Boost Your EHC Plan: A Guide to Budgets & Direct Payments
An Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHC plan) is a powerful tool designed to ensure children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) receive the tailored support they need. However, to truly unlock the full potential of an EHC plan, it’s essential to understand the opportunities available through personal budgets and direct payments. This guide will explain these options and how they can be used to enhance your child's education and care—including how personal budgets and direct payments can be used to access SAILs’ psychometric assessments and EOTAS online learning provision.
Did you know that families with EHC plans have the option to request personal budgets and direct payments, giving them more control over their child’s special educational provision? Personal budgets and direct payments are key components of the Children and Families Act 2014, designed to give families greater flexibility and autonomy in securing the best outcomes for their children.
But how do these financial tools work, and how can they be maximised to benefit your child? This guide will break down the steps and strategies you can use to take full advantage of personal budgets and direct payments within the EHC plan framework, including options to use them for SAILs’ psychometric assessments and EOTAS learning packages.
Step 1: What Are Personal Budgets?
A personal budget is an amount of money allocated by the local authority to meet the special educational provision specified in an EHC plan. Unlike general educational funding, this budget is tailored specifically to the individual needs of the child or young person. It allows parents and young people to have a say in how the money is spent to meet their needs.
How is it allocated?
The local authority will prepare a personal budget if the child’s parents or the young person request one. The budget can cover a variety of needs, including special educational provision, health care, and social care services. It's important to note that this budget is not always cash—it can be a notional budget where services are arranged by the local authority or school.
Step 2: Direct Payments Explained
Direct payments are one method of accessing a personal budget. This involves receiving the budget as a cash payment, allowing parents or young people to directly purchase and manage the services outlined in the EHC plan. This approach gives families maximum control over who provides the services, when, and how they are delivered.
What can direct payments be used for?
Special educational provision
Equipment or therapies specified in the EHC plan
Support services that improve access to education
With SAILs, families can use direct payments to purchase our psychometric assessments and online learning provision as part of a complete EOTAS (Education Other Than At School) package. This means that your child can benefit from tailored educational support that includes personalised assessments, helping identify strengths, areas of development, and the right interventions to maximise learning outcomes.
It’s important to remember that direct payments cannot be used to fund a school placement itself, but they can cover specific provisions that enhance a child’s education.
Step 3: Requesting Personal Budgets and Direct Payments
To request a personal budget or direct payments, families can approach the local authority at two key points:
During the drafting of an EHC plan.
During the review or reassessment of an existing EHC plan.
Key Tip: Be specific about the services or provisions you’d like the personal budget to cover, such as SAILs’ psychometric assessments or our EOTAS online learning programme. Make sure to provide any relevant documentation that supports your request.
Step 4: Limitations and Conditions for Direct Payments
While direct payments offer flexibility, there are some limitations:
School approval: If the provision involves services within a school or educational institution, written consent from the school’s headteacher or principal is required.
Best interests: The local authority must be satisfied that direct payments are being used in the child’s best interests and that they are an efficient use of resources.
Monitoring and review: The use of direct payments is regularly reviewed to ensure they are being used effectively.
With SAILs, our EOTAS package—which includes psychometric assessments, online courses, and specialised interventions—can easily be managed through a direct payment arrangement. This gives you the flexibility to customise your child’s learning journey, whether they are in a formal educational setting or need education other than at school.
Key Tip: Open communication with your school and local authority can help you overcome potential challenges and ensure that your direct payments are working to your child’s benefit.
Step 5: Combining Personal Budgets and Direct Payments
Personal budgets can be delivered in different ways:
Notional budget: The local authority or school holds the funds and arranges the services.
Third-party arrangement: A third-party organisation manages the budget and services on behalf of the family.
Direct payments: As mentioned, families can receive cash directly to manage the services themselves.
Many families find success in using a combination of these methods, allowing them to maintain control over some aspects of their child’s support while benefiting from professional management of others.
For example, families might choose to use a direct payment for SAILs' personalised learning packages, while allowing the local authority to manage other services like health care or social support. This gives families the best of both worlds: autonomy over critical educational interventions and professional oversight for broader care.
Research suggests that personal budgets and direct payments increase parental satisfaction by providing greater control and flexibility over their child’s care. The Department for Education also supports this approach, finding that children with personalised budgets often experience improved outcomes due to more tailored support.
By using personal budgets or direct payments to access SAILs’ psychometric assessments and EOTAS online learning provision, families can ensure their child receives high-quality, individualised support that improves both educational performance and overall well-being.
At SAILs, we believe that personalised learning should be accessible to every child. Our platform helps families and schools manage personal budgets and direct payments more effectively by offering AI-driven tools to track spending, measure outcomes, and adjust educational provisions in real-time.
Our EOTAS package includes:
Psychometric assessments tailored to identify each child’s unique strengths and challenges.
Online learning programmes designed to engage and support students in areas such as literacy, numeracy, and cognitive development.
Specialised interventions to ensure that educational provisions meet the exact needs of the child.
This ensures that children receive the support they need without delays or inefficiencies.
Some families may worry about the complexities of managing a personal budget or direct payments. However, SAILs offers an intuitive platform that simplifies the process, helping families stay on top of their budget and services. Our freemium model ensures that these tools are accessible to everyone, with additional support available as needed.
By using direct payments to access SAILs' psychometric assessments or our EOTAS package, families can ensure their child receives world-class educational support in a way that is both affordable and effective.
Ready to take full control of your child’s EHC plan with personal budgets and direct payments? Contact SAILs today to learn how our platform can simplify the management of these essential resources. Visit www.sails-op.com to schedule a demo or explore our psychometric assessments and EOTAS online learning provision.
Understanding personal budgets and direct payments is key to unlocking the full potential of your child’s EHC plan. These financial tools provide the flexibility and autonomy families need to ensure their children receive the best possible education and care.
At SAILs, we’re committed to helping families navigate this process with ease, providing tools that ensure every child gets the support they deserve. Visit www.sails-op.com to learn more and get started today.