SEND caseworker (EHCP coordinator)

A SEND caseworker manages education, health and care plan (EHCP) cases for a council in England. You handle requests for assessment, gather advice from schools, health and social care, draft the plan, consult schools on placements and keep plans up to date through annual reviews. The law expects the whole process from request to final plan to take no more than 20 weeks in most cases. Real caseloads rarely allow that, and the gap is where most of the pressure in the job comes from.

The EHCP process from the caseworker’s desk

The statutory framework is Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014 and the SEND Code of Practice. In outline, the steps you handle are:

1. A request for an EHC needs assessment arrives from a parent, a school or another professional.
2. The council decides whether to assess, usually through a panel, and you write to the family with the decision.
3. If it goes ahead, you request advice from the educational psychologist, the school, health professionals and social care, and chase it.
4. You draft the plan from that advice, send it to the family and consult the schools or colleges they have asked for.
5. The council issues the final plan naming a placement and the provision the child must receive.

The 20-week limit runs across all of that, with shorter internal deadlines for some steps. The Code of Practice sets out the exceptions. Every late plan breaches the council’s duty, and many councils publish or report their timeliness.

After the plan is issued

Issuing the plan starts a long relationship with the family. Every plan has to be reviewed at least annually, and you receive and act on the review paperwork, amend plans, and handle phase transfers when a child moves from nursery to primary, primary to secondary, or school to college. Phase transfers have fixed deadlines for naming the new placement, which bunch up at certain points in the year.

Disagreement is common. Families can go to mediation and then appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) about decisions not to assess, the content of the plan or the school named. Caseworkers prepare evidence for those appeals, and sometimes attend. Complaints may also go to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, whose findings are public.

Why the pressure is high

The number of children with EHCPs in England has risen sharply in recent years while council SEND budgets have struggled to keep up. Caseloads are high, often well above what a caseworker can manage properly. Educational psychology advice and specialist school places are scarce, so plans stall while you wait. Families who have already waited a long time arrive frustrated, sometimes with solicitors.

None of that is your fault, but you are the person the parent rings. Ask at interview what the current caseload per caseworker is, how many plans are running late, and what support the team has. Our guide to burnout in public sector jobs covers the warning signs and where to get help.

Who gets these jobs

Employers usually look for knowledge of SEND law and the Code of Practice, strong writing skills, organisation, and the ability to stay calm with distressed parents. Plan writing needs precision. Provision has to be specific and quantified so a school knows exactly what to deliver, and vague wording leads to appeals.

Common backgrounds include school SEN roles such as SENCO or SEN administrator, special needs teaching assistants, family support and early help, and council casework in other services. A degree is not usually required. Training in SEND law is available after you start, and some councils run separate plan-writer and caseworker posts so new staff can build up. Teachers who have held the SENCO role sometimes move into senior caseworker or team manager posts.

Pay and conditions

SEND caseworkers are council staff, graded locally on the NJC pay spine, which rose by 3.3% from 1 April 2026. As an illustration, a post graded at SCP 20 to 25 would pay £33,673 to £37,563 a year full-time, with senior caseworkers and team managers graded higher. See the NJC pay spine guide for every point. Some councils pay a market supplement because they struggle to recruit and keep caseworkers, and agency caseworkers are common.

You join the Local Government Pension Scheme, paying 6.5% on pay from £29,001 to £47,300 in 2026/27. The Green Book minimum leave is 23 days, rising to 26 days after five years, plus 8 public holidays and 2 extra days. Hybrid working is normal, with visits to schools and families and meetings in person.

Finding a post

Vacancies appear on council jobs sites under SEN, SEND, inclusion or education services, and with agencies that supply councils. Before applying, read the council’s local offer and its most recent SEND inspection report. Both are public and tell you a lot about the team you would be joining.