Your EHCP amendments were refused — what next?
The council finalised the plan without your changes. Your options: written reasons, further evidence, mediation, and appeal to the SEND Tribunal.
The council finalised the plan but ignored (or refused) your requested amendments. First: ask for the reasons in writing for each refused point. Those reasons matter enormously in the next stage.
Your options
- Appeal to the SEND Tribunal. Parents can appeal the contents of Sections B, F and I of a final plan. The appeal window is normally two months from the final plan (or one month from a mediation certificate). Tribunals increasingly expect local authorities to justify vague or unquantified provision.
- Mediation. Before appealing you must consider mediation and obtain a certificate. Mediation is free and resolves a meaningful share of disputes — but it is your choice whether to attend.
- Keep the evidence flowing. New professional reports strengthen B and F points far more than argument alone.
- Use the annual review. If you don't appeal now, the annual review is the next formal opportunity to seek amendments (and you can ask for an early review).
Why written refusals help
A council that refuses to quantify "regular support" must explain why. At tribunal, "we don't usually specify numbers" is a weak answer against a Code that expects detailed and quantified provision.
Free help for appeals: IPSEA and SOS!SEN. Our checker and response letter put your case in its strongest written form before it gets that far.
Have a draft plan in front of you? Run the free draft check — it finds weak wording in about two minutes, entirely in your browser.