What’s the real difference between general purpose AI and purpose built EHCP generating AI

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Across England, local authorities are under unprecedented pressure to improve the quality, timeliness, and consistency of EHCPs. At Invision360, we’ve had the privilege of partnering with over 60 local authorities, parents, carers and young people, to tackle this nationally recognised challenge head‑on. Our award‑winning EHCP QA module has set a new standard for strengthening the quality and consistency of EHCPs and supporting SEND teams through five years of significant, sector‑wide change.

That experience combined with collaboration with SEND professionals from across all regions and our distinguished SEND governance board has shaped our newest innovation: VITA, a purpose built EHCP generating AI module built specifically for EHCP drafting.

As generative AI becomes more accessible, local authorities are rightly asking:

Should we rely on a general-purpose AI tool already used in our local authority, or should we choose a purpose-built solution designed for the SEND system?

Here’s what every SEND and IT leader needs to know.

General purpose AI tools were never designed for the statutory, structured, multi-document complexity of EHCPs.

They can:

• Rephrase content
• Produce simple summaries
• Handle basic productivity tasks

A general purpose AI tool does not provide workflow orchestration, structured logic, statutory alignment, or quality assurance elements that are essential for high‑quality EHCP drafting. Output validity relies heavily on high quality user prompts and a strong understanding of data science concepts.

In contrast, purpose built EHCP generating AI like VITA is built through deep collaboration between:

• SEND experts
• Data scientists
• Specialist engineers
• Local authorities across all regions
• Parents and carers of children and young people with SEND
• SEND Youth Forums

This isn’t conversational AI. It’s AI engineered for SEND, with safeguarding considerations, compliance frameworks built in, and enables a user to review advice, generate plan content, and access actionable feedback aligned with statutory guidance.

Where general purpose AI tools fall short for EHCPs

Below are the areas where non specialised AI tools create risk, inefficiency, or inconsistency for SEND teams and where purpose built EHCP generating AI tools stand out.

1. Document handling and multi-source processing

General purpose AI tools process documents individually, often hitting:

• Context limits with large files
• Difficulty reading text from images (meaning vital reports may be missed)
• Inability to track relationships across documents

This increases the risk of omissions and inaccuracies.

By contrast, depending on the technical effort being used, purpose built EHCP generating AI tools or LA developed AI tools can handle:

• Structured multi-document processing
• Robust image and PDF reading
• Parallelised processing to reduce generation time

VITA, for example, is engineered to process complex reports at scale while preserving the golden thread between needs, provision and outcomes.

2. EHCP quality assurance and statutory alignment

A general purpose AI tool cannot:

• Detect contradictions
• Check for completeness
• Align content with statutory requirements
• Guide best practice

Local authority developed AI tools can attempt this with significant investment but they demand:

• Intensive ongoing development with specialist in-house skills
• Continuous prompt engineering
• SEND practitioner time to define best practice

By contract, a purpose built AI solution for generating EHCPs comes with built-in expert tools for validation, including:

Advanced tools such as VITA include built in validation:

• Missing-section alerts
• Section-specific guidance
• Best-practice-aligned prompts
• Expert-verified quality feedback

This moves EHCP drafting from “AI that writes or polishes text” to “AI that supports compliant, consistent, high-quality decision making”.

3. Maintenance, updates and long-term sustainability

General purpose AI:

• Updates externally and unpredictably
• Requires ongoing internal management if LA-built
• Can break workflows when legislation or EHCP structures change
• Requires additional training for staff
• Typically does not allow the solution developer to customise specific LLM parameters that will make the output more targeted to the use case (first-draft EHCP)

Purpose built EHCP generating AI:

• Provides centralised updates and maintenance
• Delivers continuous developments informed by sector changes
• Are professionally supported and maintained
• Include ongoing training and change management support
• Allow data scientist to work closely with subject matter expert to fully customise model parameters, reducing the risk of non-factual information entering the EHCP first-draft

4. Impact on EHCP timeliness, consistency and quality

From engaging with local authorities across England, including some of which have invested more time in general purpose AI, we have found:

General purpose AI = incremental benefit

SEND teams have commented that generalised AI, such as chatbots, are specifically helpful for:

• Rephrasing
• Basic drafting
• Reducing small admin tasks

But limited when considering end-to-end EHCP processes.

Purpose built EHCP generating AI = measurable system-wide improvement

Local authorities using these purpose built tools report:

• Significant reductions in drafting time
• Improved consistency across caseworkers
• Higher quality, more compliant content
• Smoother, more sustainable workflows

This is because the tool understands context, structure, statutory requirements, and best practice.

Want to explore whether a purpose built EHCP generating AI tool could support your local authority SEND team?

If you're exploring how generative AI could safely and effectively support your SEND service in writing first-draft EHCPs and want a solution built on real sector expertise rather than general purpose AI let’s talk.

👉 Book a call to find out more about VITA and see how it could support your EHCP processes.