Once someone reaches the age of 16, for the purposes of the Children and Families Act 2014 (which includes EHCPs) they are referred to as a ‘young person’. There is a presumption under this law that the majority of 16 – 25 year olds have capacity to make the majority of decisions for themselves about their education. In most cases therefore a request would only be accepted with the express permission of the young person themselves (where they have mental capacity to do so).
Whilst the request may be made on a young persons behalf, where mental capacity exists, the local authority (and tribunal if it went to appeal) would expect to see the majority of it in their own words and permission expressly given for the request (and subsequent decisions) to be made by someone on their behalf. They would still be invited to give their views for any decisions that needed to be considered.