FREE EHCP EVIDENCE GUIDE | ENGLAND
What evidence do I need for an EHCP assessment?
A free 34-page guide for parents, Nursery to Year 13.
Understand what evidence may help, where to find it and how to request an EHC needs as
No diagnosis needed
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Year-by-Year checklists
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Request letter included
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Year-by-Year stepped guide
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No diagnosis needed ✳︎ Year-by-Year checklists ✳︎ Request letter included ✳︎ Year-by-Year stepped guide ✳︎
More free guides and toolkits
FREE
Something does not add up, but you cannot quite explain why
You may be seeing difficult school mornings, after-school meltdowns, shutdowns, anxiety, friendship problems, sensory overload, behaviour changes or a growing gap between what school sees and what happens at home.
The Parent Pattern Snapshot helps you gather those pieces in one place.
It is not a diagnosis tool and it is not a behaviour chart.
It is designed to help you notice what keeps happening, when it happens, what may be increasing the difficulty, what appears to help, and what questions may be useful to ask next.
What you will get
A clearer picture of what is happening
Prompts to spot when and where difficulties show up
Space to compare what school sees with what happens at home
Clues to possible triggers, demands and pressure points
A simple way to record what helps and what makes things harder
Questions to take into conversations with school, the SENCo or your GP
A final “What do I need to ask next?” section to help you move from noticing to action
Who is it for?
This guide may be useful if:
you know something is not quite right but cannot clearly explain the pattern
school says your child is fine, but home sees something very different
you are preparing to speak to a teacher, SENCo, GP or other professional
your child is struggling with school, behaviour, emotions, learning, friendships or sensory demands
you are waiting for assessment and want to start gathering useful information now
you do not yet know whether ADHD, autism, dyslexia, anxiety, sensory differences or another SEND need may be involved
What this guide is not
The Parent Pattern Snapshot does not diagnose ADHD, autism, dyslexia or any other condition.
It does not replace professional assessment, medical advice or school-based support.
Its purpose is simpler and more practical:
to help you notice patterns clearly enough to have better conversations and ask better questions.
How to use it
Complete it over several days rather than trying to remember everything at once.
Look for repetition.
Notice what happens before the difficulty, what your child does, what happens afterwards, and whether the same triggers or demands keep appearing.
Then use the final page to prepare for your next conversation with school, the SENCo, GP or another professional.
FREE
School says your child is settled, coping or doing fine.
But at home, you are seeing exhaustion, tears, shutdowns, irritability, anxiety, explosive behaviour or a child who needs hours to recover from the school day.
Both experiences can be real.
This free 20-page ADHD and SEND parent toolkit helps you move beyond vague descriptions and record what is happening in a calm, useful and manageable way.
Across five school days, you will record brief observations about:
What happened before, during and after the difficulty.
What your child said or communicated.
How long recovery took.
What became difficult at home.
What support your child needed.
What appeared to help.
What was different on easier days.
The toolkit then helps you look across the five days, identify recurring patterns and prepare a clearer conversation with school.
By the end of the toolkit, you will have:
A completed five-day observation record.
Two or three clear examples to share.
A one-page summary of your concerns.
Your child’s views, where they are comfortable sharing them.
Questions to ask their teacher or SENCo.
A ready-to-personalise school email.
A record of any agreed actions and review arrangements.
You do not need a diagnosis to use this toolkit.
You also do not need to prove that school is wrong. The purpose is to help home and school build a fuller picture of your child’s needs and decide what should happen next.
Format: Free 20-page digital Word document
Suitable for: Parents and carers of children with ADHD, autism or other SEND, including children without a diagnosis
UK focus: School guidance and terminology relate primarily to England
FREE
You have explained your concerns to school. Everyone has listened. Then the conversation ends with:
“We’ll monitor it.”
But what will be monitored? What support will happen now? Who is responsible, and when will it be reviewed?
Beyond “We’ll Monitor It” is a free 20-page ADHD and SEND parent toolkit designed to turn vague school conversations into clear, recorded next steps.
It helps you:
Choose up to three priorities.
Explain the difficulty and its impact on your child.
Prepare clear questions for the teacher or SENCo.
Record what support was requested and agreed.
Identify who is responsible for each action.
Flag questions that still need answering.
Request a start date and review date.
Send a clear follow-up email after the meeting.
Check whether the agreed support happened and helped.
By the end, you will have a practical one-page meeting record showing what was discussed, what was agreed, who will act and what happens next.
Suitable for parents of children with ADHD, autism or other SEND, including children without a diagnosis.
Format: Free 20-page digital toolkit
UK focus: School terminology and SEND guidance relate primarily to England
Created by: Janine M. Nesbitt, ADHD in Practice
WHEN YOU NEED MORE SUPPORT
When you need more individual help
Get tailored support to make sense of the information, organise evidence, and decide on your next steps.
School & EHCP Support
Time-bound support to help clarify needs, organise evidence and communicate clearly.
Parent Support
Time-bound support to help clarify needs, organise evidence and communicate clearly.