EHCP Appeal Deadline Finder

Yes. If the plan names a mainstream when you asked for a special school, the only way to challenge this is through an appeal. The Tribunal, not the council, will then make a decision.

Yes. Being “on a waiting list” is not a lawful substitute for naming a school in Section I. If you wait, you could lose your two-month window to appeal.

Yes. The law does not allow the council to delay your right to appeal while they wait for a panel meeting. If you don’t appeal within two months of the Final EHCP, you may miss your chance.

You can appeal a refusal to carry out an EHC assessment, a refusal to issue an EHCP following an assessment and the contents of a final or amended final EHCP (Sections B, F, and/or I). You can also appeal if the local authority decide you or your child does not need a plan anymore.

Your appeal must be received by the SEND Tribunal within two months of the date on the local authority decision letter, or within one month of the date on your mediation certificate, whichever is later.

Usually yes. You must contact a mediation adviser for disputes about Sections B or F, and for appeals about refusal to assess and refusal to issue. If your appeal is about Section I only (placement only), you do not have to contact mediation.

If B or F are included, you do need to contact the mediation adviser. The Section I exemption only applies when you appeal Section I on its own.

KIDS provides SEND mediation for Hertfordshire. You can contact them via the KIDS mediation page.

Use the date on the decision letter, not the day you opened it. Keep copies of the letter.

If you contact the mediation adviser within the two-month window and get a mediation certificate, you will have until the later of the two dates: two months from the decision letter, or one month from the certificate.

Two months from the date on the decision letter. You do not need a mediation certificate for a Section I only appeal.

A certificate should still be issued so you can appeal. Services may treat this as a deemed certificate if mediation has not taken place within 30 days. Ask the provider to issue it.

You can ask the Tribunal to accept a late appeal, explaining why it is late, but it is not guaranteed.