Court Guide · Sources checked 13 September 2026
Where to start
A delay, a refusal to assess and disagreement with the contents of a plan are different problems. Use the council data for context, then check the route for the actual decision. English EHC plans and Welsh individual development plans operate under different systems.
Identify the decision being challenged
Keep the council’s decision letter, the date it was received and the plan or assessment documents. Note whether the issue is a refusal to assess, a refusal to issue a plan, a plan’s contents, a school placement or a failure to carry out an action. A complaint about delay is not automatically the same as a tribunal appeal.
Check mediation and appeal requirements
The official guidance explains when mediation advice or a certificate is required and when an exception applies. Check the decision-specific time limit and the correct appeal form. Do not assume that an ongoing complaint or discussion with the council extends that time limit.
Organise a focused evidence pack
Gather the decision, relevant plan sections, professional reports, school evidence and the child or young person’s views. Create a chronology of requests and responses. Ask an adviser what evidence addresses the particular disagreement and what the tribunal can decide.
Use local independent support
The SEND information, advice and support service finder routes families to their local service. Check how to contact the service, who it supports and its current waiting times. Mediation providers, legal-aid advisers and specialist education solicitors have different roles; confirm which help is available for your issue.
Specific situations
Find your area, provider or topic
154 resources
- Barking and Dagenham2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Barnet2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Barnsley2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Bath and North East Somerset2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Bedford2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Bexley2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Birmingham2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Blackburn with Darwen2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Blackpool2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Bolton2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Bracknell Forest2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Bradford2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Brent2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Brighton and Hove2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Bristol, City of2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Bromley2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Buckinghamshire2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Bury2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Calderdale2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Cambridgeshire2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Camden2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Central Bedfordshire2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Cheshire East2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Cheshire West and Chester2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- City of London2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Cornwall2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- County Durham2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Coventry2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Croydon2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Cumberland2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Darlington2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Derby2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Derbyshire2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Devon2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Doncaster2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Dorset2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Dudley2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Ealing2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- East Riding of Yorkshire2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- East Sussex2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Enfield2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- England2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Essex2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Gateshead2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Gloucestershire2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Greenwich2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Hackney2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Halton2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Hammersmith and Fulham2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Hampshire2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Haringey2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Harrow2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Hartlepool2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Havering2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Herefordshire, County of2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Hertfordshire2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Hillingdon2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Hounslow2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Isle of Wight2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Isles of Scilly2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Islington2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Kensington and Chelsea2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Kent2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Kingston upon Hull, City of2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Kingston upon Thames2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Kirklees2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Knowsley2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Lambeth2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Lancashire2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Leeds2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Leicester2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Leicestershire2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Lewisham2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Lincolnshire2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Liverpool2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Luton2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Manchester2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Medway2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Merton2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Middlesbrough2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Milton Keynes2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Newcastle upon Tyne2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Newham2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Norfolk2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- North East Lincolnshire2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- North Lincolnshire2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- North Northamptonshire2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- North Somerset2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- North Tyneside2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- North Yorkshire2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Northumberland2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Nottingham2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Nottinghamshire2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Oldham2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Oxfordshire2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Peterborough2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Plymouth2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Portsmouth2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Reading2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Redbridge2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Redcar and Cleveland2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Richmond upon Thames2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Rochdale2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Rotherham2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Rutland2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Salford2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Sandwell2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Sefton2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Sheffield2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Shropshire2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Slough2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Solihull2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Somerset2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- South Gloucestershire2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- South Tyneside2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Southampton2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Southend-on-Sea2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Southwark2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- St. Helens2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Staffordshire2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Stockport2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Stockton-on-Tees2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Stoke-on-Trent2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Suffolk2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Sunderland2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Surrey2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Sutton2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Swindon2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Tameside2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Telford and Wrekin2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Thurrock2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Torbay2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Tower Hamlets2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Trafford2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Wakefield2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Walsall2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Waltham Forest2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Wandsworth2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Warrington2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Warwickshire2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- West Berkshire2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- West Northamptonshire2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- West Sussex2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Westminster2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Westmorland and Furness2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Wigan2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Wiltshire2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Windsor and Maidenhead2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Wirral2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Wokingham2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Wolverhampton2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- Worcestershire2023–2026 (measure-specific years)
- York2023–2026 (measure-specific years)