EHC plan appeals in England: choose the right route and build your case

Step by step

1. Start with the result you need

   Write one sentence about what you want. For example: an EHC needs assessment, an EHC plan, changes to Section B (needs), Section F (provision) or Section I (school or college), or keeping a plan the council wants to end. Contact, a charity for families with disabled children, says the Tribunal can order each of these. It can also make recommendations about health and social care, but not in an appeal about a refusal to assess.

2. Choose the right route first

   You can appeal to the SEND Tribunal if the council refuses to assess or reassess, refuses to make a plan after an assessment, refuses to change Sections B, F or I, refuses to amend a plan after a review, or decides you no longer need a plan. You can also appeal if you disagree with the plan it has made. If Section F is clear but the help is not being given, you cannot appeal about that. Raise it with the council. IPSEA says you may need to complain, or take advice on judicial review if it is urgent. If a child of compulsory school age is not getting suitable education, the council also has a separate duty under section 19 of the Education Act 1996. School disability discrimination, school transport and exclusions use different routes. For disability discrimination by a school, the Tribunal complaint must usually be sent within 6 months.

3. Get the decision in writing

   The right to appeal starts when the council sends its decision in writing. Contact says the council must tell you how to appeal, give you details of a mediation service and say that using mediation does not harm your appeal. Keep the letter and the whole plan. The date on the letter sets your deadline.

4. Protect the deadline

   IPSEA says the deadline is two months from the date on the council's decision letter, or one month from the date on a mediation certificate, whichever is later. It is different if the date falls in August or the Christmas period. Contact says you must contact the mediation service within two months. If you are late, you can ask the Tribunal to accept your appeal and explain why you could not appeal in time. Do not wait for a meeting or an annual review. Appeal in time if the problem is not formally fixed. After any call or meeting, send a short email with the date, what was said and who will do what.

5. Use the right form

   GOV.UK says to use form SEND35A to appeal a decision not to secure an EHC needs assessment. It says to use form SEND35 to appeal a decision about an EHC plan. Both can be completed online. If you are not sure which form fits, ask the Tribunal or an adviser before you send it. Use the GOV.UK pages, not an old saved copy, because the forms are updated. You can ask for the SEND35 form in braille, large print or easy read.

6. Talk to the mediation adviser

   GOV.UK says that in most cases you must talk to a mediation adviser before you appeal. Contact says you do not have to if you are only appealing the school or college named in Section I. If you do not want mediation, the adviser must send you a certificate within three working days, and you send it with your appeal. If you do use mediation, it is arranged within 30 days. If you are still not happy, you have another month to appeal. GOV.UK says you still need a mediation certificate to appeal. If you do not have one, you will need to tell the Tribunal why.

7. Build an evidence table

   For each point you disagree with, write down the need, how it affects daily life, the evidence and page number, and the help the child needs. Say how often, how long, who should give it and what training they need. Add a short timeline. If a professional report does not say exactly what help is needed, IPSEA says to ask the professional to make it clear.

8. Make Sections B and F match

   IPSEA says Section F must set out help for every need in Section B. Section F should be detailed and specific. It should normally say the type, hours and how often. IPSEA says words like regular, access to, opportunities for, would benefit from and as appropriate are too vague, because they do not create a clear legal promise.

9. For school or college, focus on need first

   IPSEA says the council can refuse a school or college you ask for only if it is unsuitable for your child's age, ability or needs, if it would harm the efficient education of others, or if it would be an inefficient use of resources. If you disagree with the setting the council chose, focus on why that setting is not appropriate. For an independent setting, IPSEA says you must show it has offered a place, that it is appropriate, and either that the council's schools cannot meet needs or that the cost is not unreasonable public spending. Ask each setting to say in writing which Section F help it can give.

10. Say what is wrong and what you want

    For each point, write what the plan says now, why it is wrong, the evidence, and the exact wording, help or school you want. Number the points.

11. Use a working document or a list of issues

    For an appeal about the contents of a plan, ask the council for a Word copy of the plan. IPSEA says the plan goes back and forth between you and the council so that you can agree as much as possible before the hearing. Use the exact words from reports and say which report and page they come from. IPSEA says the final working document should be no more than 25 pages. If the usual key with underlining and italics is hard for you to use, tell the council. The Tribunal accepts a detailed list of issues instead. Do not use colour, because the Tribunal does not print in colour. IPSEA says the Tribunal will not look at issues that are not in the working document or on the case review form, so make sure every issue is in both.

12. Keep evidence clear and relevant

    Follow the Tribunal's directions and the deadlines they set. Send clear, relevant evidence such as professional reports, school records, your own log of missing help and your child's views. Ask early for an interpreter, reasonable adjustments, or an intermediary if you need communication support at the hearing.

13. Ask about health and social care recommendations

    In most appeals, the Tribunal can recommend that health and social care needs and help are added to or changed in the plan. These recommendations are not binding. But Contact says health or social care commissioners must reply in detail with the steps they will take, or their reasons for not following the recommendation.

14. Protect support while you wait

    IPSEA says the council must make sure all the help in Section F of a final plan is provided, and it can only be changed through the legal process for amending the plan. Keep a log of any help that is missing and write to the council. If a child is out of education, ask the council about suitable alternative education. The council has a duty to make sure this happens. Ask an adviser for help if it is urgent.

15. At the hearing

    GOV.UK says the hearing is by video link or at a venue within 2 hours of your home. You get the papers at least 10 days before. You do not have to go, but if you do, you can ask questions and present the case yourself. You can bring someone to represent or support you, or witnesses, if you fill in the case review form. You will usually get the decision within 10 working days. Use your numbered points and evidence table to explain what is needed and why.

16. After the decision

    GOV.UK says that if you win, the council must act within a set time. It must start an assessment or reassessment within 2 weeks. It must make an EHC plan, or change the needs or provision (Sections B or F), within 5 weeks. It must change the school or placement (Section I) within 2 weeks. It must continue with or cancel a plan straight away. You can complain to the Local Government Ombudsman if the council does not act. Check the new plan line by line against the Tribunal order. Contact says you cannot appeal if the council fails to do what the Tribunal ordered. If help in Section F is still not in place, use the complaint or urgent legal route that IPSEA describes. Take advice quickly.

17. Get free, independent help

    GOV.UK lists free help from IPSEA and your local Information, Advice and Support Service (IASS). SOS!SEN and Contact also offer advice. You can also check if you can get legal aid. Civil Legal Advice can help with special educational needs and discrimination if you are eligible. A parent carer forum speaks for local parents as a group. Contact says it does not advocate for individual families. You do not need a representative. Keep your own list of deadlines, evidence and what was agreed.

18. This is information, not advice on your case

    SEND law depends on the facts, and deadlines are strict. Check your decision letter, the GOV.UK forms and the Tribunal's directions. Get specialist advice quickly if a deadline is close, a child has no suitable education, important help is missing, or there is a safeguarding risk.