Dan Rosenberg
Partner, Education & Public Law Solicitor
English
If you don’t think your child is getting the right support for their education, an appeal to the SEND Tribunal may be necessary.
The appeals process will look different depending on your child, but no matter which stage you are up to, our Education Lawyers can help.
We understand that you may have been fighting for months or even years to get your child the educational, health, and/or social support they need. The process of getting an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) can be frustrating and exhausting. You can trust that from the moment you talk to us, we can take care of everything concerning appealing an EHCP for you. We have years of experience in helping children get detailed, up to date EHCPs that fully meet their needs. Our team of Education Law experts have secured many independent school placements, access to therapies such as Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, ABA and appropriate school transport for children with Special Educational Needs (SEN).
We can help you from the moment you receive your EHCP decision letter, providing tactical, strategic advice and representing you at a SEND Tribunal hearing. Whatever your needs, we will work tenaciously to get your child the support they require to thrive and succeed in their educational setting.
Get in touch with our Education Lawyers today.
When a Local Authority (LA) makes certain decisions about the education and/or training of a child or young person with special educational needs (SEN), it will present its decisions in an EHC Plan. If you do not agree with all or some of the provision set out in the Plan, you can appeal to the SEND Tribunal.
You can appeal an EHCP if you do not agree with the contents of the EHCP your LA has made, or if they:
If you’re not sure whether you can appeal your child’s EHCP, get in touch with our Education Lawyers for advice tailored to you and your child.
If you can’t make an appeal, there are other ways our team may be able to help; for example, you could potentially apply for a Judicial Review if the LA is failing to make the provision in your child’s EHCP.
An EHCP appeal can be made by the parent, carer, or the young person covered by the Plan.
Common reasons EHCP appeals are made include:
Our Education Law Solicitors have extensive experience in all types of EHCP appeals and can help you even if your case is complex. We know that you may be feeling frustrated and exhausted at this point. Let us take the matter off your shoulders so you can focus on caring for your child.
The last thing you may want to do is attend mediation with an LA you have been battling for many months. Although you have to consider mediation, you do not have to participate if it is unlikely to resolve the situation. However, as the Tribunal process can take a long time, it may well be worth exploring mediation in the hope of resolving the situation more quickly. We can advise you on this and attend a mediation meeting with you if required.
A Mediation Certificate must be obtained, to show you have either undertaken or been informed about mediation. But it will not ‘look bad’ if you decline to use the process and want to proceed straight to the Tribunal.
You have probably spent an enormous amount of time and effort getting to the point of having an EHCP. Realising you need to appeal the decision can feel like you have to start all over again. We promise that this is not the case, and we’ll take care of the entire process for you. Call us at once and our Education Law team will help you get you or your child’s learning support needs met.
The EHCP appeal process generally runs as follows:
Whether your local authority has decided not to conduct the first assessment or if you don’t agree with the decisions made within the ECHP, contact us and we’ll help you with making an appeal.
You’ll need to consider whether your appeal can be resolved through mediation. You don’t have to agree to mediation as a method to resolve your appeal but you will need a Mediation Certificate that shows you have considered it before you can apply to the Tribunal. Our team will talk you through any costs involved so that you're fully informed before deciding how to proceed.
Once you have your Mediation Certificate, you can register for an appeal. You’ll need to complete a SEND35 form online. We can help you do this.
Once the SEND35 form is complete, you can email or post the form off. The Tribunal must receive your appeal within two months of your LA’s decision letter.
Both you and the Local Authority will have a deadline to submit all the evidence needed for your appeal. We can advise you on the evidence which would be most helpful for your case, including making referrals to independent experts if necessary.
You will be invited to attend a SEND Tribunal hearing. Our team will have prepared thoroughly for your hearing and will be by your side, persuasively arguing why the LA’s decision is incorrect. If the first appeal isn’t successful, we can appeal to the SEND Upper Tribunal.
To find out more about how the appeals process works, please contact one of our friendly, compassionate Education Solicitors.
The SEND35 Form provides information for the Tribunal concerning your appeal. It has the following 12 sections:
We’ll assist you with completing this form and getting the required supporting documents together.
Due to an unprecedented number of appeals, appeal hearings are currently being listed up to a year from the date the appeal was registered. However, we can assist you to make an application to bring the hearing date forward if this is appropriate. Decisions made by the Tribunal will be sent within two weeks of the hearing.
You’ll need to have access to the final LA’s EHCP sent to you, a copy of the SEND35 form and any documents that provide evidence as to why you disagree with the LA’s decision.
Depending on the sections of the final EHCP you are appealing, the evidence you need to bring to the hearing may include:
If you are appealing against the school named in the EHCP, you need to prove why the institution cannot meet your child’s needs and why the school you want them to attend can.
It’s good to write down any particular points you want to make as the Tribunal setting may make you nervous. But it is our job to make sure everything is prepared for the Tribunal heading. Let us take the stress from you and manage the entire process. We’ll make sure you know what you need to bring and how the Tribunal hearing will work.
Although there will be some differences, the basic structure of an EHCP is as follows:
Section A: the views, interests and aspirations of the child and their parents, or the young person.
Section B: the child or young person’s special educational needs (SEN).
Section C: the child or young person’s health needs.
Section D: the child or young person’s social care needs related to their SEN or disability.
Section E: the outcomes sought for the child or young person.
Section F: the special educational provision needed to meet their SEN.
Section G: any health care provisions reasonably required by the learning difficulties or disabilities which result in the child or young person having SEN.
Section H: social care provisions required by social services under the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970.
Section I: the name of the school or institution to be attended by the child or young person, and the type of institution.
Section J: details of any direct payment which will be made.
Section K: copies of all of the advice and information obtained as part of the EHC needs assessment.
We recently helped two parents achieve a place in an Independent Specialist School for their 16-year old son with autism. We helped them lodge an appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Tribunal.
We helped a mother gain a placement for her child in her preferred school during a Judicial Alternative Dispute Resolution (JADR) Hearing, in a disagreement over travel costs.
We helped a child’s parents bring a judicial review and a positive ending in a case where the Local Authority were failing to provide suitable education.
EHCP Solicitors provide help and support to parents, carers, and young people who are trying to get an EHCP or want to appeal an EHCP decision. With LA budgets always shrinking and staff shortages, it can be incredibly frustrating trying to get SEN help. Our job is to take care of the entire process for you, using our knowledge and contacts to get fast, effective decisions and results.
Everyone on our team is dedicated to getting the best results for our clients and making sure children get the educational support they need. We’ll never give up until we get the outcome you want, and your child gets the support they deserve.
Education Solicitors handle a broad range of legal issues related to schools and educational settings, including pre-school, primary, secondary and tertiary education institutions.
Working on behalf of parents and guardians, our Education Solicitors provide specialist advocacy for children to help secure their rightful access to education and support.
We know that fighting to get your child’s educational needs met can be complex. So, having our education law experts by your side means greater clarity and a focused approach.
School appeals can be difficult and having an experienced Education Solicitor to help and support you can make a significant difference to the outcome of the Tribunal’s decision. We understand the EHPC process inside out and know what supporting evidence you’ll need to prove the school chosen by the LA cannot meet your child’s needs.
Our EHCP Appeal specialists have years of experience in helping children get detailed, up to date EHCPs that fully meet their needs.
With the largest team of top ranked Education Law specialists in the England & Wales, our expert Education Solicitors and SEND Lawyers will provide comprehensive and impartial advice, as well as up-to-date specialist knowledge to help you achieve the best possible outcome for your child.
Whether you want help you from the day you receive your decision letter, just want tactical or strategic advice at specific stages, or would like us to represent you at a hearing, our aim is always to do everything possible to get your child the assistance they require.
Our goal is to provide accessible legal support so that every child has access to the education they deserve. That’s why we offer various fixed fee and reduced fee schemes to help clients manage finances, including Legal Aid for eligible cases.
The Tribunal can accept or reject your appeal. If you win your case, there are strict timelines in which the LA must act on the Tribunal’s decisions. For example, if you succeed in appealing the fact the LA refused to assess or reassess your child, the LA must act within two weeks.
If you lose your claim, you may be able to:
If your child has Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), they may need an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). But we understand that EHCPs can be confusing.
An EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan) identifies your child’s Special Educational Needs (SEN) and should entitle them to the right provision they need to support them.
The EHCP working document paperwork process is an important part of any appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Tribunal against the contents of an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). Learn More
The appeals process is designed to be as parent friendly as possible, so you don’t have to use a Solicitor but many of the families we speak to consider there to be a huge advantage to getting specialist advice on appeals.
Even if you don’t need to use an Education Solicitor for the entire EHCP appeals process, getting advice before you appeal can make sure you submit all the right evidence and that the case you put forward is as strong as it can be.
Our Education Law team know the appeals process inside out and have experience of what the SEND Tribunal needs to see to understand that your child needs more support for their education.
Getting legal help can save you the time and stress of going it alone.
You normally have two months from the date of the LA’s decision to make an EHCP appeal or one month from the date the Mediation Certificate was issued.
The LA is responsible for making sure your child’s school implements and follows the EHCP. If you think your child is not getting some of the support set out in the plan, the first step is to speak to your child’s Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO).
If the school is still not following the EHCP, you need to get your LA involved. We can help you with taking steps enforce your child’s EHCP and get the support they are entitled to.
Yes, this is a common ground for EHCP appeals.
