EHCP Support in Dorset: Deadlines, Performance & Local Help

Not published: Dorset Council did not submit a timeliness figure to the DfE SEN2 collection for 2024.

For context, the national 20-week timeliness rate for new EHCPs in 2024 was 46.4%.

Source: DfE — Education, health and care plans, England (annual statistics). Data year: 2024.

Learning and Belonging (SEND) Team organised in 6 localities

Last verified: 11 June 2026 · source

SENDIASS (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information, Advice and Support Service) is a free, statutory and impartial service for parents, carers and young people.

Find your local SENDIASS service via Dorset's Local Offer.

Anyone — a parent, the young person (16+), or someone acting on their behalf (school, GP) — can ask Dorset for an Education, Health and Care needs assessment. The request is a short written letter or email to the SEN team explaining why your child may need provision beyond what is normally available in school.

The council has 6 weeks to decide whether to assess. If they agree, the full process to issue a final plan must complete within 20 weeks of your original request.

Read our step-by-step guide →

If Dorset misses the 6-week assessment decision or the 20-week final plan deadline, you have clear options: chase in writing, escalate to the council's complaints process, complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, or apply for judicial review in serious cases. Exemptions are narrow and listed in Regulation 13(3) of the SEND Regulations 2014.

What to do if your council misses the 20-week deadline →

• Deadline tracker — log the date you submitted your request and we'll show your statutory milestones.
• Letter templates — request an assessment, chase a missed deadline, challenge a refusal.
• How to challenge an EHCP refusal
• What Section F of an EHCP must legally contain