“The council won't even assess my child.”
The council has refused to carry out an Education, Health and Care needs assessment. An appeal asks the Tribunal to order one, and this is usually the quickest appeal to run.
Reviewed by Tom, specialist SEND advocate. Last updated 19 August 2026.
The law sets a deliberately low bar at this stage. Under section 36 of the Children and Families Act 2014, the council must carry out an assessment if it appears to them that your child has, or may have, special educational needs, and that it may be necessary for special educational provision to be made through an EHC plan.
Both of those are “may” tests, not “does” tests. The council does not get to wait for certainty, and neither does the Tribunal. On appeal, the Tribunal looks at the evidence fresh and asks only whether that low threshold is crossed, not whether the school is currently coping, and not whether the council's decision was a reasonable one to reach.
We build the appeal around that threshold: what your child's difficulties are, why they may amount to special educational needs, and why an EHC plan may be needed to meet them.
The appeal deadline
Before this appeal can be registered you need a mediation certificate. That does not mean you have to mediate: you contact a mediation adviser, and once advised you can take the certificate and appeal without mediating. The deadline is two months from the date the council sent you notice of its decision and of your right to appeal (usually the date on the refusal letter), or one month from the date of your mediation certificate, whichever is later. Miss it, and the Tribunal can refuse to hear the appeal at all, so it is worth acting as soon as the letter arrives.
How long it takes
Because the legal question is narrow (does the low “may” threshold get crossed), many of these appeals are resolved by the council agreeing to assess once they see the evidence properly set out, often well before a hearing date. Tribunal listing times vary widely and the system is heavily backlogged, so we won't quote a generic figure: we tell you the realistic current picture for your case on the free call.
What we do at each stage
We register the appeal within the statutory deadline and set out the grounds around the assessment threshold specifically, not a generic template.
School records, your own account, and anything already written by a professional who knows your child, assembled to show the threshold is met.
Refusal letters often lean on a single line of reasoning. We correspond with the council directly, and it is common for that reasoning not to survive contact with the evidence.
A significant share of these appeals end with the council agreeing to assess before a hearing is needed, once they have seen the case properly made.
If the council holds its position, we prepare the bundle and argue the threshold question at the hearing.
What it costs
Casework for a refusal to assess appeal is £1,800 including VAT, covering everything from registration to a final hearing if one is needed. If a hearing does go ahead, that is a separate £1,800 per hearing day, billed only when the case actually reaches that stage. Because most of these appeals are shorter than other appeal types, and a good number settle before a hearing date is even set, this is often the appeal type where the full ladder is never reached.
All prices include VAT, ex-VAT figures shown as small print. For the full stage-by-stage breakdown, the hearing-day representation-only rate, and the stage-billing table, see every SEND tribunal fee we charge.
From our casework
Questions parents ask first
Do I need a diagnosis to appeal?
What if the council says my child is coping fine at school?
Not sure this is your appeal? Not ready to commit to casework yet? see what a written case review gives you before you decide.
Book a free 20-minute call. We will listen, and give you a straight view on whether an appeal is worth bringing.