Choose your council to see past EHCP completion times, then find out how to check your own wait.
Which waiting time do you need?
The council normally decides whether to assess within 6 weeks of receiving the request.
If a plan is issued, the usual overall limit is 20 weeks from the original assessment request. Limited legal exceptions apply.
Ask the service holding your referral about its pathway, acceptance date and current estimate. This is separate from an EHCP.
You do not need to wait for an autism diagnosis before discussing school support or asking for an EHC needs assessment. The assessment test concerns special educational needs and whether provision through a plan may be necessary.
GOV.UK: EHC process · IPSEA: assessment test · NHS: autism assessments
Find your council’s EHCP figures
Official figures for plans completed in 2025. Your own waiting time may be different.
Select a council to see its historical figures.
Figures leave out cases allowed extra time by law. No personal details needed.
Compare all councils
152 councils
| Local authority | Issued within 20 weeks | Average weeks to issue |
|---|---|---|
| Barking and Dagenham | 27.2% | 28 |
| Barnet | 100% | 12.7 |
| Barnsley | 98.6% | 14 |
| Bath and North East Somerset | 33.2% | 24.7 |
| Bedford | 94.3% | 19.3 |
| Bexley | 65.9% | 21.1 |
| Birmingham | 37.1% | 22.1 |
| Blackburn with Darwen | 79.9% | 20.6 |
| Blackpool | 55% | 20.1 |
| Bolton | 86% | 19.4 |
| Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 69% | 17.4 |
| Bracknell Forest | 100% | 13 |
| Bradford | 86.5% | 19.4 |
| Brent | 69.7% | 19.1 |
| Brighton and Hove | 57.4% | 21.1 |
| Bristol, City of | 6.8% | 48.9 |
| Bromley | 71.3% | 13.6 |
| Buckinghamshire | 7.8% | 54.4 |
| Bury | 98.1% | 13.3 |
| Calderdale | 94.1% | 19.6 |
| Cambridgeshire | 7.3% | 53.6 |
| Camden | 73% | 16.3 |
| Central Bedfordshire | 56.3% | 18 |
| Cheshire East | 23.9% | 25.6 |
| Cheshire West and Chester | 22.1% | 27 |
| City of London | 100% | 19.3 |
| Cornwall | 34.1% | 36.9 |
| County Durham | 77.6% | 20.1 |
| Coventry | 37.6% | 21.9 |
| Croydon | 61.2% | 20.3 |
| Cumberland | 6.7% | 31.4 |
| Darlington | 81.5% | 17.6 |
| Derby | 52.6% | 25.3 |
| Derbyshire | 5% | 34.3 |
| Devon | 5.1% | 45.6 |
| Doncaster | 83.9% | 18.6 |
| Dorset | 78.2% | 16.7 |
| Dudley | 25.1% | 25 |
| Ealing | 52.2% | 24.6 |
| East Riding of Yorkshire | 92.9% | 20 |
| East Sussex | 43.1% | 20.1 |
| Enfield | 67.2% | 17.9 |
| Essex | 20.1% | 50.4 |
| Gateshead | 83.7% | 20 |
| Gloucestershire | 27.4% | 31.4 |
| Greenwich | 31.2% | 21.7 |
| Hackney | 32.8% | 26.7 |
| Halton | Not available | Not available |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 87.2% | 19.7 |
| Hampshire | 52% | 22.3 |
| Haringey | 89.6% | 16 |
| Harrow | 88.2% | 19 |
| Hartlepool | 21.4% | 27.6 |
| Havering | 32% | 24.6 |
| Herefordshire, County of | 57% | 21.7 |
| Hertfordshire | 60.3% | 22.1 |
| Hillingdon | 77.6% | 17.4 |
| Hounslow | 58.4% | 19.7 |
| Isle of Wight | Not available | Not available |
| Isles of Scilly | 100% | 12.9 |
| Islington | 85.8% | 19.7 |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 97.9% | 14.7 |
| Kent | 56.9% | 22.3 |
| Kingston upon Hull, City of | 37.4% | 28.1 |
| Kingston upon Thames | 97.2% | 19.3 |
| Kirklees | 62.8% | 22.4 |
| Knowsley | 86.4% | 19.4 |
| Lambeth | 89.1% | 16.1 |
| Lancashire | 9.6% | 46.3 |
| Leeds | 7.3% | 54.1 |
| Leicestershire | 20.3% | 35.4 |
| Lewisham | 22.9% | 37 |
| Lincolnshire | 86.8% | 18.6 |
| Liverpool | 97.3% | 19.6 |
| Luton | 29.1% | 23 |
| Manchester | 74.2% | 14.6 |
| Medway | 21.4% | 43.4 |
| Merton | 95.6% | 13 |
| Middlesbrough | 93.3% | 18.9 |
| Milton Keynes | 11.5% | 48.6 |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 21.8% | 26.6 |
| Newham | 31.5% | 33.4 |
| Norfolk | Not available | Not available |
| North East Lincolnshire | 98.6% | 10.3 |
| North Lincolnshire | 70.4% | 20 |
| North Northamptonshire | 56.5% | 18.9 |
| North Somerset | 96% | 15 |
| North Tyneside | 26% | 28.6 |
| North Yorkshire | 75.7% | 19.1 |
| Northumberland | 81.4% | 19 |
| Nottingham | 30.2% | 23.4 |
| Nottinghamshire | 32.3% | 28.6 |
| Oldham | 76.9% | 7.6 |
| Oxfordshire | 37.8% | 22.3 |
| Peterborough | 66% | 20.3 |
| Plymouth | 10.2% | 45 |
| Portsmouth | 42.9% | 25.6 |
| Reading | 62.5% | 22 |
| Redbridge | 27.9% | 31.1 |
| Redcar and Cleveland | 19.9% | 26.1 |
| Richmond upon Thames | 96.5% | 19.4 |
| Rochdale | 49.3% | 19.3 |
| Rotherham | 79.4% | 19.1 |
| Rutland | 80.7% | 17.6 |
| Salford | 54.9% | 13.9 |
| Sandwell | 29.8% | 35.3 |
| Sefton | 42.9% | 26.6 |
| Sheffield | 27.8% | 23.9 |
| Shropshire | 11.9% | 33 |
| Slough | 30.5% | 33 |
| Solihull | 74% | 13 |
| Somerset | 6.4% | 36.9 |
| South Gloucestershire | 56.6% | 20.9 |
| South Tyneside | 92% | 18.4 |
| Southampton | 80% | 18.9 |
| Southend-on-Sea | 47% | 27.7 |
| Southwark | 42.8% | 23.7 |
| St. Helens | 59.6% | 24.7 |
| Staffordshire | 24.6% | 32.3 |
| Stockport | 18.1% | 36.4 |
| Stockton-on-Tees | 52.9% | 15.9 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | 58.7% | 20.7 |
| Suffolk | 16.5% | 41.1 |
| Sunderland | 59.4% | 21 |
| Surrey | 89.5% | 18.6 |
| Sutton | 96% | 15.4 |
| Swindon | 11.8% | 37.9 |
| Tameside | 30.3% | 23.3 |
| Telford and Wrekin | 97.3% | 18.4 |
| Thurrock | 35.4% | 20.7 |
| Torbay | 27.1% | 24.6 |
| Tower Hamlets | 46% | 24.6 |
| Trafford | 47.4% | 24.1 |
| Wakefield | 80.2% | 17.3 |
| Walsall | 96.3% | 19.4 |
| Waltham Forest | 25.7% | 32.7 |
| Wandsworth | 100% | 17.7 |
| Warrington | 73.6% | 20.6 |
| Warwickshire | 22.8% | 35 |
| West Berkshire | 25.2% | 24.3 |
| West Northamptonshire | 7.9% | 38.7 |
| West Sussex | 15.5% | 37 |
| Westminster | 92.9% | 16.7 |
| Westmorland and Furness | 72% | 18.3 |
| Wigan | 21.9% | 26.9 |
| Wiltshire | 61.6% | 21.1 |
| Windsor and Maidenhead | 100% | 11 |
| Wirral | 8.2% | 48.3 |
| Wokingham | 43% | 24.1 |
| Wolverhampton | 19.6% | 26.7 |
| Worcestershire | 66.1% | 20.4 |
| York | 98.5% | 12.6 |
Source: Department for Education’s official EHCP statistics · 2026 release, covering 2025.
What do these figures mean?
- Average time: weeks from the assessment request to a final plan, for plans completed in 2025.
- Within 20 weeks: the percentage of those plans completed within the usual legal deadline.
- Cases allowed extra time under legal exceptions are not counted in these figures.
- Refused requests and cases still waiting for a plan are not included. Missing figures mean “not available”, not zero.
- These results do not predict your wait or change your child’s rights. They also do not tell us how good a plan is.
The government release was published 25 June 2026 and updated 17 September 2026. It contains 152 council entries; some have no figures. If your council is missing, use the official council finder below.
Public sector information used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
How can I check my current waiting time?
- Find your home local council using the official postcode finder. Use where your child lives, even if their school is elsewhere.
- On its website, find the SEND Local Offer → EHC needs assessment / EHCP team. County and district councils are not interchangeable; check which authority handles education.
- Ask for your request’s receipt date, current stage, named contact and next expected action. If a deadline is missed, ask which legal exception, if any, it says applies.
- Ask whether the council publishes a current timeliness dashboard or waiting-list update, and what period and stage it measures.
Derby and Derbyshire are separate authorities. Their rows above are separate; use the correct home council. For impartial local advice, use the SENDIASS directory.
Copy a simple progress enquiry
Subject: A progress update on our EHC needs assessment / plan — [reference] Dear [SEND team / caseworker’s name], I hope you are well. I would be grateful for a brief update on my child’s EHC needs assessment / plan. Our reference is [reference], and the original request was received on [date]. Could you please let us know the current stage, the next steps and when we might expect to hear from you? It would also be helpful to know whom we should contact if further information is needed from us. If the usual statutory timescale has been exceeded, I would appreciate an explanation of the delay, including whether a legal exception applies, and an update on the expected next action. Please let me know if there is anything we can provide to help the process. Thank you for your time and support. Kind regards, [your name and contact details]
Waiting for an autism assessment instead?
Autism diagnosis is not a council EHCP waiting list. Referral routes vary: a GP, school or health visitor may be involved. Ask the referrer which service received the referral and whether it has been accepted. Check whether the quoted wait is to triage, a first appointment, the diagnostic assessment or the final report.
Read our simple NHS Right to Choose guide for parents →
The NHS assessment guide explains referral routes and, in England, Right to Choose. Discuss eligibility and suitable providers with your GP; an advertised wait does not guarantee that a provider can accept your child’s age, referral or local arrangements.
For national and NHS-area context, use NHS England’s Autism Waiting Time Statistics. These are statistics in development with coverage limitations and measures such as referral-to-first-contact; they should not be presented as a complete council-by-council time to diagnosis.
- Has the referral been accepted, and from what date?
- Is anything missing from the referral?
- Which stage is the waiting estimate for, and when was it updated?
- How do I report changed needs or update contact details?
- What support is available while we wait?
If needs worsen, contact the relevant health professional and setting rather than relying on a place in a queue. Nursery and school help can be discussed while waiting →
If the wait is too long
Keep requests, acknowledgements and decision letters. For EHCP delays, write to the council and seek SENDIASS or specialist advice; a complaint does not stop an appeal deadline. For an NHS referral, use the provider’s patient advice or complaints route and ask the referrer for support. These are different processes.
General information for England, not personal legal advice or a live waiting-time service. Data checked 26 October 2026. Recheck the original source for updates. All resources →