The first 48 hours
- Diary the date on the decision letter. The 2-month appeal deadline runs from that date.
- Save the letter, with envelope, in a labelled folder (paper or digital).
- Do not phone the council to complain; anything you say will not change the decision and may complicate the record.
- Do not request a fresh assessment; it resets the clock and gives the council another refusal.
Read the refusal letter properly
The letter must set out the council's reasons and your appeal rights. Reasons usually fall into a small set of patterns:
- "No diagnosis." Weakest possible refusal. SEND Code of Practice 6.36 explicitly says a diagnosis is not required. See our EHCP without a diagnosis guide.
- "School is meeting need." Council is claiming SEN Support is enough. Counter with the evidence that it is not: attendance data, behaviour logs, attainment.
- "Not enough evidence." The council had a duty to gather the evidence during assessment. If they did not, that is a procedural ground for appeal.
- "Not yet: try X first." Refusal in disguise. There is no statutory "wait list" of interventions to try before requesting an EHCP.
Ask for the full rationale
If the letter is short on detail, request a copy of the SEND panel's minutes and the educational psychologist report relied on. This is a Subject Access Request under UK GDPR, which is free and due within one calendar month. The panel minutes often reveal a much weaker reasoning chain than the letter suggests, which strengthens an appeal.
The pre-action letter
Before appealing, send a pre-action letter to the SEND team, citing section 36, the Code of Practice paragraph the refusal contradicts, and the published SEND Tribunal outcome figures. It sets out the legal points the council has to answer, and gives it the chance to agree an assessment without going to tribunal, which would save 6 to 10 months.
When to escalate to tribunal
If the council does not budge within 14 days of the pre-action letter, lodge the appeal. The full process is covered in our EHCP appeal & SEND Tribunal guide. No fee, no solicitor needed, and 99% of SEND Tribunal appeals decided in 2024/25 were decided in favour of the appellant (Ministry of Justice, Tribunal Statistics Quarterly).
Frequently asked questions
How soon do I have to act after an EHCP refusal?
Diary the date on the decision letter immediately. You have 2 months from that date to lodge a SEND Tribunal appeal. There is a one-month extension if you take a mediation certificate, but mediation is not the first thing to do.
Should I just request a reassessment instead?
No. A reassessment request resets the clock and gives the council another chance to refuse. The appeal route is faster, and 99% of SEND Tribunal appeals decided in 2024/25 were decided in favour of the appellant (Ministry of Justice).
Can I ask the council to reconsider without going to tribunal?
Yes, a structured pre-action letter setting out where the refusal contradicts the Code of Practice often prompts a U-turn, especially on weak 'no diagnosis' or 'school is coping' refusals.
What if the refusal is for content of an issued plan, not refusal to assess?
Same right of appeal, same 2-month deadline. Section B (needs), Section F (provision) and Section I (placement) are the appealable parts. The published outcome figure covers all decided appeals together and is not broken down by type of appeal.