This is an independent national tribunal which decides appeals against local authority (LA) decisions about the special educational needs (SEN) of children and young people. It also hears claims of disability discrimination against any type of school and maintained nursery schools. Its full name is The First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability). 

You can appeal to the SEND Tribunal if you’re unhappy with a decision your LA has made in relation to an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment or an EHC plan. There are no fees for making an appeal or a claim, and you may be eligible for legal aid to provide legal help in preparing your case. The SEND Tribunal has the power to order LAs to carry out EHC needs assessments, issue EHC plans, and amend existing EHC plans. Your LA must comply with orders made by the SEND Tribunal. If it is asked to do so, the SEND Tribunal can also make non-binding recommendations about health and social care. 

The SEND Tribunal makes decisions based on the law, which is made up of Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014, The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 and SEN and disability case law. Case law is the interpretation of the law by higher courts in judgments about previous SEN disputes. It is binding, meaning the SEND Tribunal (and your LA) must follow it. The SEND Tribunal must also have regard to the SEN and Disability Code of Practice (the Code). This is statutory guidance which advises schools and LAs on identifying and making provision for children with SEN. Because the Code is guidance, not law, the SEND Tribunal does not have to follow it to the letter, but it generally accepts the Code’s guidance in coming to its decisions. 

The SEND Tribunal will look at the evidence you and your LA put before it and decide whether your LA followed the law and the Code when making its decision. It will make a decision based on what is right for your child or young person at the date of the hearing.  

The SEND Tribunal produces a free booklet called How to Appeal, and other guidance forms which can all be accessed on its website. The SEND Tribunal has  also produced a set of videos which explain more about what appealing to the SEND Tribunal is like – these are available on YouTube or you can request a DVD from the SEND Tribunal. 

You can request copies of the booklet, any of the other forms, and the DVD by calling the SEND Tribunal helpline on 0300 303 5857; by emailing send@justice.gov.uk; or by writing to: 

HMCTS - Special Educational Needs & Disability Tribunal 

1st Floor 

Darlington Magistrates Court 

Parkgate 

DL1 1RU 

To be able to appeal, you must be:

• the parent of a child, or
• a young person.

If the decision concerns a child, it is the parent who has the right of appeal. If the decision concerns a young person, then it is the young person who has the right of appeal. Where a young person cannot make decisions in relation to their appeal themselves, because they ‘lack capacity’ under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, their parent or another representative can appeal on their behalf. Our pages on young people aged 16-25 contain helpful information on the rights of young people.

What is the deadline for registering an appeal?

The first thing to make a note of is the deadline for making an appeal. When your local authority (LA) makes a decision (for example, to cease to maintain an EHC plan or a refusal to carry out an EHC needs assessment) or issues a final plan, it must also tell you of your right of appeal.

The date of this notification is the date from which the time frame for making an appeal starts to run.

For most appeals, you must make sure your appeal form is received by the SEND Tribunal within two months of the date on the LA’s decision letter or the letter enclosing the final EHC plan, or one month from the date you obtain a mediation certificate, whichever is the later.

To get a mediation certificate (or to try mediation if you want to), you need to contact the mediation service within two months of the LA’s decision letter. Please see our information about mediation and what you need to do if you are unsure about this.

If you are only appealing section I (placement) the mediation service is not legally required to give you a mediation certificate, so make sure your appeal form is received by the SEND Tribunal within two months of the date on the LA’s decision letter/ letter enclosing the final EHC plan. For all other types of appeal, you will need to a mediation certificate.

Mark any deadlines on your calendar and in your diary, with reminders, so you don’t miss them.

You should have been sent a letter from the LA when they took the relevant decision or issued you with the final EHC plan. This letter should contain the following information on your rights of appeal:

• your right to appeal that decision.
• the time limits for doing so.
• information about mediation — including relevant contact details.
• the availability of —
  • disagreement resolution services; and
  • information and advice about matters relating to the special educational needs of children and young people.
• for all appeals except when the LA’s decided not to do an EHC needs assessment, the letter must also explain that the SEND Tribunal can make recommendations about health and social care.

The SEND Tribunal may well extend the deadline if all this information was not provided and the deadline has passed.

If you have missed the deadline, you can ask the SEND Tribunal to accept your appeal late. If you need to do this, make sure you submit the appeal form and enclosures as soon as possible. You will need to explain why you could not have submitted it on time and why it would be fair for the SEND Tribunal to accept it late. There is space on the form to do this.  If any of the above information was missing from the LA’s letter, make sure you mention this when asking for your appeal to be accepted late.

If you were unable to get a mediation certificate because you did not contact the mediation service in time, you should explain why, and why it would be fair for the SEND Tribunal to accept your appeal without it, on the appeal form too.

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The SEND Tribunal, has issued a Practice Direction, which provides new and very specific rules on expert reports, witness statements and bundles. These rules are effective for any cases with a Hearing date after 15 July 2025.

 It is important to be aware of these rules and to comply with them, as failure to do so could lead to the Hearing date being postponed at short notice; a parent or young person having their case struck out; or in the case of Local Authorities and Responsible Bodies, they could be barred from participating in the Appeal.

Expert Reports

The new rules require each expert report to:

• Include an executive summary of no more than 2 pages of A4
• Not exceed 15 pages of A4 in total including the executive summary
• Be prepared using 12-point font, with numbered paragraphs
• Be no more than 3 years old, except in exceptional circumstances

Witness Statements

The new rules are slightly different for witness statements, and they require:

• All witnesses attending the Hearing who has not written a report, to produce a witness statement which would need to be submitted by the final evidence deadline.
• It cannot exceed 10 pages of A4, unless there is good reason for this, and if so, an accompanying note explaining why, it is longer than 10 pages should be provided.
• Be prepared using 12-point font, with numbered paragraphs

Bundles

The previous guidance provided page limits for some of the information submitted by the Parties, but this is something that overall has not been enforced by the Tribunal. The new rules change this, and page limits will apply to all documents submitted to the Tribunal.

These vary depending on the type of appeal and where in the bundle certain documents should be placed.

These rules apply in addition to the guidance on page numbers for expert reports and witness statements.

 Unlike the previous bundle page limits which were not enforced, we anticipate that these page limits will be enforced by the SEND Tribunal. If you need to exceed one of the page limits linked to the bundle, expert reports and/ or witness statement you need to seek the Tribunal’s permission via the Request for Change process.

The new rules also stipulate how the bundle index is produced and how the documents are ordered within it.

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