Education, Health and Care Needs Assessments (EHCNAs), intended to identify the support required by children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, are creating a growing bottleneck in England’s education system. A new study from the University of East London (UEL) reports that the expanding assessment workload is restricting educational psychologists’ ability to provide early intervention—the preventative support designed to address emerging difficulties before they escalate into crisis.
The research, published in Educational Psychology in Practice, surveyed 78 educational psychologists working across England. Nearly two-thirds of respondents, 63%, said their local authority had an EHCNA backlog. Among those who knew the number of outstanding cases in their area, the average backlog exceeded 220 assessments. Although the survey represents a relatively small professional sample, its findings offer a snapshot of the operational pressure facing a workforce positioned at the intersection of education, psychology, healthcare and public law.
An EHCNA is a formal process used to determine whether a child or young person requires an Education, Health and Care Plan, or EHCP. The assessment brings together information about learning, communication, behaviour, physical health and emotional development. Educational psychologists contribute specialist evaluations of cognitive, social, emotional and educational functioning, helping local authorities decide what support is legally required. Once issued, an EHCP is legally binding and can specify provisions such as specialist teaching, speech and language therapy, assistive technology or therapeutic support.
The study found that 65% of educational psychologists believed the rising demand for statutory SEND work was reducing their capacity to deliver early intervention and other preventative services. These services can include consultation with teachers, classroom observation, staff training, direct work with pupils and advice to families. Technically, early intervention aims to modify the learning environment and support developmental pathways before problems become entrenched. In practice, however, professionals may be diverted from this work when statutory assessments carry legal deadlines and the consequences of delay include formal complaints or appeals.
The pressure is intensified by several structural factors. England is facing an estimated 40% shortage in the educational psychology workforce, while demand for EHCNAs continues to rise. Tribunal appeals involving SEND decisions have reportedly increased by 36%, adding further administrative and evidential demands. Educational psychologists must often prepare detailed reports capable of withstanding legal scrutiny, attend meetings and respond to disputes over a child’s provision. As the number of cases increases faster than professional capacity, local authorities can struggle to meet statutory timelines, creating a cycle in which delay generates more parental concern, legal challenge and workload.
To manage the accumulated cases, 57% of respondents said their local authority relied on locum, associate or agency educational psychologists. External professionals can provide valuable additional capacity, particularly when permanent recruitment is difficult. Yet respondents questioned whether a rapidly assembled workforce can always deliver consistent practice. Differences in training, supervision, assessment frameworks and familiarity with local services may affect how information is gathered and interpreted. Continuity can also matter: children, families and schools may have to repeat sensitive information to multiple professionals when cases are transferred between staff.
Remote assessment was another concern raised in the research. Digital consultations can reduce travel, increase scheduling flexibility and make specialist input available across wide geographic areas. However, psychological assessment is not simply a document-based exercise. Direct observation of a child’s communication, attention, interaction, emotional regulation and response to tasks can provide information that is difficult to capture through video calls or written reports. Respondents were concerned that some assessments might occur without meaningful direct engagement with the child or young person, potentially weakening the quality and individualisation of the final EHCP decision.
The findings point to a technical problem as well as a staffing problem: the system is allocating scarce specialist expertise primarily to high-stakes statutory decisions rather than to interventions that could reduce future demand. An educational psychologist’s role includes understanding how a child’s characteristics interact with teaching methods, classroom structures and wider social conditions. When that expertise is concentrated on producing legally compliant assessments, schools may receive less consultation on adapting instruction or building inclusive support systems. The result could be a feedback loop in which unmet needs become more complex, increasing the likelihood that families seek statutory assessment.
Despite these pressures, the educational psychologists surveyed described a potential route towards a more collaborative SEND system. They envisaged greater emphasis on support within mainstream schools, earlier access to psychological expertise and less adversarial relationships between families, professionals and local authorities. The proposed “Experts at Hand” model was identified as one possible way to make specialist advice more accessible. By bringing educational psychology and related expertise closer to schools and families before difficulties reach the statutory threshold, such an approach could help shift the system from crisis response towards prevention. The researchers nevertheless indicate that reform will require sustained investment, stronger workforce planning and safeguards to ensure that speed does not replace assessment quality.
Dr Helena Bunn, Programme Director for the Professional Doctorate in Educational and Child Psychology at UEL and co-author of the study, said the research highlights both the essential contribution of educational psychologists and the strain placed on them by an increasingly stretched SEND system. The findings do not suggest that statutory assessment is unnecessary; rather, they show that a service dominated by backlogs may be unable to perform its broader public-health and educational function. Clearing existing cases while rebuilding permanent capacity could determine whether educational psychology remains primarily a gateway to legal provision or becomes, once again, a readily available source of early scientific support for children, families and schools.
Subject of Research: Educational psychologists, Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment backlogs, and early intervention in England’s special educational needs and disabilities system.
Web References: https://doi.org/10.1080/02667363.2026.2701789
References: Educational Psychology in Practice, DOI: 10.1080/02667363.2026.2701789
Keywords: Educational psychology, special educational needs and disabilities, SEND, EHCNA, EHCP, early intervention, educational assessment, inclusive education, education policy, child psychology, workforce shortages, England.
