Get mediation advice if you disagree with an education, health and care decision

What to do if you don't agree with our decision to do with an education, health and care (EHC) assessment or plan, and how to appeal to the SEND Tribunal.

How mediation advice works

Mediation is when people who disagree about something meet up with someone whose job is to help them to find a way to agree.

Please talk to your casework officer before you get mediation advice.

Check if you need a mediation certificate

You need to get mediation certificate before you make an appeal if you disagree with:

  • a decision not to do an EHC assessment or reassessment
  • an education part of the EHC plan

You don’t need to get a mediation certificate if your disagreement is about:

  • the education placement, such as a school or college, named in the EHC plan
  • the health or care part of an EHC plan

How to get a mediation certificate

There are two ways to get a mediation certificate:

  1. go through the mediation process, and if you don't fully agree by the end of the process you'll get a mediation certificate
  2. speak to the mediation service, who will explain how mediation works, your rights and give you a certificate if you don’t want mediation

Contact our local mediation service called Global Mediation to book an appointment or get more information.

How to make an appeal

If mediation isn’t successful or you don’t want mediation advice, you can make an appeal to the SEND Tribunal who manage the appeal process.

You can appeal up to 2 months from the date on the decision letter, or 1 month from the date the mediation certificate was issued, whichever is later.

More information

Find out how the appeals process works and how the SEND Tribunal makes decisions on the GOV.UK website.

Check if you can get help with with appeal costs, called legal aid.

Organisations and charities that also provide free and independent advice include: