EHCP refusal rates by council (2025)

How often does your council say no? These are Department for Education figures for requests for an EHC needs assessment, by local authority, ranked highest refusal rate first. The England average is 26.4%.

Why this matters: a refusal is a council decision, not a legal verdict. The vast majority of SEND Tribunal appeals that reach a hearing are decided in the parents' favour — so a high local refusal rate says more about the council's threshold than about the children being refused.

Council	Refused	Requests	Refusals
Walsall	61.2%	995	609
Bracknell Forest	60.5%	337	204
Sunderland	57.9%	648	375
Devon	52.5%	2,329	1,223
Derbyshire	50.4%	2,682	1,352
Gateshead	49.5%	400	198
East Sussex	49.3%	1,216	599
Kent	48.2%	4,401	2,122
Sutton	47.6%	658	313
Windsor and Maidenhead	45.5%	354	161
Doncaster	45.3%	825	374
Wakefield	45.2%	858	388
Southwark	43.3%	638	276
North Somerset	42.2%	957	404
Bedford	41.8%	558	233
Derby	41.1%	708	291
East Riding of Yorkshire	40.8%	642	262
Cheshire West and Chester	40.5%	1,029	417
West Northamptonshire	39.9%	1,575	628
Solihull	39.8%	533	212
Hackney	39.6%	674	267
South Gloucestershire	39.5%	848	335
South Tyneside	39.4%	353	139
Central Bedfordshire	39%	826	322
Darlington	38.2%	285	109
Lincolnshire	37.4%	1,988	743
Northumberland	37.1%	923	342
Cumberland	36.6%	673	246
Halton	36.1%	526	190
Wokingham	36.1%	415	150
Staffordshire	35.9%	2,427	872
Kingston upon Hull, City of	35.3%	967	341
Liverpool	35%	2,119	742
Kirklees	34.9%	954	333
Hillingdon	34.3%	749	257
County Durham	34.1%	1,157	394
Bury	33.8%	622	210
Isles of Scilly	33.3%	6	2
Stockport	33.3%	959	319
Gloucestershire	32.9%	1,734	571
Brighton and Hove	32.6%	733	239
Warrington	32.6%	625	204
Hartlepool	32.5%	246	80
Lambeth	32.5%	769	250
Thurrock	32.4%	744	241
Telford and Wrekin	32.2%	562	181
Knowsley	31.4%	724	227
Cornwall	31.3%	1,544	484
Barnsley	31%	783	243
Bexley	30.9%	786	243
Bolton	30.8%	814	251
Blackpool	30.6%	506	155
Somerset	30.5%	1,437	438
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	30.2%	1,182	357
Barnet	30%	990	297
Oldham	29.2%	872	255
Salford	29.2%	1,052	307
Birmingham	28.6%	2,726	779
Hounslow	28.4%	817	232
Stoke-on-Trent	28%	860	241
Haringey	27.8%	554	154
Wigan	27.6%	1,052	290
Wiltshire	27.6%	1,209	334
West Sussex	27.5%	2,834	778
Nottinghamshire	27.3%	1,762	481
Coventry	27.2%	1,156	315
Hertfordshire	27.2%	3,340	909
Middlesbrough	26.9%	446	120
Brent	26.8%	757	203
Bromley	26.4%	1,122	296
Rotherham	26.1%	1,105	288
Leicestershire	25.9%	2,000	519
Swindon	25.8%	761	196
Tameside	25.7%	961	247
Lancashire	25.3%	3,630	918
Luton	25%	519	130
Lewisham	24.8%	664	165
Kingston upon Thames	24.7%	356	88
Plymouth	24.6%	1,126	277
Merton	24.2%	607	147
Westmorland and Furness	24.2%	598	145
Essex	24%	4,307	1,035
Rochdale	24%	782	188
Bradford	23.6%	2,070	489
York	23.6%	529	125
Richmond upon Thames	23.5%	345	81
Wandsworth	23.5%	597	140
Warwickshire	23.2%	2,204	512
St. Helens	23.1%	666	154
Manchester	22.9%	2,269	520
Torbay	22.8%	421	96
Herefordshire, County of	22.7%	582	132
Newham	22.5%	1,000	225
Dudley	22.4%	953	213
Southend-on-Sea	21.9%	662	145
Oxfordshire	21.7%	1,801	390
Bath and North East Somerset	21.4%	527	113
Slough	21.3%	460	98
Enfield	20.5%	1,025	210
Havering	20.5%	766	157
Hammersmith and Fulham	20.4%	339	69
Sefton	20.2%	1,013	205
Hampshire	20.1%	4,159	836
City of London	20%	5	1
Islington	20%	481	96
Harrow	19.9%	592	118
Shropshire	19.6%	857	168
Wirral	19.4%	1,401	272
Newcastle upon Tyne	19.2%	725	139
Medway	18.9%	1,159	219
Redbridge	18.8%	698	131
Suffolk	18.8%	2,609	490
Reading	18.3%	595	109
Tower Hamlets	18.1%	957	173
Redcar and Cleveland	18%	372	67
Peterborough	17.9%	770	138
Trafford	17.9%	537	96
Dorset	17.3%	1,021	177
Buckinghamshire	17.2%	1,754	302
Blackburn with Darwen	17.1%	386	66
Kensington and Chelsea	17%	141	24
North Lincolnshire	17%	546	93
North Northamptonshire	16.9%	1,383	234
Portsmouth	16.6%	590	98
Cheshire East	16.4%	1,065	175
Surrey	16.4%	3,283	537
Bristol, City of	16.2%	1,471	239
North Tyneside	15.8%	570	90
Stockton-on-Tees	15.8%	685	108
Westminster	15.6%	270	42
Worcestershire	15.1%	1,973	297
North Yorkshire	14.9%	1,412	210
Ealing	14.7%	837	123
Camden	14.6%	315	46
Norfolk	14.6%	2,382	347
Barking and Dagenham	14%	636	89
Sandwell	13.9%	1,286	179
Croydon	13.3%	1,367	182
North East Lincolnshire	13.3%	503	67
Calderdale	13.2%	627	83
Greenwich	12.6%	809	102
Leeds	10.3%	3,424	353
Sheffield	9.6%	1,454	139
Nottingham	9%	788	71
Rutland	7.5%	134	10
Cambridgeshire	7.2%	1,978	142
Wolverhampton	6%	647	39
Southampton	4.9%	612	30
West Berkshire	2%	450	9
Leicester	0%	199	0
Milton Keynes	0%	749	0
Waltham Forest	0%	703	0

Not separately published in this release: Isle of Wight.

Source: DfE, Education, health and care plans (requests for an EHC needs assessment), published 25 June 2026. Open Government Licence v3.0.

General information, not legal advice. Free specialist SEND advice is available from IPSEA and your local SENDIASS service.