Your Child's SEND Rights: What You're Entitled To

Children and young people with SEND, and their families, have a set of legal rights that are, unfortunately, not always well understood – including by the professionals who are supposed to uphold them. These rights are rooted in a combination of domestic legislation, statutory guidance and, increasingly, international human rights frameworks. Understanding them is empowering: families who know their rights are better placed to advocate effectively for the provision their children need and to challenge decisions they believe are wrong.

Rights on paper are only as good as the systems that implement and enforce them. The evidence is clear that the SEND system in England does not always uphold these rights in practice. The 2019 Ofsted/Care Quality Commission review of SEND services found widespread failures across local areas, and annual survey data from SEND families consistently shows high levels of dissatisfaction with the system. Understanding the law is, therefore, not an academic exercise but a practical tool for families navigating a system that may not always work as it should.

The Children and Families Act 2014

The Children and Families Act 2014 is the primary legislation governing SEND rights in England. Part 3 of the Act established the current framework, replacing the Education Act 1996 provisions and introducing the EHC Plan, the local offer, and strengthened rights for parents and young people. Key provisions include:

• the right to request an EHC needs assessment
• the presumption in favour of mainstream education where the parent wishes it
• the right to request a personal budget for elements of the EHC Plan
• the requirement for a graduated approach to support
• extended rights for young people aged 16–25 to exercise their own rights independently of their parents

The Act places a general duty on local authorities to exercise their SEND functions in the best interests of children and young people and to have regard to the views and wishes of children and parents throughout the process. These are important provisions: they require local authorities to treat SEND families as partners, not as recipients of services they have no say in shaping. When a local authority fails to involve parents meaningfully, this is not only a departure from good practice – it is a breach of their statutory duty.

The Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 provides a separate but complementary set of rights for disabled children, grounded in disability discrimination law rather than SEND education law. Under the Equality Act, disability is broadly defined: a person has a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. This definition is wider than the definition of SEN and captures many children who would not necessarily have an EHCP or receive SEN support.

The Equality Act requires all service providers (including schools, nurseries, after-school clubs and holiday clubs) to make reasonable adjustments to avoid putting disabled people at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled people. The duty is anticipatory: service providers must think in advance about what adjustments they might need to make, rather than waiting until a disabled person makes a request. Failure to make reasonable adjustments is disability discrimination and can be challenged through the SEND Tribunal (for education) or the county court (for other services).

The SEND Tribunal

The First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability), commonly known as the SEND Tribunal, hears appeals from parents and young people against local authority decisions in relation to EHC Plans. The Tribunal can hear appeals about:

• a refusal to assess
• a refusal to issue a plan
• the content of a plan (specifically the description of needs in Section B, the educational provision in Section F and the school or setting named in Section I)
• a decision to cease maintaining a plan

The Tribunal is independent of the local authority and has the power to order the local authority to conduct an assessment, issue a plan, amend the content of a plan or maintain a plan that the authority sought to cease. The Tribunal process is quasi-judicial but is designed to be accessible to parents without legal representation, though many families do engage lawyers, particularly for complex cases. The Tribunal’s decisions are binding on local authorities.

The Local Offer and Transparency

Every local authority in England is required under section 30 of the Children and Families Act 2014 to publish a local offer: a description of the education, health and social care services available for children and young people with SEND in the local area, from birth to age 25. The local offer must be comprehensive, accessible and responsive to feedback from SEND families.

In practice, the quality of local offers varies significantly between areas. Parents should use the local offer as a starting point for understanding what services are available, but should not assume that everything that should be available is listed, or that everything listed is actually accessible. SENDIASS (the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Service) can help families navigate the local offer and understand what they are entitled to request.

SENDIASS: Free, Independent Advice

Every local authority in England must fund a SENDIASS service (also known as IASS) that provides free, impartial, confidential information, advice and support to parents, children and young people in relation to SEND. SENDIASS can help families understand the assessment and planning process; review and comment on draft EHC Plans; prepare for Annual Reviews; understand their rights of appeal; and access mediation and dispute resolution services.

SENDIASS services are independent of the local authority even though they are locally funded – they work in the interests of families, not local authority systems. Families who are in dispute with their local authority or who feel they are not receiving the support they are entitled to should contact their SENDIASS as an early step. IPSEA (Independent Provider of Special Education Advice) and SOS!SEN are also available nationally, offering free legal advice and practical support on SEND rights and the tribunal process.