Our telephone Advice Line provides legally based information and next step advice on any educational issue that is the result of a child’s special educational needs or disability.

This could include problems with schools; requesting statutory assessment; Education, Health and Care plans; annual reviews; disability discrimination and exclusion.

Our telephone appointments last up to 30 minutes and our volunteer advisers will give you up-to-date information on the law, explain what it allows you to do and give you clear next-step advice.

If you are receiving ongoing support from solicitor or other advocate then regrettably IPSEA are unable to give you advice. This is to avoid the potential for conflicting advice, and to ensure our appointments are available for parents not receiving any other support.

Our website has a wealth of legal advice and resources where you may also find the information you require, so do visit our get support page before booking an appointment. All available Advice Line appointments for the next week can be booked here: 

*Unfortunately our booking calendars are not available at the moment. If you require an appointment please check back towards the middle of week commencing 27 June. Our call-in service will be open on Thursday 30th June and Friday 1st July.*

If possible, please have another device ready during your appointment where you can access our website, as our volunteer adviser may talk you through where to find our legal guides and resources for additional information.

Appointments are made available by our advisers as and when they know their availability, and can be released up to ten days in advance, any day or time. If there are currently no slots available, do check again soon as appointments are released regularly.

If you have any problems using the booking system, please click here.

IPSEA volunteers frequently receive offers of gifts in thanks for their advice. Whilst this is much appreciated, our volunteers are unable to accept.  If you would like to offer a gesture of appreciation, a donation to IPSEA would be gratefully received.

Important information

Please be aware that telephone calls are recorded for monitoring and training purposes only, and any details or notes that are recorded will never be passed on to a third party and are kept completely confidential.

When booking an appointment, you will be asked to complete a Parent Information Form. If you do not wish to answer any or all of the questions on this form, you do not have to do so, but the information collected here allows us to monitor who accesses our services. This helps us to identify gaps in our service provision, make improvements, and ensure that services are delivered in a fair way to all users. It also helps us to apply for funding opportunities to secure IPSEA's services for the future, as we can use the collated information in our funding applications. The information you provide will be kept confidential, and we will not share your name or personal information with anyone else.

By using IPSEA’s Advice Line booking system, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and also our privacy policy.