Education, health and care plans (EHCPs) were introduced following the enactment of the Children and Families Act (2014) and publication of the SEND Code of Practice: 0-25 years (Department for Education [DfE] & Department of Health [DoH], 2015). They are statutory documents which specify a child or young person’s special educational needs (SEN) and the provision they require (DfE & DoH, 2015, p. 280).
Low parental confidence (Cullen & Lindsay, 2019) in a SEND system that does not appear to “prioritise, recognise or reward inclusion” (ISOS Partnership, 2024, p. 63) is contributing to increasing numbers of requests for education, health and care (EHC) needs assessments (Marsh & Howatson, 2020). The financial stability of the SEND system has been questioned (Sibieta & Snape, 2024) and is described to be in a state of “crisis” (ISOS Partnership, 2024, p. 6). Parents and carers share emotive stories of their battles to obtain EHCPs for their children (Keville et al., 2025; Sandiford, 2025) and report feeling ignored (Hughes, 2024) and dismissed (Hammond, 2024; Starkie, 2024) in the EHC process.
This research sought to capture parents’ and carers’ lived experiences of the EHC needs assessment and planning process through narrative interviews. Drawing on poetic transcription (Glesne, 1997) and Gee’s (1991) linguistic approach to narrative, the narratives of two parents from the Yorkshire and Humberside region are re/presented in poetic form.
This research concludes that the process of obtaining an EHCP is often complex and difficult to navigate; can lack collaboration, transparency and coordination; does not necessarily achieve its aims of being person-centred; and does not always deliver quality EHCPs for children and young people. Parents’ and carers’ experiences are more positive when they feel supported, listened to and valued, and where there is clear communication throughout the EHC process.
Implications for practice for LAs, educational settings and wider services, including educational psychologists, are discussed.
