IEP and EHCP Goal-Writing Template
A template for writing individualized plan goals around access and participation rather than production targets. Aligns with the editorial framework used across this site.
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Why goals framed around access, not production
Plan goals are often written in terms of production - words per minute, percentage accuracy of target sounds, intelligibility scores. These are easy to measure but they ask the individual to change how they speak, rather than asking the environment to change how it welcomes them. Social-model practice flips this. The measurable goal becomes what the individual can access, participate in, and choose to do - using whatever communication style is theirs.
This template gives you a structure for writing access-framed goals that still meet the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) requirements of most planning systems.
The structure
Each goal has five parts:
- Situation - the real-world context the goal is about.
- Access outcome - what the individual will be able to do, in participation terms, not production terms.
- Supports - the adaptations, tools, or scaffolding that will be in place.
- Evidence - how the goal will be evidenced. Prefer self-rated confidence, frequency of participation, or the individual's own report - not observer-judged accuracy.
- Review point - when the goal will be revisited.
Template
| Part | Write here |
|---|---|
| Situation | ______________________________________________________________ |
| Access outcome | ______________________________________________________________ |
| Supports in place | ______________________________________________________________ |
| Evidence | ______________________________________________________________ |
| Review point | ______________________________________________________________ |
Worked examples
Example 1 - Adult who stutters, workplace context
- Situation: Weekly team meeting with 6-8 colleagues, where updates are shared around the table.
- Access outcome: Takes their turn to share an update when invited, using whatever speech pattern is theirs that day, without leaving the meeting early.
- Supports: VR practice of a comparable meeting scenario once before the real meeting. Colleague briefed to pause and make eye contact during turn. Agreed signal with line manager if they want to skip for the day.
- Evidence: Individual's self-rated confidence before and after 4 real meetings (scale 1-10). Plus: did they take a turn or not.
- Review point: 8 weeks.
Example 2 - Child who stutters, classroom context
- Situation: Classroom discussion, teacher asks questions around the room.
- Access outcome: Child takes their turn to share when invited, using whatever speech pattern is theirs that day, with the agreed signal to pass if they prefer.
- Supports: Teacher briefed on "stutter-friendly classroom" practice (listening through the stutter, not finishing words). Child knows the "pass" signal is available. VR practice of a classroom question scenario once per week at therapy.
- Evidence: Child's own weekly rating of how comfortable they felt sharing (thumbs scale). Child's own words about what helped or got in the way that week. Teacher's qualitative note on whether the child had the chance to participate in the way they wanted - participation, not performance.
- Review point: End of term.
Example 3 - Adult post-stroke with aphasia, community participation
- Situation: Ordering in a cafe.
- Access outcome: Completes a cafe order - using whatever communication works for them - and gets the drink they wanted.
- Supports: Printed phrase card in pocket. Café informed about pace. Partner or community connector present as requested. VR practice of a cafe scene at least twice before real visit.
- Evidence: Number of successful orders in 4 weeks. Individual's confidence rating before and after each attempt.
- Review point: 4 weeks.
Example 4 - Transgender individual, voice work in public setting
- Situation: Short introductions in a new group (e.g. a class, workshop, or social meeting).
- Access outcome: Introduces themselves using the voice they want to use, without feeling they have to leave or stay silent.
- Supports: VR practice of the introduction scenario with a range of listener reactions at adjustable difficulty. Agreed fallback phrase. Pre-agreed debrief time after the real event.
- Evidence: Self-rated willingness to communicate with strangers (validated scale where helpful). Individual's own words about how the introduction felt.
- Review point: After 3 real-life opportunities, or 6 weeks, whichever comes first.
On avoiding deficit framing. Goals in this format deliberately avoid language like "reduces stuttering severity", "improves intelligibility to X%", or "produces /s/ with 80% accuracy". These are still legitimate measurable targets in some contexts, but they frame the individual's communication style as the problem. Access-framed goals frame the situation as the thing being worked on. Both can co-exist in a plan - but the access-framed goals should not be an afterthought.
Mapping VR practice into the goal
When VR is part of the plan, treat it as a support in the third row of the template - not as the outcome. The outcome lives in the real world. VR is how the individual practices safely before that outcome is possible.
If AI features will be used: Therapy withVR includes optional AI features (translation, AI-generated avatar text, transcription) that are off by default. For school-based plans involving under-18s, specific consent for AI use should be recorded alongside the standard VR consent - particularly to align with FERPA, COPPA, and GDPR Article 8 (where applicable). The Informed Consent Template includes the AI consent step.
Related resources
- Goal Rating Sheet - For recording the self-rated confidence ratings that map into access-framed goals.
- Writing IEP, EHCP, and Individualized Plan Goals Around Access and Participation - The longer-form companion blog post.
- VR Suitability Screening Checklist - Used before a first VR-supported session.
- Informed Consent Template - For the consent step in plan-based work.