Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal

What is the Special Educational Needs and Disbility Tribunal (SENDIST)?
The Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal is an independent body that hears and decides:
  • parents' appeals against LA decisions on statutory assessment and statements of special educational needs
  • parents'claims of disability discrimination in schools
For more information go to the SENDIST Website at www.sendist.gov.uk/.

Back to top Special Educational Needs Appeals

You can appeal to the tribunal if the LA:
  • refuses to make a Statutory Assessment after you have asked them to
  • refuses to make a Statement of SEN after making a Statutory Assessment
  • has made a Statement of SEN for your child, or changed a previous statement, and you disagree with Part 2 (your child's special educational needs), Part 3 (the special educational help for your child) or Part 4 (the school your child should attend) of the statement
  • refuses to change the school named in your child's statement if that statement is at last a year old (but you can only ask for an LA maintained school)
  • refuses to reassess your child's special educational needs if they have not made a new assessment for at last 6 months
  • decides not to change the statement after reassessing your child
  • decides to stop maintaining (i.e. cancels) your child's statement

You should bring an appeal within the 2 month time limit from the date of the LA decision. This time limit can only be extended in exceptional cases.

If the Tribunal can deal with the appeal you and the LA will be asked to provide certain documents and a hearing date will be agreed. The appeal hearing will normally take no more than half a day. You can ask voluntary organisations, parents' groups or your Independent Parental Supporter to help you prepare your case and go with you to the hearing. You can also ask up to two professionals who know your child well to speak at the hearing.

The Tribunal will make a decision by looking at all the evidence. This includes the documents provided by you and the LA and also what is said at the hearing. The decision will be sent to you and the LA by post, normally within 10 working days of the hearing.

The Tribunal decision is final as far as the facts of the case are concerned. However both you and the LA can appeal to the High Court against the Tribunal's decision if you believe they got the law wrong.

The LA should send you information about the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal. The Tribunal produces guidance leaflets describing the details of how to make an appeal. They also produce a video/DVD called "Right to be Heard" which highlights what happens at an appeal hearing. To obtain these directly from the Tribunal go to the SENDIST Website at www.sendist.gov.uk/ or call their SEN helpline on 0870 241 2555.

Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham Parent Partnership can assist you with making Tribunal appeals against LA decisions on SEN. Amongst other things we have copies of the Tribunal information booklets in English, Bengali, Chinese Greek, Gujerati, Hindi Punjabi, Turkish, Urdu and Vietnamese. You can also borrow the Tribunal "Right to be Heard" video from us. For more information please see the Support for Parents/Carers page.

Back to top Disability Discrimination Claims

Disability discrimination happens when a person is treated less favourably than someone without a disability, for a reason related to the disability, and this cannot be justified. If you think your child has been discriminated against because of his or her disability in a school in England or Wales (including a nursery school or nursery classes in a school) you may be able to bring a claim at the Special Educational Needs and Disbility Tribunal.

For more information please see the SENDIST Website at www.sendist.gov.uk/ or contact their Discrimination Helpline on 0870 606 5750 .

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