An IEP (an Individual Education Plan) is a short, working document that describes what additional support your child is receiving at school, what they're working towards, and how everyone will know whether it's helping. The best IEPs are working tools that genuinely shape what happens in the classroom. The worst are pieces of paper that get filed and forgotten.
This guide explains what to look for in an IEP, what your role is, and what to do when an IEP doesn't seem to be doing anything.
What is an IEP, really?
An IEP is not a legal document. Unlike an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), it does not place any legal duty on the local authority or the school to provide the support it describes. Since the Children and Families Act 2014 reforms, IEPs are no longer mandatory under statutory guidance. Many schools, however, continue to use them (or something very like them) because they are a useful working tool for organising support.
You may also hear an IEP called a Pupil Profile, a One-Page Profile, a Support Plan, a Provision Map entry, or any number of other things. The name matters less than what's in it. The substance is what counts.
If your child is on the school's SEN Support register, the school must follow what the SEND Code of Practice calls the “graduated approach”, a four-step cycle of Assess, Plan, Do, Review. An IEP is usually how the “Plan” bit of that cycle is recorded.
What a good IEP looks like
A useful IEP has four ingredients. Without all four, it's hard to tell whether anything is actually happening.
- A clear picture of the child. Strengths and difficulties, not just a list of diagnoses or labels. What does this child need that's different from other children? What are they good at? What do they enjoy?
- Specific outcomes. What is the child working towards over the next term or half-term? Not vague aspirations (“improve confidence in reading”) but concrete, observable changes (“read aloud one paragraph in class twice a week without prompting”).
- The provision. What support is in place to help the child achieve the outcomes? Who is delivering it, when, for how long? Is it small-group work? Individual sessions? Specific resources or scaffolds?
- How success will be measured. A specific indicator that will tell everyone whether the support is working. This sometimes gets left off; without it, you can't really review the plan.
SMART targets: what they actually mean
You'll often see targets described as “SMART.” It's a useful acronym, but it's frequently used to dress up vague targets in respectable clothing. A genuinely SMART target is:
Specific
About one thing, clearly described. Not “improve writing.”
Measurable
You can tell whether it's happened. Counted, observed, or recorded somehow.
Achievable
A stretch but realistic. Not so ambitious that failure is inevitable.
Relevant
Connected to what the child actually needs, not just easy to assess.
Time-bound
Has a review date. Usually six to twelve weeks.
“The best test of an IEP target: if someone walked into the classroom in three weeks' time, could they see whether it's being worked on?”
Your role as a parent
The SEND Code of Practice is clear that parents should be involved in writing and reviewing IEPs, not just informed about them. In practice this is uneven. Some schools share drafts and ask for input; others present finished plans for signature. Both are within the spirit of the Code, but the former is much more useful.
Whatever the school's practice, you can always:
- Ask to be involved in setting targets, not just told about them after the fact
- Share what works at home (or doesn't); you see your child in contexts the school doesn't
- Ask for the IEP to be written in plain language, not just jargon and acronyms
- Ask, at every review, “What evidence are we using to decide whether this is working?”
The review cycle
An IEP should be reviewed regularly, typically every term, sometimes more often. The review is the bit that matters most. It's where you decide whether the support is making a difference, whether the targets need to change, and whether more (or different) support is needed.
A good review meeting is short, evidence-based, and focused on action. It is not a status update or a paperwork exercise. If you leave a review meeting without knowing what's changing next, the meeting hasn't really happened.
When you should question the IEP
Some patterns to watch for:
- Identical targets, term after term. Either the targets are wrong, or the support isn't working, or both.
- Targets the school can't (or won't) measure. “Increase confidence” is not really a target.
- Provision that exists on paper but you can't see in practice. If the IEP says “weekly 1:1 with TA” and your child can't tell you who that adult is, something has gone wrong.
- No mention of your child's voice. What does your child think is working? What's hard? Their perspective should be in the document somewhere.
If two or three review cycles pass and your child isn't making expected progress despite the school's SEN Support, that's often the point at which a request for an EHC needs assessment becomes appropriate. The IEP record is part of the evidence the local authority will want to see.
How Otto Education can help
If you've been handed an IEP and you're not sure whether it's a good one, or you've had several reviews and feel like nothing has actually changed, we can help. Myette reviews IEPs with families, helps you prepare for review meetings, and where needed helps you think about whether to escalate to a request for an EHC needs assessment.
Written by Myette Blannin · May 2026 · Otto Education
This article is for general information only and reflects the SEND Code of Practice (2015). Always check the most recent statutory guidance.