Stage 1 · If they say no
The Local Authority said no to assessing
The Local Authority will only assess if they have evidence that a child may need more support than school would .
When deciding whether or not to carry out an assessment, the Local Authority needs to answer these two questions:
1. Does your child have, or might they have, a special educational need (SEN)?
2. Might your child need more support than what the school is ?
The deadline: you have two months from the date on the Local Authority's letter to appeal to the tribunal — or one month from your mediation certificate, if that is later.
Before you can appeal, you must contact the mediation adviser named in the Local Authority's letter. You don't have to go to , but the tribunal won't accept your appeal without the certificate the adviser gives you — and you get one whether or not you go ahead with mediation.
To make a successful appeal
If you think that the evidence indicates that your child might need more support than school would , then present this clearly at tribunal or mediation. How much support are they receiving now? And are they making sufficient progress with that support? A "costed provision map" is the best evidence, if the school has this: a simple list of interventions and costs. If this comes close to, or more than, the accepted threshold, then this is very strong evidence that an assessment is needed. Even if the support is lower, but your child is clearly not making progress and so might need more support, that is evidence too.