How long does an EHCP take in Thurrock?
The law allows 20 weeks; in 2025, Thurrock issued 35.4% of new EHC plans within that deadline (149 of 421 plans, excluding exceptional cases), ranking it 96 of 148 reporting English councils. The England average was 46.1%.
The trend since 2019
† DfE changed the collection method between calendar years 2022 and 2023; treat cross-break trend comparisons with care. Bracketed figures are the number of plans each percentage is based on, excluding cases the regulations treat as exceptional. Counting exceptional cases as well, the 2025 figure is 33.1%.
Could your child use some extra help while you wait?
The two statutory clocks
Two deadlines apply to every request. The council must decide whether to carry out an assessment within 6 weeks (regulation 5), and any final plan is due within 20 weeks of the original request (regulation 13).
- Decision within 6 weeks: Thurrock decided on time for 94% of requests in 2025. England: 87.4%.
- Final plan within 20 weeks: Thurrock issued on time for 35.4% of new plans. England: 46.1%, down from 46.4% the year before.
- Waits over a year: 0.4% of plans issued in 2025 took longer than 52 weeks.
Requests and refusals
Thurrock received 744 requests for an EHC needs assessment in 2025 and refused to assess 32.4% of them. The England average refusal rate was 26.6%. Requests that are refused never reach the plan stage, so they are not counted in the 20-week timeliness figure above; the two are worth reading together.
Demand
Thurrock maintained 2,934 EHC plans as at January 2026, up 91% from January 2019. Rising caseloads stretch the same statutory deadlines, which is context for the timeliness figures above, though the duties are unchanged by demand.
When families challenged the council
In 2025, 45 mediation cases and 21 SEND Tribunal appeals related to Thurrock's assessment-request decisions. Across England in the 2024 to 2025 school year, 99% of SEND appeals decided by the tribunal went in the appellant's favour, meaning the family won on most or all of the points they appealed (Ministry of Justice, Tribunal Statistics Quarterly).
Annual reviews
Every EHC plan must be reviewed at least annually, and the council must give its decision within 4 weeks of the review meeting. In 2025, Thurrock completed a review for 43.5% of the 2,410 plans where one was due, and gave its decision within 4 weeks in 19.7% of cases (England: 47.6%).
Area SEND inspection
Thurrock has not yet been inspected under the Area SEND framework introduced in January 2023. Earlier inspections under the previous framework may exist on Ofsted's reports site.
What the regulations require
The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 set the deadlines on this page: the 6-week decision (regulation 5) and the 20-week final plan (regulation 13), with limited exceptions set out in regulation 13(3). These are duties, not targets. In 2025, Thurrock met the 20-week requirement in 35.4% of cases. New to the process? Start with what an EHCP is and how to apply.
The wider system is changing: the government's February 2026 white paper proposes reserving EHCPs for the most complex needs by 2035, with reassessments from September 2029. Nothing changes today, and every deadline above still applies in full. What the SEND reforms actually say.
If a deadline has been missed
- IPSEA's template letters cover chasing a late decision or a late plan.
- Every council funds a free, statutory information and advice service. Search "Thurrock SENDIASS" to find yours; it is independent of the council's SEND team.
- GOV.UK explains the complaint and appeal routes, including when mediation applies.
If the council refuses to assess, or your child is out of school while you wait, see the common questions in our EHCP guide.
About this data
Source: DfE "Education, health and care plans", reporting year 2026 (published 2026-06-25), covering calendar year 2025. Inspection outcomes are from the Ofsted and CQC Area SEND management information. Figures describe Thurrock as the local authority responsible for EHC plans. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This page is updated when the DfE publishes each annual release.