Get information and support Free legal guides and template letters EHC plans, EHC needs assessments and appeals Appealing to the SEND Tribunal Appealing about an EHC needs assessment or EHC plan Appealing about an EHC needs assessment or EHC plan When local authorities (LAs) make certain decisions about the education and/or training of a child or young person with special educational needs (SEN), there is a right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal. If you would like to know more about the SEND Tribunal and what it does, please see our helpful page which explains this in more detail. 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 a particular decision for 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 young people and their rights. When can I appeal? You can bring an appeal to the SEND Tribunal if your LA: refuses to carry out an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment or a re-assessment refuses to issue an EHC plan issues or amends an EHC plan but you disagree with any or all of section B (SEN), section F (special educational provision) or section I (placement) decides not to amend an EHC plan after an annual review, or decides to cease to maintain the EHC plan at any point. You also have the right to appeal against the health and social care sections of the EHC plan (sections C, D, G and H). However, to do this you must also be appealing at least one of the education sections, which are the sections relating to SEN, special educational provision and/or placement (sections, B, F and I). Our page about contents appeals contains further helpful information about this. Before bringing an appeal to the SEND Tribunal, in most cases you must consider mediation. This does not mean you have to take part in mediation, but you must consider it. The only exception is if you are appealing only section I of the EHC plan (because the school or college placement or type named is not the one you would like, or because section I does not name a placement at all). For section I only appeals, there is no obligation to consider mediation before you can appeal, but you still have the right to mediate if you wish to do so. The only difference is you won’t receive a mediation certificate after a section I only mediation, but you will receive a mediation certificate after any other type of mediation. It is important to know there are deadlines for bringing an appeal to the SEND Tribunal. We explain these in detail on our page containing general advice about appealing. For more information about the process of bringing an appeal in the SEND Tribunal, you may find it helpful to read or pages containing general advice for all appeals. Alternatively, our page about disability discrimination contains more information on how to bring a disability discrimination claim in the SEND Tribunal. Transport There are often disputes about home to school transport between parents and LAs. Generally speaking, the SEND Tribunal cannot deal with arguments about transport because it does not normally count as special educational provision. Transport may be considered in a SEND Tribunal appeal where there is an argument transport should be treated as special educational provision (for example, if your child or young person requires independent travel training, this is capable of being special educational provision). If the argument is around whether or not this should be included in section F of the EHC plan, the SEND Tribunal can make a decision on that point. Additionally, LAs are allowed to ask you to pay for transport where there is a nearer suitable school which your child could have gone to, but you chose a school which is further away. However, your LA can only do this where: the nearer school is suitable for your child there is a place available for them at the nearer school, and the cost of attending your choice of school is ‘incompatible with the efficient use of resources’. If section I says your child can attend your choice of school on condition you fund the transport costs or provide transport, and you: disagree that there is a nearer suitable school, or disagree that the cost of attending your choice is an inefficient use of resources, then you can appeal section I and the conditional naming of the school/ college. The appeal would be about the wording in section I and not an appeal ‘for transport’. There is lots of helpful further information in our factsheet about appealing against the school named in your EHC plan and our pages on choosing a school or college. Manage Cookie Preferences