained in youth accomodation
MtoPar	Children and young people with a statement of SEN who were taken out of school by their parents to be home educated from mainstream settings
MtoParEHC	Children and young people with an EHC plan who were taken out of school by their parents to be home educated from mainstream settings
Mtosi	Children and young people with a statement of SEN who transferred from mainstream to special settings
MtosiEHC	Children and young people with an EHC plan who transferred from mainstream to special settings
NewallEHC	Children and young people assessed for whom an EHC plan was issued
NewallEHC_AssnoneEHC_sum	Children and young people assessed for whom a plan was issued and those for whom one not issued
NewallEHC_pc	Percentage of children and young people assessed for whom EHC plans were made for the first time during the calendar year
NewEHCMediation	Mediation cases that have been held
NewEHCTribunal	Mediation cases that have been held which were followed by appeals to the Tribunal
NewEHCTribunal_pc	Percentage of mediation cases held which were followed by appeals to tribunal
NoExc20weekEHC	EHC plans excluding exceptions issued within 20 weeks
NoExc20weekRate	Rate of EHC plans excluding exceptions issued within 20 weeks
NoExc26week	Statements excluding exceptions issued within 26 weeks
Sitom	Children and young people with a statement of SEN who transferred from special to mainstream settings
SitomEHC	Children and young people with an EHC plan who transferred from special to mainstream settings
SitoPar	Children and young people with a statement of SEN who were taken out of school by their parents to be home educated from special settings
SitoParEHC	Children and young people with an EHC plan who were taken out of school by their parents to be home educated from special settings
StatementstoEHC	Children and young people with statements who were issued with an EHC plan
StatementstoNoEHC	Children and young people with statements who were assessed for an EHC plan and a decision not to issue an EHC plan made
TotIncExc	Statements including exceptions
TotIncExcEHC	EHC plans including exceptions
TotNoExc	Statements excluding exceptions
TotNoExcEHC	EHC plans excluding exceptions

Footnotes

1. Figures for assessments still in progress correspond to the end of the calendar year, for example, the 2020 figure corresponds to those assessments still in progress at 31st December 2020

06 - Work based placements, residential settings, designated medical and clinical officers - 2017 to 2021

• Filename: sen2_wbp_residential_dmo.csv
• Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
• Time period: 2017 to 2021
• Content:

  Number of children and young people with an EHC plan who are; on work based placements in residential settings

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
DCO	Designated clinical officer in place (Yes/No/Recruiting)
DMO	Designated medical officer in place (Yes/No/Recruiting)
DMODCOFunction	Person performing role of designated medical/clinical officer in place (Yes/No/Recruiting)
MApprenEHC	Number of young people enrolled on an apprenticeship
Mres38week05	Children and young people with statements - in residential settings, 38 to 51 weeks, age under 5
Mres38week05EHC	Children and young people with EHC plans - in residential settings, 38 to 51 weeks, age under 5
Mres38week1115	Children and young people with statements - in residential settings, 38 to 51 weeks, age 11 to 15
Mres38week1115EHC	Children and young people with EHC plans - in residential settings, 38 to 51 weeks, age 11 to 15
Mres38week1619	Children and young people with statements - in residential settings, 38 to 51 weeks, age 16 to 19
Mres38week1619EHC	Children and young people with EHC plans - in residential settings, 38 to 51 weeks, age 16 to 19
Mres38week2025EHC	Children and young people with EHC plans - in residential settings, 38 to 51 weeks, age 20 to 25
Mres38week510	Children and young people with statements - in residential settings, 38 to 51 weeks, age 5 to 10
Mres38week510EHC	Children and young people with EHC plans - in residential settings, 38 to 51 weeks, age 5 to 10
Mres52week05	Children and young people with statements - in residential settings, 52 weeks, age under 5
Mres52week05EHC	Children and young people with EHC plans - in residential settings, 52 weeks, age under 5
Mres52week1115	Children and young people with statements - in residential settings, 52 weeks, age 11 to 15
Mres52week1115EHC	Children and young people with EHC plans - in residential settings, 52 weeks, age 11 to 15
Mres52week1619	Children and young people with statements - in residential settings, 52 weeks, age 16 to 19
Mres52week1619EHC	Children and young people with EHC plans - in residential settings, 52 weeks, age 16 to 19
Mres52week2025EHC	Children and young people with EHC plans - in residential settings, 52 weeks, age 20 to 25
Mres52week510	Children and young people with statements - in residential settings, 52 weeks, age 5 to 10
Mres52week510EHC	Children and young people with EHC plans - in residential settings, 52 weeks, age 5 to 10
MSuppIntEHC	Number of young people enrolled on a supported internship
MTrainEHC	Number of young people enrolled on a traineeship
TotMres38week	Children and young people with statements - in residential settings, 38 to 51 weeks, Total
TotMres38weekEHC	Children and young people with EHC plans - in residential settings, 38 to 51 weeks, Total
TotMres52week	Children and young people with statements - in residential settings, 52 weeks, Total
TotMres52weekEHC	Children and young people with EHC plans - in residential settings, 52 weeks, Total
WorkbasedEHC	Number of young people enrolled on an apprenticeship, trainship or supported internship

07 - Personal budgets and direct payments - 2015 to 2021

• Filename: sen2_direct_payment.csv
• Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
• Time period: 2015 to 2021
• Content:

  Data on personal budgets and direct payments in place for EHC plans

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
DirectPayEducation	Number of personal budgets in place that have direct payment for education
DirectPayHealth	Number of personal budgets in place that have direct payment for health
DirectPayIntegrated	Number of personal budgets in place that have direct payment for an integrated payment
DirectPaySocialCare	Number of personal budgets in place that have direct payment for social care
OrgArrangements	Number of personal budgets in place that have organised arrangements
PersonalBudgets	Number of personal budgets in place for all EHC plans