If you are unhappy with our decision following the meeting, and your disagreement is about the education part of the EHC plan, you can appeal to the tribunal. The tribunal is an independent body that hears appeals about our decisions following a request for an education, health and care. The appeal will be heard by a panel that is made up of a tribunal judge and two specialist members who have experience and expertise in this area. The tribunal can only hear appeals about the education elements of the EHC plan.
Appeals can be made to the tribunal by parents, carers and young people who are over 16 but, before you contact the tribunal, you must contact a mediation adviser in most cases before you can lodge an appeal. The only time you do not have to contact a mediation adviser is if your appeal is only about:
- the name of the school or type of school named in the EHC plan or,
- we haven’t named a school in the EHC plan.
The mediation adviser will let you know what happens in mediation and discuss whether you want to try to resolve the disagreement this way. You do not have to agree to take part in a mediation meeting but before you can appeal to the tribunal you must get a certificate from a mediation adviser to confirm that they’ve discussed the option of mediation with you.
Email send@justice.gov.uk for more information.