EHCP timescales in your area
The law gives every family in England the same EHCP deadlines. How councils actually perform against them varies enormously. Find your council below to see its record on the 20 week deadline, its refusal rate, and what to do if your case is running late. Every figure comes from the Department for Education's own published data.
46.1%
of new plans in England were issued inside the legal 20 weeks
26.6%
of assessment requests in England were refused first time
153
English local authorities, every one listed below
New this year: we have added a page for each council on how often families appeal its decisions. Across England 26,977 appeals were registered in 2025 from 405,735 appealable decisions, a rate of 6.6%, up from 6.1% the year before. Follow any council below and you will find its appeal page linked from its record.
There is also a page per council on annual reviews, for families who already hold a plan. The council has 4 weeks after a review meeting to say whether it will maintain, amend or cease the plan (SEND Regulations 2014, reg 20(10)). Across England only 47.6% of those decisions reached families in time, and 157,881 expected reviews were not recorded as completed at all.
Most on time
- Barnet · 100%
- Bracknell Forest · 100%
- City of London · 100%
- Isles of Scilly · 100%
- Wandsworth · 100%
Least on time
- Derbyshire · 5%
- Devon · 5.1%
- Somerset · 6.4%
- Cumberland · 6.7%
- Bristol, City of · 6.8%
Wherever your council sits on this list, the deadlines are national law and they apply in full. If your case is late, our guides on EHCP delays and what to do when the council misses a deadline show you the way forward, and the free deadline checker gives you the exact dates for your own case.
Find your council
| Council | Plans issued in 20 weeks | Requests refused | Children with plans |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barking and Dagenham | 27.2% | 14% | 3,297 |
| Barnet | 100% | 30% | 4,840 |
| Barnsley | 98.6% | 31% | 3,380 |
| Bath and North East Somerset | 33.2% | 21.4% | 2,687 |
| Bedford | 94.3% | 41.8% | 2,319 |
| Bexley | 65.9% | 30.9% | 3,540 |
| Birmingham | 37.1% | 28.6% | 13,221 |
| Blackburn with Darwen | 79.9% | 17.1% | 1,739 |
| Blackpool | 55% | 30.6% | 1,904 |
| Bolton | 86% | 30.8% | 3,909 |
| Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 69% | 30.2% | 4,982 |
| Bracknell Forest | 100% | 60.5% | 1,718 |
| Bradford | 86.5% | 23.6% | 8,489 |
| Brent | 69.7% | 26.8% | 4,171 |
| Brighton and Hove | 57.4% | 32.6% | 3,193 |
| Bristol, City of | 6.8% | 16.2% | 5,770 |
| Bromley | 71.3% | 26.4% | 4,790 |
| Buckinghamshire | 7.8% | 17.2% | 7,629 |
| Bury | 98.1% | 33.8% | 3,099 |
| Calderdale | 94.1% | 13.2% | 2,934 |
| Cambridgeshire | 7.3% | 7.2% | 8,619 |
| Camden | 73% | 14.6% | 1,645 |
| Central Bedfordshire | 56.3% | 39% | 4,357 |
| Cheshire East | 23.9% | 16.4% | 5,440 |
| Cheshire West and Chester | 22.1% | 40.5% | 4,395 |
| City of London | 100% | 20% | 26 |
| Cornwall | 34.1% | 31.3% | 5,575 |
| County Durham | 77.6% | 34.1% | 5,776 |
| Coventry | 37.6% | 27.2% | 3,914 |
| Croydon | 61.2% | 13.3% | 5,926 |
| Cumberland | 6.7% | 36.6% | 3,088 |
| Darlington | 81.5% | 38.2% | 1,227 |
| Derby | 52.6% | 41.1% | 3,734 |
| Derbyshire | 5% | 50.4% | 9,022 |
| Devon | 5.1% | 52.5% | 10,340 |
| Doncaster | 83.9% | 45.3% | 3,336 |
| Dorset | 78.2% | 17.3% | 4,719 |
| Dudley | 25.1% | 22.4% | 4,151 |
| Ealing | 52.2% | 14.7% | 4,546 |
| East Riding of Yorkshire | 92.9% | 40.8% | 3,917 |
| East Sussex | 43.1% | 49.3% | 5,243 |
| Enfield | 67.2% | 20.5% | 5,055 |
| Essex | 20.1% | 24% | 15,776 |
| Gateshead | 83.7% | 49.5% | 2,046 |
| Gloucestershire | 27.4% | 32.9% | 7,521 |
| Greenwich | 31.2% | 12.6% | 3,626 |
| Hackney | 32.8% | 39.6% | 3,721 |
| Halton | Not published | 36.1% | 1,825 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 87.2% | 20.4% | 1,843 |
| Hampshire | 52% | 20.1% | 20,499 |
| Haringey | 89.6% | 27.8% | 3,048 |
| Harrow | 88.2% | 19.9% | 3,019 |
| Hartlepool | 21.4% | 32.5% | 1,067 |
| Havering | 32% | 20.5% | 3,419 |
| Herefordshire, County of | 57% | 22.7% | 2,048 |
| Hertfordshire | 60.3% | 27.2% | 15,137 |
| Hillingdon | 77.6% | 34.3% | 3,735 |
| Hounslow | 58.4% | 28.4% | 3,499 |
| Isle of Wight | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| Isles of Scilly | 100% | 33.3% | 15 |
| Islington | 85.8% | 20% | 2,334 |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 97.9% | 17% | 880 |
| Kent | 56.9% | 48.2% | 21,742 |
| Kingston upon Hull, City of | 37.4% | 35.3% | 3,919 |
| Kingston upon Thames | 97.2% | 24.7% | 2,159 |
| Kirklees | 62.8% | 34.9% | 5,092 |
| Knowsley | 86.4% | 31.4% | 3,172 |
| Lambeth | 89.1% | 32.5% | 3,350 |
| Lancashire | 9.6% | 25.3% | 14,728 |
| Leeds | 7.3% | 10.3% | 7,474 |
| Leicester | Not published | 0% | 4,175 |
| Leicestershire | 20.3% | 25.9% | 8,812 |
| Lewisham | 22.9% | 24.8% | 3,698 |
| Lincolnshire | 86.8% | 37.4% | 9,381 |
| Liverpool | 97.3% | 35% | 7,875 |
| Luton | 29.1% | 25% | 3,037 |
| Manchester | 74.2% | 22.9% | 9,874 |
| Medway | 21.4% | 18.9% | 4,287 |
| Merton | 95.6% | 24.2% | 2,917 |
| Middlesbrough | 93.3% | 26.9% | 2,133 |
| Milton Keynes | 11.5% | 0% | 3,202 |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 21.8% | 19.2% | 3,496 |
| Newham | 31.5% | 22.5% | 3,639 |
| Norfolk | Not published | 14.6% | 13,777 |
| North East Lincolnshire | 98.6% | 13.3% | 2,261 |
| North Lincolnshire | 70.4% | 17% | 1,941 |
| North Northamptonshire | 56.5% | 16.9% | 5,372 |
| North Somerset | 96% | 42.2% | 3,007 |
| North Tyneside | 26% | 15.8% | 2,590 |
| North Yorkshire | 75.7% | 14.9% | 6,444 |
| Northumberland | 81.4% | 37.1% | 4,163 |
| Nottingham | 30.2% | 9% | 2,311 |
| Nottinghamshire | 32.3% | 27.3% | 6,265 |
| Oldham | 76.9% | 29.2% | 3,959 |
| Oxfordshire | 37.8% | 21.7% | 8,559 |
| Peterborough | 66% | 17.9% | 3,191 |
| Plymouth | 10.2% | 24.6% | 3,646 |
| Portsmouth | 42.9% | 16.6% | 2,616 |
| Reading | 62.5% | 18.3% | 2,077 |
| Redbridge | 27.9% | 18.8% | 3,830 |
| Redcar and Cleveland | 19.9% | 18% | 1,565 |
| Richmond upon Thames | 96.5% | 23.5% | 2,166 |
| Rochdale | 49.3% | 24% | 3,807 |
| Rotherham | 79.4% | 26.1% | 4,062 |
| Rutland | 80.7% | 7.5% | 431 |
| Salford | 54.9% | 29.2% | 3,727 |
| Sandwell | 29.8% | 13.9% | 4,780 |
| Sefton | 42.9% | 20.2% | 4,197 |
| Sheffield | 27.8% | 9.6% | 7,019 |
| Shropshire | 11.9% | 19.6% | 3,360 |
| Slough | 30.5% | 21.3% | 2,585 |
| Solihull | 74% | 39.8% | 2,806 |
| Somerset | 6.4% | 30.5% | 6,350 |
| South Gloucestershire | 56.6% | 39.5% | 3,669 |
| South Tyneside | 92% | 39.4% | 1,861 |
| Southampton | 80% | 4.9% | 2,945 |
| Southend-on-Sea | 47% | 21.9% | 2,432 |
| Southwark | 42.8% | 43.3% | 3,619 |
| St. Helens | 59.6% | 23.1% | 2,644 |
| Staffordshire | 24.6% | 35.9% | 9,979 |
| Stockport | 18.1% | 33.3% | 3,930 |
| Stockton-on-Tees | 52.9% | 15.8% | 2,800 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | 58.7% | 28% | 3,707 |
| Suffolk | 16.5% | 18.8% | 11,598 |
| Sunderland | 59.4% | 57.9% | 3,191 |
| Surrey | 89.5% | 16.4% | 17,765 |
| Sutton | 96% | 47.6% | 2,708 |
| Swindon | 11.8% | 25.8% | 2,789 |
| Tameside | 30.3% | 25.7% | 3,837 |
| Telford and Wrekin | 97.3% | 32.2% | 2,669 |
| Thurrock | 35.4% | 32.4% | 2,934 |
| Torbay | 27.1% | 22.8% | 1,793 |
| Tower Hamlets | 46% | 18.1% | 4,834 |
| Trafford | 47.4% | 17.9% | 3,405 |
| Wakefield | 80.2% | 45.2% | 4,167 |
| Walsall | 96.3% | 61.2% | 4,779 |
| Waltham Forest | 25.7% | 0% | 3,946 |
| Wandsworth | 100% | 23.5% | 3,359 |
| Warrington | 73.6% | 32.6% | 2,494 |
| Warwickshire | 22.8% | 23.2% | 8,227 |
| West Berkshire | 25.2% | 2% | 1,884 |
| West Northamptonshire | 7.9% | 39.9% | 5,337 |
| West Sussex | 15.5% | 27.5% | 10,945 |
| Westminster | 92.9% | 15.6% | 1,527 |
| Westmorland and Furness | 72% | 24.2% | 2,687 |
| Wigan | 21.9% | 27.6% | 4,062 |
| Wiltshire | 61.6% | 27.6% | 6,914 |
| Windsor and Maidenhead | 100% | 45.5% | 1,363 |
| Wirral | 8.2% | 19.4% | 6,480 |
| Wokingham | 43% | 36.1% | 2,435 |
| Wolverhampton | 19.6% | 6% | 3,324 |
| Worcestershire | 66.1% | 15.1% | 8,276 |
| York | 98.5% | 23.6% | 1,777 |
Figures: Department for Education (DfE) / Explore Education Statistics, Education, health and care plans, Reporting year 2026, published 2026-06-25. This directory updates when the DfE publishes new annual data.