Letter: request professional advice

Send this when an EHC needs assessment is underway and you want the Local Authority to seek advice from a particular professional, for example an educational psychologist (EP), speech and language therapist (SALT) or occupational therapist (OT).

The law says the Local Authority must seek the advice the parent or young person reasonably requests, alongside the advice it is already required to get (which includes advice from an educational psychologist). Getting the right advice early shapes what ends up in the plan, so name the professional and say why their advice matters. This applies in England; check your nation if elsewhere. This is information, not legal advice.

Here is the template.

To: [LA SEN TEAM EMAIL]. Date: [DATE]. Dear [NAME OR “SEN Team”].

Request to seek advice from [NAMED PROFESSION] during the EHC needs assessment for [CHILD’S NAME]. Child’s name: [CHILD’S FULL NAME]. Date of birth: [DD/MM/YYYY]. Your reference: [REFERENCE NUMBER].

[CHILD’S NAME]’s EHC needs assessment is underway. I am writing to ask you to seek advice from the following professional(s) as part of the assessment: [E.g. an occupational therapist, because CHILD’S NAME has significant difficulties with fine motor skills or sensory processing that affect their daily learning]; [E.g. a speech and language therapist, because CHILD’S NAME has communication needs that are central to their difficulties]; [E.g. an educational psychologist, including assessment of SPECIFIC AREA].

I am making this request because this advice is relevant to understanding [CHILD’S NAME]’s needs and to deciding what provision is required. Please confirm you will seek this advice, and tell me when you expect to receive it. If you do not intend to seek any of this advice, please tell me which and explain why, so I can respond. Yours faithfully, [YOUR FULL NAME], parent of [CHILD’S NAME].

This is the last letter in the library. Together these twelve cover the whole journey, from the first request to escalation. Keep them, adapt them, and send the right one at the right time.