Draft EHCP received
Your draft EHCP has arrived. You have 15 days to respond.
We review the draft plan line by line, focused on Sections B and F, flag every piece of wording the council cannot be held to, rewrite it, and return a drafted parental response inside the 15 day window. Little Nellies is the SEND and EHCP service of Nellie Supports Ltd, a private social work practice in England.
£960 including VAT. 16 hours of work, delivered inside the statutory window.
At a glance
Stage
Draft plan received
Deadline in play
15 calendar days from the date the draft was sent
Fee
£960 including VAT
Hours included
16
Who delivers
One Little Nellies practitioner, within a regulated social work team
Where
England only
£960
Fixed fee, including VAT
16 hours
Work included
15 calendar days
Your deadline
Professional help
Qualified expert MDT
Plain English explanation
What a draft EHCP review is
When the council agrees to issue an Education, Health and Care plan, it sends a draft first. You have at least 15 days to comment, ask for a meeting and name the school you want. A draft review is a line by line check of that document against the evidence, with a written response that tells the council exactly what to change and why.
We read the draft against every report the council used. We rewrite Section B so it describes your child, rewrite Section F so every piece of provision has a number attached, and flag anything that has been moved to Sections G and H where it cannot be enforced. Then we draft your response, ready to send inside the window.
It is not attendance at a meeting and it is not an appeal. If the final plan ignores the response, the appeal is a separate service, and the review we did is the first piece of evidence in it.
What the council must do within the deadline
It must give you at least 15 days to respond, consider what you say, and tell you which school it proposes to name. It must specify provision, not describe it. If it wants to refuse your school, it has to show that the school is unsuitable or that your choice would be incompatible with the efficient education of others or the efficient use of resources. "We do not fund that" is not a reason.
Is this you
Is this you?
The draft arrives as a long document with a covering letter and a date. Most parents read it twice and cannot say what is wrong with it, only that it does not describe their child. The provision is there, but it says "access to", "opportunities for" and "regular", and none of that can be enforced.
The 15 day window is the one point in the process where the council has to listen. What you send back becomes the record if the plan is later appealed. This service exists so what you send back is precise, evidenced and written in the terms the tribunal would use.
The draft has arrived and I do not know what is wrong with it.
Section F says "access to" and "regular" and nothing has a number.
The plan does not mention her sensory needs at all.
The therapy the report recommended has gone into Section G.
The council has named a school we have never seen.
We have nine days left and the SENCO is on leave.
What is included
What we do for this fee
16 hours of work inside the 15 day window, in four stages.
Review call (1 hour)
Line by line review (5 to 7 hours)
Rewriting the provision (3 to 4 hours)
Your parental response (3 to 4 hours)
Deliverables
How this fee is calculated
This service takes up to 16 hours of work inside the 15 day window. The fee is £960 including VAT, fixed at instruction. That is the most you will pay for this service. If the work takes longer, we absorb it. Anything outside this scope is agreed in writing before it starts.
1
What the law requires of a plan
Under section 38 of the Children and Families Act 2014, the council must send you the draft plan and give you at least 15 days to make representations, to ask for a meeting, and to request the school or other setting you want named in Section I. Section 37 requires the plan to specify the special educational provision required. The Code of Practice, paragraph 9.69, says that provision must be detailed, specific and normally quantified.
Section B must describe every need
Section F must specify, not describe
Provision belongs in F, not G or H
You have a right to name a school
2
Where the draft needs to be clearer
The response has to show, section by section, where the draft fails that standard: needs in Section B that are missing or understated, provision in Section F that is vague, unquantified or moved into Section G or H where it cannot be enforced, and outcomes in Section E that nobody could measure. Every point is tied to the evidence the council already holds, so it cannot say it was not told.
Children and Families Act 2014, sections 37 and 38; Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014, regulations 12 and 13; SEND Code of Practice 2015, paragraphs 9.61 to 9.69.
The test
What a draft EHCP must contain
Day 0: the draft arrives
Send us the draft and the covering letter the day it arrives. We confirm the deadline date from the letter, not from memory.
Day 1: instruction and documents
We confirm the fee in writing and invoice at instruction. You send the reports the council used, or we request them.
Day 3: review call
One hour by phone or video. What matters most, what is missing, and what you want to see in Section I.
Day 12: response returned
The drafted parental response, the annotated draft and the amendment list, ready for you to send.
Day 15: deadline
Your response goes to the council before the deadline. The clock for the final plan then starts.
What happens and when
What happens and when
Evidence we build
Evidence we work from
The draft is only as good as the evidence behind it. We read what the council read, and we tell you what it missed.
The draft plan and the council's covering letter
The advice the council obtained: educational psychology, speech and language, occupational therapy, health, social care
The school's SEN support plan and reviews
Your own parental advice and any independent reports
The Local Offer and the schools you are considering for Section I
What you receive
What you receive
The annotated draft, section by section
Your parental response, ready to send inside the window
The list of amendments, each cross referenced to the evidence
Section F provision rewritten with the numbers attached
Your request for a meeting and your named school
A written note of what happens next and when
Free help exists
Free help exists, and we say so
Three organisations give free, independent help with EHCPs and appeals. We name them because they are good, and because you should know what we add on top.
IPSEA
Free legally based advice on EHC needs assessments, plans and appeals, with a helpline and model letters.
SOS!SEN
A charity helpline and walk-in service giving free advice on the assessment and appeal process.
SENDIASS
Your local, free and impartial information, advice and support service, which every council must provide.
What we add
Done-for-you delivery. The evidence built and framed, the documents drafted and lodged, a regulated team, and one practitioner from the first call to the last letter.
The draft review
£960 including VAT
- 16 hours of work
- Inside the 15 day statutory window
- Sections B and F rewritten against the evidence
- Your parental response drafted
Invoiced at instruction.
If the council will not amend
From £1,080 including VAT
- Content appeal to the SEND Tribunal: £5,400 including VAT, paid in stages
- Or the working document on its own: £2,700 including VAT
- Mediation before the appeal if you want it: £1,080 plus £1,200 including VAT
- Everything we drafted for the response carries across
Mediation is never required before an appeal beyond the certificate step.
The journey
The journey, and what it costs at each stage
For most families the review is the whole job: the council accepts the changes and issues a final plan. If it does not, the response we drafted becomes the foundation of what follows.
For parents
A fixed fee you know before you start. The review call within three working days. Your response back before the deadline, not on it.
For SENCOs and professionals who refer
We work alongside the school. The setting receives the amendment list so it knows what provision is being asked for and can plan for it.
Why us
Why families choose Little Nellies for the draft review
The draft review is where the plan is won or lost, and it happens inside a fortnight. Little Nellies delivers it through a regulated team of registered social workers and a Chartered Psychologist, with the provision rewritten in the words a tribunal would use, so the council is on record from the day you respond.
Why families choose Little Nellies
Every amendment referenced to the evidence
Provision rewritten with numbers, not adjectives
The whole plan, including health and social care
Delivered inside the 15 day window
Registered social workers and a Chartered Psychologist
The response carries into the appeal if one follows
A father sent us a draft plan on a Thursday with eleven days left. His daughter, in Year 2, had a diagnosis of autism and a speech and language report that recommended weekly direct therapy. The draft said she would "have access to speech and language strategies as part of a communication friendly classroom".
We reviewed the plan against the three reports the council had used. Section B had missed her sensory needs entirely. Section F contained no numbers: no hours, no frequency, no named professional. Two items of provision sat in Section G, where the council did not have to deliver them.
The response set out fourteen amendments, each cross referenced to the report the council had itself commissioned, with the provision rewritten in the words the report used. It went back on day twelve, with a request for a meeting.
The final plan was issued five weeks later with twelve of the fourteen amendments made, and weekly direct therapy named in Section F with the hours attached. The two that were refused went into the file, ready if the family decided to appeal.
This is an illustrative composite. It does not describe any individual family, and it is not a promise about any outcome.
In practice
Frequently asked questions
How long do I have to respond to a draft EHCP?
At least 15 calendar days from the date the council sent the draft. The date is in the covering letter. If you need longer, ask in writing before the deadline; councils can agree an extension but do not have to.
What should I look for in Section F?
Numbers. Every piece of provision should say how much, how often, in what group size and who delivers it. Words like "access to", "regular" and "opportunities for" cannot be enforced and should be rewritten.
Can I name the school I want?
Yes. Under section 38 you can request a maintained school, academy, or an approved independent or specialist setting. The council must name it unless a legal exception applies, and must give reasons if it refuses.
How much does a draft EHCP review cost with Little Nellies?
£960 including VAT, fixed. That covers 16 hours of work, returned inside the 15 day window. If the work takes longer, we absorb it.
What happens if the council ignores my response?
When the final plan is issued you have a right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal on Sections B, F and I. The response we drafted becomes the first document in that appeal.
Are you solicitors?
No. Little Nellies is the SEND and EHCP service of Nellie Supports Ltd, a private social work practice. We do not give regulated legal advice, and where a case needs a solicitor we say so.
Read more
Related EHCP guides
If you are before the draft stage, we prepare and submit the request for an EHC needs assessment.
If the final plan is wrong in Sections B, F or I, we run the appeal to the SEND Tribunal.
Once the plan is in place, we represent you at the annual review and respond to the amended plan.
If you are not sure the evidence behind the draft is strong enough, start here.
Other stages
Book a call
Book your free 15-minute call
Tell us where you are: what has been sent, what the council has said, and the date on the letter. On the call we confirm the stage, the deadline in play and whether this is the right service. We do not give advice on the call and we do not pressure you to buy.
Written by Ben Slater, Founder and Principal Social Worker, registered social worker (Social Work England). Reviewed by Ben Slater, Principal Social Worker, registered with Social Work England. Last reviewed 10 September 2026. Read our editorial policy.