Assessments

If your local education authority has carried out a special educational needs (SEN) assessment it may decide to record that information in a statement of special educational needs.

The statement is divided into six parts:

• Part 1 contains general information about your child and the people consulted as part of the assessment.
• Part 2 is a description of your child’s needs. This will refer to the professional advice obtained during the assessment.
• Part 3 details the help that will be provided to meet those needs. The objectives of the provision should be described and arrangements made for monitoring progress to see if those objectives are achieved.
• Part 4 describes the type and specific name of the school your child should attend.
• Part 5 describes your child’s non-educational needs.
• Part 6 explains the help that will be provided to meet any non-educational needs.

All the reports obtained during your child's assessment will also be attached to the statement.

The local authority will send you a draft before writing the final statement. Part 4, which describes the school your child should attend, is left blank to allow for your comments.

Your comments on the statement

You have 15 days to comment on the draft statement, and it is important to check it carefully. You should check:

• that the statement includes all your child’s needs,
• that it lists all the help they need in detail (such as the number of hours of help needed and who will provide the help),
• details of any special equipment needed,
• that speech and language therapy, if they are needed, are mentioned in the statement and that they are included in part 3 rather than part 6 because this will have more legal force, and
• that there are no points of disagreement between the professional reports and the statement.

If you need more information before commenting, you can ask for a meeting with the local authority. You are then allowed 15 days from the last meeting you have with them to provide your comments. If you find it difficult to comment within this period of time you should contact the person at the local authority who is dealing with your child’s case, known as the named officer.

A local parent partnership scheme will be able to advise you about this process (see External links).

The local authority will provide you with a final statement within eight weeks of the draft statement being completed.

Reviews

The statement will be reviewed by the local authority at least annually. You will be asked to attend a review meeting so that you can contribute your views about your child’s progress. The school will then send you a written report, including any agreed changes to the statement.

Transition

When your child reaches the age of 14 the education department will prepare a transitional plan to ensure a smooth transition to adult care services.

Disputing the statement

There are various ways of disputing the statement (see Challenging a special educational needs decision, below). Be careful to meet the time limits for a challenge to a tribunal.

You may decide that you want to challenge a decision made about provision for your child with special educational needs.

From November 2011 a new two-tier tribunal system replaced the old Special Educational Needs and Disability stand-alone body. The panel of specialists and judges continue to work in the same way as before. 

You must make an appeal to this tribunal within two months of the local authority’s final written decision being sent to you.

Decisions you can appeal about

You cannot appeal against all decisions made by the local authority. Some of the decisions which you can appeal to a tribunal about are:

• refusal to carry out a statutory assessment of your child’s special educational needs,
• refusal to make a statement of those needs following assessment,
• refusal to reassess the special educational needs (in certain circumstances),
• the parts of the statement describing your child’s special educational needs (part 2) and the provision to meet those needs (part 3), and
• the school or type of school named in part 4 of the statement.

The tribunal cannot deal with:

• the way the local authority carried out the assessment or any delays,
• the description of non-educational needs (part 5) and the provision to meet those needs (part 6).

How to appeal

An appeal is made by completing an appeal form and returning it in the post to the tribunal at Special Educational Needs and Disability Panel, First-tier tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability), Mowden Hall, Staindrop Road, Darlington, DL3 9BG or by fax to 01325 391080. You can request a form by calling 0870 241 2555.

The appeal is registered by the tribunal and a copy of it sent to the local authority, which has to respond to it within 30 working days.

A hearing will be arranged and you will be informed of the venue and time at least 10 working days in advance. The hearing may last between half a day and a full day and you will normally receive the tribunal’s decision in writing within 10 working days of the hearing.

Advice and assistance with an appeal

Parent partnership services may be able to advise you about an appeal.

You may be entitled to public funding (legal aid) to pay for the costs of a solicitor to advise you and represent you at the hearing. Contact the Law Society to find a solicitor with the relevant expertise.

There are some organisations that provide a mediation service in special educational needs cases to try to resolve disputes.