Quality Assurance Framework - Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP)
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision Service (summer 2025)
Introduction and purpose
This Quality Assurance (QA) Framework sets out how the Stockton‑on‑Tees Area SEND Partnership assures itself of the quality, consistency and impact of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) and the professional advice that underpins them. It provides a clear and shared understanding across the partnership of what constitutes high‑quality practice and how this is achieved, monitored and strengthened over time.
The framework articulates Stockton's expectations of quality by defining what a strong, person centred and outcome focused EHCP looks like in practice. It describes how quality is systematically assessed, moderated and improved through a layered programme of assurance activity, and how learning from this activity is embedded across education, health and social care. In doing so, it supports consistent practice, reduces variation and promotes shared accountability across the local area.
The framework also sets out how leaders within the SEND system maintain clear oversight of EHCP quality, ensuring that assurance activity results in meaningful challenge, informed decision making and continuous improvement. Quality assurance is explicitly linked to governance arrangements, enabling findings to flow through operational and strategic groups and into the SEND Strategic Board. This ensures that areas of strength are recognised and built upon, and that areas for development are addressed in a timely and coordinated way.
The Quality Assurance Framework applies to all partners involved in the Education, Health and Care needs assessment, planning and review processes for children and young people aged 0 to 25 in Stockton‑on‑Tees. It underpins a shared commitment across the partnership to improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND through high‑quality, lawful and co‑produced EHCPs.
Why a Quality Assurance Framework is necessary
A robust and clearly articulated quality assurance framework is essential to ensure that Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) consistently deliver high quality outcomes for children and young people with SEND in Stockton‑on‑Tees. Given the statutory nature of EHCPs and the complexity of multi‑agency involvement, a structured approach to quality assurance provides the necessary assurance that plans are lawful, person‑centred and focused on improving outcomes.
The framework supports consistency in practice across teams, phases and professional disciplines, reducing variation and ensuring that children and young people receive an equitable experience regardless of who is involved in their assessment, planning or review. It ensures that multi‑agency contributions from education, health and social care are timely, well integrated and meaningful, enabling EHCPs to present a coherent and holistic picture of need, outcomes and provision.
A key function of the framework is to enable leaders to maintain clear oversight of EHCP quality and system performance. Through systematic and layered assurance activity, strengths, risks and emerging patterns of variation can be identified at an early stage, allowing for timely intervention and improvement. This moves the system away from reactive, case‑by‑case responses and towards addressing issues at a systemic level, where learning can have wider and more sustainable impact.
The Quality Assurance Framework also plays a critical role in embedding learning across the workforce. By using quality assurance findings to inform supervision, training and professional development, the framework supports continuous improvement and reinforces shared expectations of good practice across the partnership.
In Stockton‑on‑Tees, quality assurance is not viewed as a one‑off or compliance‑led activity. It is a continuous, multi‑layered process that is embedded within everyday operational practice and strategic leadership, ensuring that quality remains central to decision‑making and service development across the SEND system.
Stockton-on-Tees' shared values and principles
The Stockton‑on‑Tees SEND Local Area Partnership is underpinned by a clear and shared set of values and principles that guide all Education, Health and Care assessment, planning and review activity. These principles shape both day‑to‑day practice and the approach to quality assurance across the system.
Central to Stockton's approach is the belief that children, young people and their families are at the heart of the SEND process. Assessment, planning and review activity is rooted in understanding the individual child or young person, their lived experience and their aspirations for the future. Parents and carers are recognised as experts in their children, and their knowledge, insight and contribution are fundamental to achieving meaningful and effective outcomes.
High‑quality EHCPs in Stockton are understood to be co‑produced documents rather than professionally owned plans. They reflect genuine partnership working between families, education settings, health professionals and social care, with shared responsibility for both the content of the plan and its impact. This approach supports transparency, shared understanding and trust, and strengthens the relevance and effectiveness of the resulting provision.
A core principle of quality in Stockton is the requirement for every EHCP to clearly demonstrate the "golden thread" linking a child or young person's aspirations to their identified needs, outcomes and provision. This ensures that plans are coherent, outcome‑focused and purposeful, and that provision is clearly justified by evidenced need rather than historical practice or professional preference.
Quality assurance within Stockton is viewed as a collective responsibility across the partnership. It is not confined to a single role, service or stage of the process, but is embedded across education, health and social care at all levels. The purpose of quality assurance is explicitly developmental: to promote learning, reflection and continuous improvement. QA activity is used to strengthen practice, share learning and improve consistency across the system, rather than to apportion blame or focus solely on compliance.
What does good look like in Stockton-on-Tees EHCP
In Stockton‑on‑Tees, high‑quality Education, Health and Care Plans are clear, purposeful and focused on improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND. They are written so that they can be easily understood by children, young people, families and professionals, using plain English and avoiding unnecessary jargon. We want plans to be concise while still providing sufficient detail to give a clear and accurate picture of the child or young person as an individual.
We know that effective EHCPs accurately reflect the voice, views and lived experience of the child or young person. They demonstrate that children, young people and their families have been actively listened to and that their perspectives meaningfully inform the content of the plan. Aspirations for the future are clearly articulated and form the foundation for outcomes and provision, ensuring that plans remain focused on what matters most to the child or young person.
High quality plans clearly distinguish between needs and provision. Needs are described in Sections B, C and D in a way that explains how they impact on the child or young person's daily life, learning and participation, rather than listing diagnoses or interventions. This clarity ensures that outcomes and provision are firmly rooted in evidenced need and strengthens both the coherence and legal robustness of the plan.
We want outcomes within Stockton EHCPs to be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time‑bound. They are meaningful to the child or young person and aligned to their aspirations, with clear progress measures so that impact can be reviewed over time. Provision should then be specified in clear, quantified terms, setting out what support will be delivered, how often, by whom and for what purpose, with a clear line of sight back to identified needs and outcomes.
Preparation for adulthood is a core feature of good practice in Stockton and is particularly well developed from year 9 onwards. EHCPs demonstrate a strong focus on supporting independence and preparing young people for future education, employment, community participation and independent living, with forward‑looking outcomes and provision that support successful transition into adulthood and we aspire for all of our EHCPs from birth to have meaningful preparing for adulthood outcomes in Section E.
High quality EHCPs also evidence effective multi‑agency working. Contributions from education, health and social care are timely, coordinated and integrated, resulting in a single, joined‑up plan rather than a collection of separate professional inputs.
At present, Stockton‑on‑Tees operates three EHCP formats, reflecting different stages of system development and transition. Quality assurance activity has been undertaken across all three formats to identify their respective strengths and areas for development. This has enabled the partnership to understand variation in quality, consistency and accessibility, and to use this learning to inform system decision‑making and improvement.
The current EHCP template, developed and tested as part of the SEND and Alternative Provision Change Programme, is now the primary template used for all new Education, Health and Care needs assessments. Following the conclusion of the pilot phase, the Stockton‑on‑Tees Area SEND Partnership jointly agreed to continue using this template based on strong and consistent positive feedback from children, young people and families. In particular, families reported that the template was clearer, more person‑centred and easier to understand. Ongoing quality assurance activity continues to monitor the effectiveness of this template and to inform any future refinements.
Finally, we want all EHCPs to meet statutory requirements and comply with relevant case law. Legal compliance is maintained alongside a strong commitment to person centred practice, ensuring that plans are both robust and responsive and provide a sound foundation for achieving improved outcomes for children and young people with SEND.
Overview of Stockton‑on‑Tees' Quality Assurance Model
Stockton‑on‑Tees operates a comprehensive, multi‑layered quality assurance model designed to provide assurance at both individual EHCP level and across the wider SEND system. The model recognises that high‑quality Education, Health and Care Plans are best achieved through a combination of strong frontline practice, structured senior oversight, meaningful multi‑agency challenge and robust governance arrangements.
The quality assurance framework has therefore been designed to provide assurance at four inter‑connected levels: practitioner‑level quality assurance, senior officer sampling, multi‑agency thematic review and formal operational and strategic governance oversight. This layered approach enables the partnership to understand not only whether individual plans meet quality expectations, but also whether there are emerging patterns, strengths or systemic issues that require strategic attention.
Quality assurance activity is deliberately structured to ensure learning flows upwards into governance and strategy, and that strategic priorities and expectations flow back down into operational practice. This ensures that quality assurance is both dynamic and impactful, supporting continuous improvement across education, health and social care.
5.1 Practitioner‑Level Quality Assurance (Continuous)
Quality assurance in Stockton begins at the point of practice. EHCP Coordinators and contributing professionals across education, health and social care are responsible for assuring the quality of their own work as part of day‑to‑day assessment, planning and review activity. This approach supports a culture of professional accountability and ensures that quality is embedded at the earliest possible stage.
Practitioners are supported to do this through the use of Stockton's EHCP Quality Indicators, which provide a clear and shared framework for assessing the quality of EHCP content across all statutory sections. These indicators are used to guide drafting, amendment and review, supporting practitioners to produce plans that are person‑centred, outcome‑focused and legally compliant.
This first layer of quality assurance is reinforced through supervision, peer discussion and training activity. Where quality issues are identified, these are addressed through reflective practice and targeted support, enabling early intervention and reducing the need for corrective action at later stages. This approach promotes right‑first‑time planning and contributes to improved consistency across the SEND workforce.
5.2 Senior Officer Quality Assurance Sampling (three‑monthly)
In addition to practitioner‑level quality assurance, Stockton undertakes structured senior officer sampling on a three‑monthly basis. This provides an independent layer of assurance and supports consistency across teams and services.
Every three months, a random sample of ten EHCPs is selected for quality assurance. These plans are reviewed jointly by the Designated Clinical Officer (DCO), the Service Lead for Assessment and Review and the Designated Social Care Officer (DSCO). This senior, multi‑disciplinary approach ensures that EHCPs are scrutinised through education, health and social care lenses.
Plans are quality assured using the agreed EHCP Quality Indicators, with a focus on the coherence of needs, outcomes and provision, the quality of multi‑agency contribution, and alignment with statutory and local quality expectations. Findings are moderated and recorded, enabling consistent judgements to be made across reviewers.
The outcome of this activity is used to identify strengths in practice, areas requiring development and any emerging themes or risks. Learning from this process informs workforce development, supervision and the focus of thematic quality assurance at the multi‑agency level.
5.3 Monthly Multi‑Agency EHCP Quality Assurance Meetings
The monthly Multi‑Agency EHCP Quality Assurance meetings provide a forum for deeper, reflective and thematic quality assurance across the SEND partnership. These meetings are a central component of Stockton's quality assurance framework and operate in accordance with the agreed Terms of Reference.
Each meeting focuses on a specific theme identified within the annual Quality Assurance Schedule, such as annual reviews, post‑16 transitions, children in care, early years, preparation for adulthood, SEMH, health integration or statutory timeliness. This thematic approach enables the partnership to explore quality in depth, rather than relying solely on high‑level sampling.
EHCPs and supporting documentation are anonymised and circulated to members in advance of the meeting, with all participants expected to complete individual quality assurance reviews using the EHCP Quality Indicators. This ensures that discussions are informed, evidence‑based and grounded in shared quality standards.
Membership of the meetings includes representatives from the SEND Service, education providers, health services, social care, Educational Psychology, the Virtual School, Careers, SENDIASS and parent‑carer representatives. This ensures that quality assurance activity reflects the full breadth of the SEND system and is truly multi agency.
Meetings are facilitated as reflective sessions, enabling partners to triangulate needs, outcomes, provision and professional advice, identify strengths and highlight areas for improvement. A monthly Quality Assurance Report is produced following each meeting, summarising findings, key learning, recommendations and examples of good practice. Where required, an action plan is developed and monitored through governance structures.
5.4. Quality Assurance of Professional Advice
Stockton's quality assurance framework extends beyond the EHCP document itself to include the quality of professional advice that informs assessment and planning.
Health advice is subject to regular quality assurance sampling led by the Designated Clinical Officer. Social care advice is similarly reviewed through sampling activity led by the Designated Social Care Officer. This ensures that advice is timely, relevant, clearly written and contributes effectively to needs identification and outcomes.
Educational Psychology advice is quality assured using a bespoke framework designed by an Educational Psychologist. This framework is applied routinely, with additional periodic spot‑checking undertaken by a Consultant Educational Psychologist to provide moderation and external challenge.
Learning from advice quality assurance informs supervision, professional development and commissioning discussions where appropriate.
5.5 Use of EHCP Quality Indicators
All quality assurance activity within Stockton is underpinned by the agreed EHCP Quality Indicators document. These indicators provide a shared understanding of quality across statutory sections and support consistent judgements across reviewers and partners.
The indicators are used flexibly across all layers of quality assurance, from practitioner self‑reflection through to strategic scrutiny, and enable triangulation of findings across different QA activity.
Operational and Strategic Governance Oversight
Quality assurance findings are embedded within Stockton's SEND governance structure to ensure clear accountability and system leadership.
The SEND Operational Group receives regular updates from quality assurance activity and undertakes six‑monthly quality assurance sampling of EHCPs. This group is responsible for monitoring operational consistency, tracking improvement actions and identifying any risks that require escalation or additional support.
The SEND Strategic Group provides a higher level of challenge and oversight and receives quality assurance reports on a bi‑monthly basis. This group scrutinises emerging themes, considers system‑wide implications and ensures alignment between quality assurance findings and strategic priorities across the local area partnership.
This structured governance approach ensures that quality assurance activity leads to informed decision‑making and coordinated improvement across education, health and social care.
6.1 Strategic Reporting and SEND Strategic Board Oversight
A comprehensive quarterly quality assurance report is produced by the SEND Strategic Lead. This report draws together intelligence from all layers of the quality assurance framework, including practitioner‑level assurance, senior officer sampling, multi‑agency thematic review and governance scrutiny.
The report provides a clear overview of strengths, areas for development, emerging risks and progress against previously agreed actions. It enables leaders to understand trends over time and assess the overall health of the EHCP system in Stockton.
Quarterly reports are presented to the SEND Strategic Board for scrutiny, challenge and sign‑off. This provides clear system ownership of quality and ensures that improvement priorities are understood and supported at the highest level of the partnership. Quality assurance findings directly inform both the SEND Strategy and the Operational Improvement Plan, ensuring that strategic intent is grounded in evidence from practice.
EHCP sign‑off and final assurance
As part of Stockton's commitment to consistent quality and legal robustness, all new Education, Health and Care Plans are subject to final sign‑off by the SEND Strategic Lead prior to issue.
This step provides assurance that plans meet statutory requirements, align with Stockton's agreed quality standards and demonstrate consistency across the system. It also enables any emerging quality issues or themes to be identified and addressed promptly.
The sign‑off process represents a critical control within the quality assurance framework and reinforces accountability at senior leadership level.
Driving continuous improvement
Quality assurance in Stockton is explicitly improvement‑focused. Findings are used to strengthen workforce capability, improve system consistency and enhance outcomes for children and young people with SEND.
Learning from quality assurance activity informs training programmes, supervision, service development and commissioning decisions. Good practice is actively identified, shared and embedded, while areas for development are addressed through coordinated, system‑wide action rather than isolated case‑level responses.
Review and ongoing development of the framework
The Quality Assurance Framework is a live document and will be reviewed annually to ensure it remains aligned with statutory requirements, inspection expectations and local priorities. Updates will be made in response to learning from quality assurance activity, feedback from partners and families, and changes in national guidance.
How the framework has evolved and what it is telling us now
The Stockton‑on‑Tees EHCP Quality Assurance Framework has evolved in response to sustained learning from routine audit activity, multi‑agency quality assurance, feedback from children, young people and families, and strategic system review. It reflects a deliberate shift away from episodic or compliance‑focused assurance towards a more mature, evidence‑led and improvement‑focused approach to quality across the SEND system.
Prior to the development of this framework, a range of quality assurance activity already existed across the local area, including officer sampling, thematic reviews and multi‑agency case discussions. However, this activity was not always drawn together within a single, clearly articulated framework that demonstrated how quality assurance operated as a coherent system. The development of this framework has therefore been iterative, responding to identified gaps in consistency, clarity and strategic oversight.
By Summer 2025, emerging quality assurance findings were consistently highlighting a number of system‑wide themes. These included variability in EHCP quality between teams and phases, inconsistency in how child and family voice was captured over time, and differences in the strength and clarity of professional advice across education, health and social care. Quality assurance activity also demonstrated that improvements made at individual plan level were not always embedded consistently across the system unless they were supported by shared standards, workforce development and governance oversight.
In response to this learning, the partnership strengthened its approach to quality assurance by formalising a multi‑layered model that operates at practitioner, senior officer, multi‑agency and governance levels. The introduction of monthly multi‑agency thematic quality assurance meetings, alongside routine senior officer sampling and clearer governance reporting, marked a significant step in ensuring that quality assurance activity directly informed system leadership and improvement planning rather than remaining at case level.
Quality assurance activity undertaken during this period also began to demonstrate the impact of structural factors on EHCP quality. In particular, audit findings indicated that plans produced using newer, more person‑centred formats were generally clearer, more accessible and more coherent than those on older legacy templates. This insight directly informed the partnership decision to continue using the Education, Health and Care Plan template introduced through the SEND and Alternative Provision Change Programme, based on both QA evidence and positive family feedback. At the same time, this learning highlighted the need for a planned and realistic approach to managing multiple templates in circulation and mitigating the associated quality risks.
The framework also reflects early learning that strengthening EHCP quality could not be achieved through plan‑writing alone. Recurring issues relating to the specificity of provision, the measurability of outcomes and the integration of professional advice pointed to the need for clearer quality expectations and assurance mechanisms across all contributing agencies. This directly informed the inclusion of explicit quality assurance processes for education, health, social care and educational psychology advice within the framework.
Overall, the evolution of the framework demonstrates an increasing level of system self‑awareness and maturity. It shows a local area partnership that understands the strengths and limitations of its existing arrangements, uses quality assurance evidence to inform decision‑making, and is committed to continuous improvement rather than short‑term fixes. The framework provides a clear structure through which ongoing QA findings can be interpreted, acted upon and embedded within strategic and operational planning, ensuring that improvements in EHCP quality are sustained over time and lead to better experiences and outcomes for children and young people with SEND.
