The first step of appealing is to contact the mediation company Global Mediation.  This link gives details about mediation and contact details for Global Mediation.   

After mediation advice has been given you can choose whether to request a mediation meeting or alternatively ask for a mediation certificate to prove you have given it consideration. The judge will not be told whether you went to mediation or not. 

If mediation proves unsuccessful or you choose not to do it, you may then submit your application for an appeal. You can find the form you need to fill in to register the appeal here. 

IPSEA have a really good guide to Refusal to Issue appeals. 

The SEND Code of Practice 2015 says: 

‘Where, despite appropriate assessment and provision, the child or young person is not progressing, or not progressing sufficiently well, the local authority should consider what further provision may be needed. The local authority should take into account: 

  • whether the special educational provision required to meet the child or young person’s needs can reasonably be provided from within the resources normally available to mainstream early years providers, schools and post-16 institutions, or 
  • whether it may be necessary for the local authority to make special educational provision in accordance with an EHC plan’ (9.55) 

This means in reaching their decision whether or not to issue an EHCP, the local authority should consider: 

  • the information gathered during the EHC needs assessment 
  • the child or young person’s SEN 
  • the Special Educational Provision being made 

Where the child or young person is not making expected progress, despite appropriate provision they should consider: 

  • any further Special Educational Provision needed 
  • whether the required provision could reasonably be provided from within the resources normally available to the education setting or 
  • whether it is necessary for the local authority to make special educational provision in accordance with an EHC plan 

Your appeal needs to explain and evidence reasons why you believe it is necessary for the special educational provision to be set out in an EHC plan. 

The LA must issue an EHCP if it is ‘necessary’ which means that the child needs an EHC plan in order to get the provision they require. To phrase this as a question: will the child receive the support they require without an EHC plan? If the answer is yes, then a plan is not necessary. If the answer is no, then a plan is necessary 

A child’s progress is not limited to academic attainment and can be across any of the four broad areas of need (communication and interaction; cognition and learning; social, emotional and mental health difficulties; sensory and/or physical (6.28 to 6.34 of the SEND Code of Practice). This means your child could be doing well academically but still require an EHCP as they have needs in another area which require provision to be made via an EHCP. 

Some types of evidence you might like to include are: 

  • Your child/young person’s views 
  • Progress reports 
  • IEP/support plan/pupil passport/provision map 
  • School costs – budget required for provision 
  • Home/school diaries 
  • Assessment/specialist reports 
  • Exclusion letters/reports 
  • Letters/emails from setting/local authority/health/specialist 
  • Examples of school or homework (can be helpful where rate of progress is in dispute) 
  • You can request a copy of your child’s school record