After your appeal has been registered with the SEND Tribunal and your local authority has made its response, you will want to continue to send evidence which supports your appeal. The SEND Tribunal is evidence-based. Your LA will also provide evidence. When doing so, your LA has to provide all relevant information even if it is unhelpful to its case and helps your appeal.

You should send all your evidence to your LA. Your case directions will tell you if you need to copy in the SEND Tribunal at the same time. Previously the Tribunal always needed to be copied in, but it is changing some of its internal processes and in future it may not want to be copied in to emails that you send to the LA in the run up to the final evidence deadline – your case directions will tell you what you need to do in your appeal.

Before your appeal is heard, your LA will gather together key documents such as the evidence, key forms, orders, the appeal form, and the LA's response into an organised set of documents called the 'bundle'.

Please click on the links below to jump to the section you want to read about:

Evidence

Witnesses

The bundle 

Evidence

It is a good idea if you send as much evidence as you can when you submit your appeal, but you can continue to send in evidence after your appeal has been submitted.

You should make sure that any evidence you didn’t send in with your appeal form is sent to the SEND Tribunal by the deadline set in the registration letter. 

It is important to get and send in any evidence as soon as you can and not wait for the final evidence deadline. The Case Review form will also be due by the final evidence deadline.

Think carefully about what evidence you already have and what evidence you might need. You will want to focus on the information and evidence which shows that the relevant legal test has, or has not, been met (depending on what type of appeal you have). You can find much more information on the legal tests for different types of appeals on our appealing to the SEND Tribunal page.

Unless there is a good reason to, you should not submit:

• emails/correspondence which are not relevant to the issues on appeal
• blank forms/pages
• repeat documents
• documents already appended to the EHC plan under appeal Section K
• professional/school reports more than 3 years old by time your appeal is made (unless they are part of the EHC plan in Section K)
• versions of the working document which are not the final agreed version, or
• any draft amended plans prior to the final version on appeal.

If you feel you need to submit any of the above evidence, you should use a Request for Change form to ask the SEND Tribunal’s permission and explain why.

If your LA writes to or sends documents to the SEND Tribunal using a system which you cannot access, you should tell it not to do this, and let the SEND Tribunal know. The SEND Tribunal has confirmed that the party sending the communication has to make sure it is copied to the other party in a way they can access and that LAs can use non-encrypted emails to do this.

The SEND Tribunal will usually make a decision on the basis of the evidence that has been provided to it before the hearing in writing and orally at the final hearing, and both parties should submit evidence which supports their case. Judicial guidance says if you or the LA have not provided evidence or not provided specific evidence the SEND Tribunal has requested, the SEND Tribunal will want to know whether there is a good reason for it. If there is not, or if the evidence is still not likely to be available on the next occasion if it were to postpone the hearing, the SEND Tribunal is likely to proceed without that evidence, having given an opportunity for it to be provided. So, while the SEND Tribunal has to make sure it has information necessary to decide the appeal, if you or your LA have not provided evidence, it should not be assumed the SEND Tribunal will adjourn or postpone the appeal hearing to allow it to be provided.

Getting evidence

If you are having difficulty getting information which is relevant to your case from your LA, you can use the Request for Change form to write to the SEND Tribunal, explaining what the document is and ask the SEND Tribunal for a ‘direction’ to make your LA release the document. Unless your LA has a good reason for not providing the document the SEND Tribunal will order your LA to release it. 

If you are eligible for legal aid, this could cover the cost of getting  privately instructed assessments and reports. Please see our page on where to get help for more information.

Your written views (submissions)

After reviewing their LA’s response and evidence, some parents and young people want to bring the SEND Tribunal’s attention to certain issues they have with the LA’s response or its evidence, or to explain in brief the issues as they see them.

For example, if the response contains incorrect information or the LA has used the wrong legal test sometimes parents and young people want to address this and send their thoughts on this to the SEND Tribunal. This is what we mean by further submissions.

Not every parent and young person will write these submissions, and that is fine.

If you want or need to provide some further views or submissions to explain the issues as you see them, then judicial guidance explains how these should be written.

You should make sure:

• your views/submissions are focussed and to the point – only give a short overview of the issues in dispute, and not a lengthy document setting out everything in full (your appeal paperwork and evidence will contain all the detail)
• the document is no more than 2 A4 pages
• you set the information out clearly. You might find using bullet points helpful, or numbered paragraphs
• you use a heading which says your name (so the SEND Tribunal knows who wrote it) and the appeal number
• you write a short introduction, so the SEND Tribunal knows what you want to say, and a brief conclusion telling the SEND Tribunal what you want it to do/be aware of
• you list any issues you want to raise and refer to evidence you have already submitted when explaining your points, and
• you send your submissions/views to the SEND Tribunal at the same time as you return the completed Case Review Form (unless the SEND Tribunal gives you a different date, in which case use that date instead).

The purpose of these submissions is to give you the chance to provide your thoughts on the remaining issues in dispute. This is not an opportunity to try to bring in new (late) evidence after the final evidence deadline.

If you need to submit additional evidence to support your appeal after the final evidence deadline, please see our section below which explains how to ask for late evidence to be included.

Reports and witness statements 

If you decide to get privately instructed expert reports, you should make sure they are compliant with the SEND Tribunal guidance for expert witnesses and the below information. It’s best if this type of report complies with this guidance because this is a reason for the SEND Tribunal to give it more weight. 

If	Then
You need to submit an expert report	It must: include an executive summary, no more than 2 A4 pages be a maximum of 15 A4 pages, including the summary (minimum font size allowed is 12) be divided into numbered paragraphs, and be no older than 3 years at the point the appeal is made (not heard).
You need to submit a professional or school report	it must be no more than 3 years old at the time the appeal is made (not heard), unless they are appendices to the EHC plan.
You need to submit a witness statement (this is required by any person giving oral witness evidence at the hearing, if they have not provided a written report)	it must: be a maximum of 10 A4 pages, not including any exhibits (minimum font size allowed is 12) have an accompanying note if longer, explaining why be signed and dated, and divided into numbered paragraphs.

If you need to submit a report which is not compliant with the above (maybe because of its length or date) you should use the Request for Changes form to ask the SEND Tribunal’s permission for its inclusion. You should explain why it is relevant and should be included. This is due to rules which set out how evidence should be set out and what it must contain.

Video evidence 

You can submit video evidence. The SEND Tribunal can accept video evidence on CDs and USB sticks, but you can also ask to use the SEND Tribunal’s document upload centre if you prefer. If so, you should email the Tribunal and ask it to create a space for your evidence there, and to email you to confirm when the files have been uploaded.

Late evidence

It is possible to apply for late evidence to be submitted after the final evidence deadline, using the Request for Change form. It will be up to the SEND Tribunal whether this should be accepted, not your LA. It is always best to tell the SEND Tribunal in advance if you think you will need to submit evidence late (maybe because you know a report will not be ready before the deadline). If you make an application for late evidence after the deadline, the SEND Tribunal will keep the application on file and consider it at the start of the hearing. It may decide not to accept the late evidence.

You can ask for late evidence to be submitted very close to the hearing, even the day before, however any party asking to submit late evidence within 5 working days of the hearing will have their application sent back to them. You will need to explain at the hearing why it was not provided earlier and why it should now be admitted, so you should make sure you are prepared to explain this. 

The SEND Tribunal does not have to agree to late evidence being considered in the appeal. This is because it may put the other side at a disadvantage and that may be unfair. The SEND Tribunal may also refuse to adjourn (delay) the hearing, particularly if the evidence could have been produced earlier.

If you need to make a request for the evidence deadline to be extended (when you know some evidence will only be available after it) or for permission for late evidence to be accepted, explain why:

1. you cannot/could not submit the evidence any sooner​
2. the evidence is relevant to the issues in the appeal​
3. it can’t be given orally at the hearing and any other factors to persuade the Tribunal to accept it (such as the LA already has it, so won’t be disadvantaged by not having seen it​), and
4. it would be not be “fair and just” for it to be excluded and is needed for the Tribunal to decide the appeal fairly​.

Giving evidence from abroad

Advance permission from the SEND Tribunal will be needed if you want to participate in an oral SEND Tribunal hearing from abroad or you would like a witness to (here abroad means anywhere other than England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, or British Overseas Territories).

This guidance covers asking for permission (which should be done as soon as possible) and what the SEND Tribunal will consider.

The guidance deals with witnesses who are abroad first. If you (as in the parent or young person bringing the appeal) want to ask for permission to join the hearing from abroad, you need to follow part II of the guidance, called “making submissions from abroad”.

If the country a witness or you will be in is on this list, the SEND Tribunal will use the information in the list to help decide if they can join the hearing.

The guidance says you are “unlikely to be permitted to join a hearing from abroad unless there are genuine and exceptional reasons”. If exceptional circumstances do not apply, other options include asking for the hearing to be moved to a date when you will be in one of the above countries or for the case to be decided "on the papers", in which case the LA would have to agree and there wouldn’t be a hearing for you to attend. It’s a good idea to take advice first if you are considering this. To ask for changes to your appeal use the SEND Tribunal’s Request for Change form and process.

Witnesses

Both parties will need to notify the SEND Tribunal who will be attending the hearing using the form the SEND Tribunal sends them (usually the Case Review form, unless the SEND Tribunal has asked them to use an attendance form instead). Witnesses will only be permitted to attend the hearing if they have previously submitted a report or written witness statement (this is explained in judicial guidance).

 Please see the table above, in our reports and witness statements section of this page, to see how witness statements should be set out.

You should call witnesses who will be able to give evidence relevant to your case. It will normally be helpful to have someone from the child or young person’s school or college (such as the SENCO or head teacher).

• If you want a particular school to be named in the EHC plan, you will generally need someone from that school to attend. 
• If there is a dispute about the level of the child or young person’s needs, it may be helpful to have a professional witness such as, for example, a speech and language therapist who has worked with the child or young person.

All witnesses will be asked by the SEND Tribunal about the facts of the case. They are not meant to be arguing one ‘side’ or the other. You shouldn’t worry if someone from your child or young person’s school or college is asked to attend as a witness by your LA; it does not mean that they are on the LA’s side.

Parties may appoint a representative (whether a legal representative or not), who can act as a representative or otherwise assist in presenting the party’s case at the hearing. This person will not count as a witness, but you should include them on the same form (either the Case Review form or attendance form) and explain they will be representing or assisting you at the hearing.

The SEND Tribunal has indicated that it will not accept parties putting “to be confirmed” on the Case Review form (or attendance form if this applies). If your LA does this, you could bring it to the SEND Tribunal’s attention, although it should pick this up and raise it with your LA.

The bundle

At least 10 working days before the hearing, your LA will send you and the SEND Tribunal the ‘bundle’. This is a page-numbered set of the documents the parties have provided in the appeal.

There are detailed rules setting out what evidence can be included in the bundle, and how it needs to be formatted and issued. These are set out in a Practice Direction dated 2025. Previous guidance was contained in the SEND40 guidance for producing a bundle. The SEND Tribunal has confirmed that the SEND40 bundle guidance no longer applies and you should not be sent it, or use it.

The bundle will include:

• all your evidence and the LA’s evidence which complies with the 2025 Bundle Practice Direction
• any extra pages or non-compliant reports/evidence if permission was asked for following a Request for Change form and agreed, and
• any forms, SEND Tribunal orders or other relevant documents.

Asking for a paper bundle

Your LA must send to you an electronic bundle.

Your LA must also send you a paper bundle if you reasonably ask it for one. Think about what you might need either whilst preparing for the hearing or in the hearing.

You should ask for a paper bundle if it will help you in either situation. Reasons could include:

• you will only have one screen available to you during the hearing (such as your smartphone) and will be using it to dial into the hearing. A paper bundle will allow you to quickly find what you need, rather than having to manage different tabs on one screen (which may be very small and difficult to read from if you only have use of your phone)
• you find documents easier to read on paper, rather than on a screen
• you will be able to join in better if you can make notes on a paper bundle, or highlight key pages/use sticky notes to flag key sections.

If your LA refuses your reasonable request, or does not respond to you, then you should contact the SEND Tribunal and explain the situation.

Page limits

The following applies, unless an exception is granted:

Bundle part	What is it?	Page limit
Part 1	This is the core bundle, which contains all key documents, including: your LA's decision your notice of appeal, and your LA's response to your appeal	100 pages
Part 2	This is where we find a copy of the EHC plan under appeal, if relevant	150 pages including all the appendices

There are also limits to how long the bundle can be depending on the type of appeal. We set out below the evidence page limits for the different types of appeal.

Each of the page limits listed is per party. That means, for example, you can submit 100 pages of evidence in a refusal to issue appeal and so can your LA, meaning a maximum of 200 pages of evidence.

They are also cumulative. This means they add up. For example, if you appeal a cease to maintain decision, and appeal Sections B, F and I at the same time, you can submit 75 pages about the decision, 100 pages about Sections B and F, and another 75 pages about Section I (so 250 pages in total).

Appeal type	Page limit
Refusal to assess/re-assess	75 pages
Refusal to issue	100 pages
Sections B and F	100 pages (total)
Section I	75 pages
Cease to maintain	75 pages
Health and/or social care recommendations	75 pages

We have asked the SEND Tribunal to confirm whether the page limit for health and social care is:

• 75 pages (total), or
• 75 pages for health care evidence and a further 75 pages for social care evidence.

The SEND Tribunal has not confirmed this. Therefore if you make an extended appeal involving health and social care, and your case registration letter does not make clear what the page limit is, you should email the SEND Tribunal and ask it to confirm to you the page cap that applies.

If you want to submit evidence which is more than the bundle page limit, you must use the Request for Change form (having sought your LA’s view first), explaining why the additional pages are necessary.

The Tribunal has told us that your LA can refuse to include any pages you submit which go over the page limit or which do not otherwise comply with the 2025 Bundle Practice Direction. It is important then, to use the Request for Change form to seek permission if you want to include extra pages or a report which does not comply with the Bundle Practice Direction rules (as explained above) for example.

It’s always worth checking the bundle before the hearing in case anything has been left out. If any evidence is missing you should contact your LA promptly, and ask why your evidence has not been included. If the LA says this is due to it not being in line with the Bundle Practice Direction, then use the Request for Change form process to ask the Tribunal for permission.

You should make sure you have the bundle at the hearing, and you should provide a copy of it to any witnesses attending for you.

For further information on this topic, see our main 'What happens after I submit my appeal?' page.