Appeal an education, health and care (EHC) plan decision
Appeal on behalf of a child or young person
You can appeal on behalf of a child or young person if they are under school leaving age.
If your child is over the school leaving age, they may be able to appeal on their own behalf instead.
The tribunal must receive your appeal within 2 months of the date on the local authority’s decision letter or a month from the date of the mediation certificate - whichever is later.
Appeal online
You cannot appeal online if your child is in custody or your local authority has not carried out an an EHC assessment. You can appeal by post or email.
Appeal by post or email
Download and fill in form SEND35.
There’s a different form if:
- you’re appealing a local authority’s decision not to carry out an EHC assessment (form SEND35A)
- your child’s in custody and is under school leaving age or is over school leaving age but under 18
What happens after you appeal
The tribunal will review your appeal and respond to you within 25 working days.
When they respond, they’ll tell you:
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if there will be a hearing
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more details about the hearing, if you’ll have one
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the deadline for sending in more information about your appeal
The tribunal will send your appeal to the local authority who will have 30 working days to respond to you.
Change or withdraw your appeal
You can change or withdraw your appeal before the hearing. Download and fill in:
- form SEND7 to change your appeal, for example ask for a different hearing date or add more witnesses
- form SEND8 to withdraw your appeal