The number of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) tribunal appeals has risen to 25,000 – a rise of almost a fifth over the previous year.
Figures for 2024-25, published by the Department for Education (DfE), show that parents were overwhelmingly successful in using tribunals to get the right provision for their children.
The latest figures also indicate that both the number of cases being received, and the number being resolved, have reached record highs. New appeals currently outstrip the number of resolved cases.
Georgia Gould, the schools minister said every case “reflects a family forced to fight just to get their child the right support”.
Most appeals, 61%, were about the content of education, health and care plans (EHCPs), while a quarter were against a refusal for an EHCP assessment.
Of the appeals relating to a child’s school placement, almost a third resulted in the parent getting their preference, a quarter resulted in the local authority agreeing with the parent at the hearing, and 13% ruled in favour of the local authority’s school preference.
The latest figures were published as the DfE responded to the findings of the MPs’ report, Solving the SEND Crisis, published in September.
It is due to publish its white paper outlining future SEND plans early in the new year.
In its response to the Commons Education Select Committee report, the government said that it recognised the importance of “retaining the SEND tribunal as an important legal backstop for families” and acknowledged that the existing SEND system does not work for every family.
However, it did not address all of the committee’s concerns, as is customary. Helen Hayes, chair of the education committee, said: “We understand that the government isn’t in a position to answer our report’s recommendations in detail whilst it is still developing its SEND reforms.
“However, the current response will only suffice as an interim response because it does not directly address any of our report’s recommendations in the way that is expected of an official response to a select committee inquiry.”
