EHCP appeal letter: there isn't one — here is what you actually send

Parents search for an "EHCP appeal letter example" because that is how the appeal works. SEND Tribunal appeals are different: you file a form (SEND35A for a refusal to assess, SEND35 for the plan's contents), and your case goes in as a grounds document attached to it. The form has no box for your reasons. The model below is that grounds document — copy it, fill it in, delete what does not apply.

Form names, deadlines and mediation rule as used across our SEND guides · verified 03/08/2026

Before you write anything: the two-step gate

1. Contact a mediation adviser. The law requires you to have contacted an adviser — not to mediate. They issue a certificate either way, and the certificate can lawfully extend your deadline: 2 months from the decision or 1 month from the certificate, whichever is later.
2. File the right form. Refused to assess or refused to issue a plan → SEND35A. Disagreeing with what a plan says (Sections B, F or I) → SEND35. Free to file, on paper or through GOV.UK's online service.

The model grounds document

Attach this as a separate document to the form. Keep it to the point — the Tribunal reads the evidence; the grounds tell it where to look.

GROUNDS OF APPEAL — [child's name], d.o.b. [date]
Appeal against: [name of council]'s decision of [date of decision letter]
Decision appealed: [refusal to carry out an EHC needs assessment / refusal to issue a plan / contents of the plan]

1. THE LEGAL TEST
The council must assess where the child has or may have special educational
needs, and it may be necessary for provision to be made through an EHC plan
(Children and Families Act 2014, s.36(8)). The test is "may" — not proof.

2. THE NEEDS
[List each area of need in short numbered points. For each: what is seen at
home and school, and which attached document evidences it — e.g. "2.1 Severe
anxiety around attendance — GP record 12 May (attachment A); attendance
printout showing decline from 96% to 61% (attachment B)."]

3. WHY THE COUNCIL'S REASONS ARE WRONG
[Take the refusal letter's reasons one by one. Common ones and the answer:
"no diagnosis" — the law does not require one; "school has not yet spent
£[X] / exhausted SEN support" — not a statutory precondition; "making some
progress" — the question is whether provision through a plan may be
necessary, not whether there is zero progress.]

4. WHAT WE ASK THE TRIBUNAL TO ORDER
[E.g. "That the council carry out an EHC needs assessment."]

ATTACHMENTS
A. [document, date]   B. [document, date]   C. [...]

Three rules that decide these appeals

• Evidence beats adjectives. "Severe anxiety" persuades nobody; a GP record dated and attached does. Every claim in section 2 should name its attachment.
• Answer the letter you actually got. Section 3 works through the council's own stated reasons — the Tribunal wants to know why this refusal is wrong, not why councils in general are.
• Do not wait for a "reconsideration". A council offering to reconsider does not stop your deadline. File on time; withdraw later if they concede.

Context for morale: the SEND Tribunal that hears an appeal is independent of the council that refused you and decides on the evidence in front of it — outcomes are published quarterly in the Ministry of Justice tribunal statistics. Refusal is a council decision, not a legal verdict. Your council's refusal rate is here; the full process is on our EHCP guide.

Answer plain-English questions about the decision and your child, and get Tribunal-ready grounds in minutes — matched to the right HMCTS form, SEND35 or SEND35A.

Questions people ask before they file

Sources named above: Children and Families Act 2014, Part 3