Private ABA therapy in the UK is expensive, often several thousand pounds a month once you add up therapist hours, supervision, and materials. We’ve broken the full cost picture down in our ABA therapy cost guide if you want the detail. What a lot of parents don’t realize is that there’s a legal route that can mean your local authority pays for it: an Education, Health and Care Plan, or EHCP.
An EHCP won’t fund ABA automatically just because your child has one. It has to be named, specifically, in the right section of the plan — and getting there involves a formal process with real deadlines your local authority is legally bound to. This guide walks through exactly how that process works.
What an EHCP Actually Is
An EHCP is a legal document produced by your local authority that sets out a child or young person’s special educational, health, and care needs, and the specific support required to meet them. It covers children and young people aged 0 to 25 in England. The crucial part for funding ABA is this: once a provision is written into Section F of the plan, the local authority is legally required to arrange and pay for it.
That’s why the wording of your EHCP matters so much more than simply having one. A plan that says your child needs “specialist 1:1 support” gives the council far more room to substitute something cheaper than a plan that says your child needs, for example, 20 hours per week of ABA-based intervention delivered by a suitably qualified practitioner.
This is also why so many families end up at the SEND Tribunal at some point in the process. It sounds intimidating, but it’s a free, independent tribunal specifically designed to resolve disagreements between parents and local authorities — and outcomes are often decided on the strength of written evidence rather than legal argument, which is exactly why the reports and records covered below matter so much.
The 20-Week Process, Step by Step
The full journey from request to final plan is set out in the Children and Families Act 2014 and the SEND Code of Practice, and it has a statutory 20-week limit.
Weeks 0–6: Request and decision. You (or your child’s school, GP, or other professional) request an EHC needs assessment from your local authority, in writing. The council has six weeks to decide whether to go ahead. If they refuse, you have the right to appeal to the SEND Tribunal.
Weeks 6–16: Assessment and evidence. If they agree to assess, the council gathers advice and reports — from you, from educational psychologists, from health professionals, and from anyone already working with your child. This is where a professional ABA or behavioural assessment report can carry real weight, because it gives the panel specific, written evidence of your child’s needs and the intervention that addresses them.
Week 16: Decision to issue a plan. The council must decide, by this point, whether to issue an EHCP at all. This decision can also be appealed if they decline.
Weeks 16–20: Draft and final plan. You’ll receive a draft plan to review before it’s finalised. This is your opportunity to challenge the wording — including pushing for ABA to be named specifically, with hours, rather than described vaguely.
In practice, many local authorities run over this 20-week deadline. If yours does, you can escalate in writing citing the statutory timescale, raise a formal complaint, get free casework support from IPSEA or your local SENDIASS, and — in persistent cases — complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
Getting ABA Named in Section F
This is the step where most families either win or lose the funding argument, and it comes down to specificity. To maximise your chances:
- Ask for ABA (not a vaguer term like “behavioural support”) to be named explicitly in Section F.
- Request a specific number of hours per week, based on professional recommendation.
- If possible, name a provider — this strengthens your case for a Personal Budget or Direct Payment later.
- Back the request with written evidence: a diagnosis report, an educational psychologist’s assessment, and ideally an independent ABA or behavioural needs assessment.
If the local authority refuses to name ABA specifically, you can appeal to the SEND Tribunal. Many parents also request a Personal Budget or Direct Payment under the Children and Families Act 2014, which allows you to choose and pay your own preferred provider directly, rather than being assigned whatever the council has under contract.
It’s worth knowing the difference between the two. A Personal Budget can be a “notional” budget, where the local authority still arranges and pays for the provision on your behalf but you have more say in how it’s used. A Direct Payment, by contrast, puts the money directly into your hands to arrange the service yourself — including paying a private ABA provider directly. If choice of provider matters to you, it’s worth asking specifically for a Direct Payment rather than assuming a Personal Budget automatically means one.
A Therapist’s Perspective
One of our clinical team members recalls working alongside a family through exactly this process (details changed to protect their privacy):
The mum had already been through one refusal letter by the time she came to us, and she was ready to give up. What actually changed things at review wasn’t a dramatic argument — it was data. We’d been keeping detailed session notes and progress tracking from the private sessions the family had already started funding themselves. When that went in front of the panel alongside the educational psychologist’s report, it stopped being a hypothetical request and became a demonstrated need with evidence behind it. ABA was named in Section F within the next cycle.
Practical Tips That Actually Help Your Case
- Keep dated records of your child’s progress and needs — session notes, school reports, even short videos.
- Don’t wait for a formal autism diagnosis to start gathering evidence; needs-based provision doesn’t always require one.
- Use SENDIASS for free, independent guidance at any stage — they’re not affiliated with the council.
- If you’re starting from scratch, a formal Children’s Assessment can be the evidence base your EHCP application is built on.
If You’re Applying in London or Manchester
EHCP processes are run by individual local authorities, and how quickly they move — and how they interpret requests for Personal Budgets — genuinely varies between councils. If you’re based in a London borough or in Manchester, it’s worth understanding the pattern for your specific area alongside this guide — see our local pages for ABA therapy in London and ABA therapy in Manchester for area-specific context.
Wherever you’re starting from, understanding this process is one of the most powerful tools you have for accessing ABA therapy in the UK without paying privately for years on end. Get in touch to talk about in-home ABA therapy and how we can support your EHCP application with a professional assessment report.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to get ABA funded through an EHCP?
The statutory maximum is 20 weeks from your initial request to a final plan, though in practice many local authorities take longer. Escalating in writing and using IPSEA or SENDIASS support can help keep things on track.
Will my local authority pay for a private ABA provider?
Only if ABA is specifically named in Section F of the EHCP, or if you’re granted a Personal Budget or Direct Payment that lets you choose your own provider.
What if my child doesn’t have a diagnosis yet — can I still apply?
Yes. You can request an EHC needs assessment based on evidence of need, even before a formal autism diagnosis is confirmed, although a diagnosis often strengthens the case.
Can I request a specific provider by name in the EHCP?
Yes, and doing so — alongside a Personal Budget or Direct Payment request — gives you far more control over who actually delivers your child’s therapy.
What happens if my council misses the 20-week deadline?
You can write formally referencing the statutory timescale, raise a complaint through your council’s process, seek advice from IPSEA or SENDIASS, and ultimately refer the matter to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman if it remains unresolved.
