What will happen after the hearing depends on what the SEND Tribunal decides and what you appealed for.

If your appeal is dismissed

This means that your appeal was unsuccessful, and the SEND Tribunal has decided that your LA acted lawfully and was legally entitled to issue its decision.

This will mean that following the SEND Tribunal’s order:

• the EHC plan will immediately cease. There is no transition period or ‘wind down’ window
• your child or young person may not be legally entitled to attend their school or other setting (depending on its type), and
• there will be no duty on your LA to secure any special educational provision for your child or young person and continue to pay any school fees (if relevant).

If you think there was a procedural error which put you at a disadvantage, there has been a change of relevant circumstances or the SEND Tribunal might have made an error of law, you can try to challenge the SEND Tribunal’s decision.

Whilst the EHC plan will cease immediately, that does not mean that exit arrangements shouldn’t be made. The Code is clear that:

“It is important that a child or young person’s exit from an EHC plan is planned carefully, to support smooth transitions and effective preparation for adulthood.” (paragraph 9.207).

If your child or young person’s EHC plan does cease but in the future their needs change and you think they may need an EHC plan again, your child or young person’s old plan cannot be re-started.

The fact your child or young person has had an EHC plan before does not mean they cannot have an EHC needs assessment carried out or an EHC plan put in place in the future. If you think they may need an EHC plan again, you can request an EHC needs assessment.

If your appeal is upheld 

This means that your appeal was successful, and the SEND Tribunal has decided that your LA acted unlawfully and was not legally entitled to issue its decision.  

This means that following the SEND Tribunal’s order:

• the EHC plan will remain in place
• the school or other setting named in section I must continue to admit your child or young person, and
• your LA must continue to secure any special educational provision set out in section F for your child or young person and continue to pay any school fees (if relevant).

The EHC plan will remain in its current form unless you successfully asked for changes to it, or the SEND Tribunal decided to use its initiative to recommend health and social care changes and the health body and/ or LA agrees to these.

If the SEND Tribunal:

• orders changes to be made in Sections B, F and I, then your LA must issue the amended EHC plan containing these changes within 5 weeks of the order
• orders changes to be made to Section I only, then your LA must issue the amended EHC plan containing these changes within 2 weeks of the order, and/ or
• recommends changes to Sections C and G (health care) and/ or D and H (social care) the health body and/ or LA’s social care team must respond to you within 5 weeks of the order in writing, stating what steps if any it decided to take following its consideration of the recommendation, and give cogent reasons for any decision not to follow the recommendations.

If you asked for changes to be made to the EHC plan but the SEND Tribunal did not agree to all the changes you wanted, you cannot appeal the contents of an amended plan issued following the SEND Tribunal’s decision. However, you can try to have the EHC plan changed at the next annual review. You could also ask for an early statutory review if you feel it is needed.

For more information on this topic, see our main advice page on cease to maintain appeals.