SEND35 form
A letter arrived, it has a deadline printed on it, and somewhere in it is a form number nobody has explained to you. SEND35 is that form. It costs nothing to file, parents and young people file it without a solicitor every week, and the one thing on it that can end the appeal before it starts is the date.
What the SEND35 form is
SEND35 is the appeal form of the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability), the tribunal that hears appeals against a local authority's decisions about an education, health and care plan. The tribunal is part of HM Courts and Tribunals Service and is independent of the council that wrote to you (First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability), read at source 22/09/2026).
The form itself, read at source 22/09/2026, says on its first page that you can use it if the local authority refused to make an EHC plan, refused to secure a reassessment of EHC needs, if you disagree with something written in Section B, F or I of the plan, or if the authority decided a plan is no longer necessary (Form SEND35 (Version 02, 02.2026), the form itself).
Is the send35 appeal form the same thing, and where does SEND35A come in
Same form, different words for it. People type send35 form, send 35 form and send35 appeal form, and all three mean the HMCTS appeal form above.
SEND35A is a different form and the difference decides your appeal. The first page of SEND35 states that if the child or young person has not been assessed, or the local authority has not agreed to assess them, you must complete the SEND35A appeal form (Form SEND35 (Version 02, 02.2026), the form itself, read at source 22/09/2026). So a refusal to assess is a SEND35A appeal, and everything that happens after an assessment is a SEND35 appeal. SEND35A is published on its own GOV.UK page as a PDF of 179 KB and 12 pages, last updated 5 March 2026 (SEND Tribunal appeal: Form SEND35A, a refusal to secure an EHC Needs Assessment, read at source 22/09/2026).
Where the official copy lives, free
One place, and it is the tribunal's own. The GOV.UK publication page for the form carries the official PDF, 479 KB and 24 pages, published 4 April 2018 and last updated 9 February 2026 (Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal appeal: Form SEND35, read at source 22/09/2026). The same page says the appeal can be completed online instead, and that free help using the online form is available from We Are Group on 03300 160 051.
The form is published free on GOV.UK, and no fee is named on the publication page or anywhere in the form itself (Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal appeal: Form SEND35, Form SEND35 (Version 02, 02.2026), the form itself, both read at source 22/09/2026). If a site is charging you for a copy of SEND35, close it.
What the SEND35 form asks for
Seventeen numbered sections, then a declaration, a checklist and a table for your evidence. Sections 1 to 7 are names, dates and contact details, and Sections 14 to 17 are other cases, hearing preferences and the support you need. These are the six that decide the appeal, read at source 22/09/2026 from Form SEND35 (Version 02, 02.2026), the form itself:
| Section | What it asks | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Section 8 | Type of appeal | Ticking refused to make an EHC plan, or refused to secure a reassessment, sends you straight to the reasons section |
| Section 9 | School, college or education provider | Only where the appeal is about Section I of the plan |
| Section 10 | Reasons for the appeal, at question 10.1 | This is your case. There is no other box for it |
| Section 11 | Health and social care recommendations | Optional, and the tribunal can make recommendations on Sections C, D, G and H |
| Section 12 | Mediation certificate | Yes or no, and if no, why not |
| Section 13 | Appealing on time | The date on the decision letter, the date on the certificate, and an explanation if you are late |
The note printed beside question 10.1 asks, for each issue you disagree with: what the issue is, why you disagree, what evidence you have, and what action you want the tribunal to take. The checklist at the back asks for a copy of the decision letter, a copy of the final EHC plan if you have one and the documents listed in its Section K, and a copy of the mediation certificate. Everything else goes in the supporting evidence table, which wants what each document is, who wrote it, its date and how many pages it runs to (Form SEND35 (Version 02, 02.2026), the form itself, read at source 22/09/2026).
The deadline the SEND35 form has to meet
Section 13 of the form is headed Appealing on time and states: you must submit this appeal within 2 months of the date on the local authority's decision letter, or within one month of the date on the mediation certificate if you have one (Form SEND35 (Version 02, 02.2026), the form itself, read at source 22/09/2026).
GOV.UK says the same thing and adds the word that matters: the tribunal must receive your appeal within 2 months of the date on the decision letter or a month from the date of the mediation certificate, whichever is later (Appeal an education, health and care (EHC) plan decision, read at source 22/09/2026). So the mediation certificate can lawfully buy you time, and it never shortens what the decision letter already gave you.
Late is not automatically over. Question 13.3 asks why the appeal is late and a tribunal judge reviews the answer (Form SEND35 (Version 02, 02.2026), the form itself). What we have not read at source is any published figure for how often a late appeal is admitted, so this page does not print one.
Mediation comes first, with one stated exception
GOV.UK states the rule and its exception in the same breath: you must consider mediation before you appeal to the tribunal, and you do not have to consider it if your appeal is only about which school or other institution you or your child should attend, which is Section I of the EHC plan. If you do not want mediation you still have to contact the mediation service to get a certificate, and without a certificate you have to tell the tribunal why (Appeal an EHC plan decision: before you appeal, read at source 22/09/2026).
Considering mediation and attending mediation are two different things. The certificate is the thing the form asks for.
What to do tonight, free
Refused to assess is SEND35A. Refused to issue a plan after an assessment, a refusal to reassess, a plan whose contents are wrong, or a decision to cease a plan, are all SEND35. What the assessment stage is and what a plan is, in plain words.
Section 10 is a box, not a template, and the tribunal reads what you put in it. Our model grounds document is free, with the headings a grounds document needs.
Your decision letter names the service. Ask for the certificate even if you do not want a meeting.
The date printed on the decision letter, and the date printed on the certificate. Those two dates are the whole of Section 13.
Context for you rather than evidence for the tribunal: look up your council's refusal rate, or see every English council ranked.
Everything on this site that helps with this, free
- What an EHC plan is, and the stages before one
- The grounds document, free, with a model to copy
- Your council's own refusal rate, looked up
- Every English council ranked by refusal rate
- Education otherwise than at school, if the placement is the argument
If you want the grounds written for you
Everything above is free and stays free, including the model grounds document. The one paid item in this lane is the pack that turns your answers into the grounds themselves, matched to the right form.
Build my SEND appeal pack, £11.99Answer 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.
Reading this with software? The composed answer is at /api/answer, described in /openapi.json; the plain-text index is /llms.txt, the dated change log /changes.json, and the orientation page /for-agents. Every page here also answers Accept: text/markdown, and the same document sits at the page path with .md added.
Where the dates on this page come from
- The 2 months, the one month from the mediation certificate, and the 30 working days the council gets to reply: GOV.UK, Appeal an education, health and care (EHC) plan decision, read at source 22/09/2026.
- Mediation before an appeal, and the certificate you need either way: GOV.UK, Appeal an EHC plan decision: before you appeal, read at source 22/09/2026.
- Where the official SEND35 copy lives, its size and its last update: HM Courts & Tribunals Service on GOV.UK, Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal appeal: Form SEND35, read at source 22/09/2026.
- The sections of the form, question 10.1, the checklist and the wording of Section 13: HM Courts & Tribunals Service, Form SEND35 (Version 02, 02.2026), the form itself, read at source 22/09/2026.
- The SEND35A form for a refusal to assess, its size and its last update: HM Courts & Tribunals Service on GOV.UK, SEND Tribunal appeal: Form SEND35A, a refusal to secure an EHC Needs Assessment, read at source 22/09/2026.
- Which tribunal hears the appeal, and what it is independent of: GOV.UK, First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability), read at source 22/09/2026.
Other help on this site
Free on every page: the appeal letter builder, the deadline calculator, the discount checker and the operator check. These are the paid ones, each named once, so you can see which lane is yours:
- One operator's full POPLA record, £20 once, for when a private parking charge.
- The county court claim defence pack, £79 once, for when a claim form has arrived.
EHCNA meaning: the other question this door is asked in those words → · What an EHC plan is → · EHCP refusal rates, council by council →
Sources named above: POPLA, Parking on Private Land Appeals