Special educational needs solicitors
Dedicated legal support for parents, deputies, case managers navigating the EHCP process, challenging local authority decisions and securing appropriate SEN provision and placement.
We help families secure appropriate support and protect their child's educational rights.
Children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) are entitled to the support they need to access education effectively. However, securing that support is often challenging, time-consuming and emotionally draining for families.
Understanding the law, dealing with local authorities, and ensuring an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) is accurate and properly delivered can be complex without expert help.
Boyes Turner’s specialist SEN solicitors provide clear, practical advice to help families secure appropriate educational provision for their child. From support with EHCP assessments and appeals, to challenging unlawful decisions or ensuring a school or local authority meets its legal duties, specialist advice ensures you understand your options and can take informed, confident steps.
Choosing an experienced solicitor is crucial as SEN law involves strict processes, statutory deadlines, and detailed evidential requirements.
- Trusted and nationally recognised special educational needs specialists with decades of experience.
- Clear, practical support at every stage, helping families navigate complex SEN processes.
- Extensive experience across all SEN appeals, including EHCPs, school placements, and SEND Tribunal proceedings.
- Transparent and flexible fee structures, including capped fee options where appropriate.
Our special educational needs services
We support families and professionals at every stage of the SEN journey, from securing initial assessments and EHCPs, to reviewing provision, challenging decisions and pursuing appeals where needed. This includes:
EHCP reviews, checks and assessments
EHCP review and “health-check”
We review existing EHCPs to ensure they accurately reflect your child’s needs. We identify gaps in provision, unclear wording, or missing therapies and advise on how to strengthen the plan.
EHC needs assessments
We assist with preparing requests for assessment, gathering evidence and ensuring the local authority considers all relevant information. Our role is to help you understand the process and what the law requires.
School placement and provisions
Supporting families with decisions about educational placements, including securing suitable schools, challenging unsuitable placements and advising where a child’s current setting is no longer meeting their needs.
Annual reviews
Helping families and professionals prepare for EHCP annual reviews, ensuring changes in needs, progress and circumstances are properly considered and that plans continue to provide effective support.
Advice for case-managers, solicitors and other professionals
We provide specialist SEN advice and support to case managers, solicitors, and other professionals, helping them navigate complex education law matters and achieve the best outcomes for children and young people.
Post-16 education and preparing for adulthood
Advising young people and families as they approach adulthood, including further education, transition planning, independent living and ensuring EHCPs continue to provide appropriate support up to age 25 where necessary.
EHCP and SEN appeals
EHCPs
Specialist advice on all aspects of EHCPs, including securing assessments, reviewing plans and appealing decisions that do not provide the right support.
Appealing a refusal to assess
If the local authority refuses to carry out an EHC needs assessment, we advise on the legal criteria, gather evidence and prepare appeals to the SEND Tribunal.
Appealing a refusal to issue an EHCP
Where an assessment has taken place but the local authority decides not to issue an EHCP, we assist in challenging that decision. We review the evidence, draft appeal paperwork and guide you through the tribunal process.
Appealing an EHCP (contents of the plan)
We support families who need to appeal the sections of an EHCP — whether this concerns needs, provision, or school placement. We help ensure the plan is accurate, specific and lawful, and that it identifies the correct educational and therapeutic support.
Appealing an annual review decision
If an annual review results in changes that you disagree with, or if the local authority fails to amend the plan in line with evidence, we advise on appealing the decision and ensuring the review process is properly followed.
Appealing a cease to maintain decision
When a local authority decides to cease maintaining an EHCP, we can challenge the decision where it does not meet the legal threshold. We help demonstrate why support must continue and ensure your child’s needs remain fully considered.
Appealing a SEND Tribunal decision
If you disagree with a Tribunal outcome, we can advise on the legal basis for appealing to the Upper Tribunal. We assess whether an error of law may have occurred and guide you through the next steps.
Extended appeals (health and social care)
We advise on extended SEND Tribunal appeals involving health and social care issues, helping families secure the support their child or young person requires.
EOTIS / EOTAS appeals
We support families seeking Education Otherwise Than In / At School (EOTIS / EOTAS) provision where a child or young person’s needs cannot reasonably be met within a school setting.
Section I appeals (school placement appeals)
We advise on Section I appeals concerning the educational placement named in an EHCP, helping families challenge local authority decisions and secure the right school or educational setting for their child or young person.
SEN services FAQs
When should I seek legal advice about my child’s SEN needs?
We recommend you seek legal advice as soon as you have concerns that your child is not receiving the support they are entitled to under the law. This may include situations such as:
- The local authority refuses to carry out an EHC needs assessment or to issue an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).
- The content of an existing EHCP does not accurately reflect your child’s needs, or the provision specified is insufficient or not being delivered.
- You disagree with decisions made at an annual review or with the school placement named in the EHCP.
- The local authority issues a “cease to maintain” decision or delays meeting statutory obligations.
Your child is finding is difficult to attend school and you cannot find an alternative placement.
By receiving timely legal advice from Boyes Turner’s specialist SEN solicitors we can confirm your child’s rights, clarify the options available, and ensure that any deadlines for appeals or applications are met.
Boyes Turner can also help you to gather appropriate evidence as we have strong links with experts , prepare for discussions with the local authority, and take informed steps to secure the educational support your child requires.
We also find that, in some cases, parents discover through the SEN process that their child’s special educational needs may have been caused as a result of medical negligence. We support these families in understanding the implications of this, including how pursuing compensation can help provide ongoing support for their child’s educational, therapeutic, and wider care needs throughout their life.
Can a solicitor help with an EHCP needs assessment?
Yes. A solicitor specialising in special educational needs can provide guidance and support throughout the entire EHCP needs assessment process. This includes:
- Advising on whether your child meets the legal criteria for an EHC needs assessment.
- Helping you prepare and submit a request for assessment, ensuring all relevant evidence is included.
- Reviewing the local authority’s response and ensuring the assessment is conducted lawfully and within statutory timeframes.
- Explaining your rights at every stage and supporting you if there are delays, refusals, or concerns about the assessment process.
Having legal support ensures you understand the process, deadlines, and obligations of the local authority. It also increases the likelihood that the resulting EHCP accurately reflects your child’s educational, health, and care needs.
Can I challenge a local authority’s refusal to assess my child?
Yes. If a local authority refuses to carry out an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment, you have the right to challenge that decision. Our team guide you through the process, ensuring your child’s rights are fully protected.
Legal support can include:
- Explaining the criteria that the local authority must consider when deciding whether to carry out an assessment.
- Reviewing the evidence you already have and advising on any additional information that can strengthen your case.
- Preparing and submitting a formal request for reconsideration or an appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST).
- Advising on deadlines and procedural requirements to ensure your challenge is considered valid.
Early advice is important, as strict timescales apply.
What happens if I disagree with my child’s EHCP?
If you disagree with your child’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) because it does not accurately reflect their needs, provide sufficient support, or names an unsuitable school, you have the right to challenge it.
We review the plan, advise on amendments or appealing to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST), considering core evidence needs and ensuring deadlines are managed.
Can I challenge the school named in my child’s EHCP?
Yes. If the school named in your child’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) is unsuitable or cannot meet their needs, you have the right to challenge the placement. Placement only appeals are often managed via a Judicially Assisted Dispute Resolution (JADR) approach. Advice as to the suitability of a placement only appeal is key.
Do I need a solicitor to go to the SEND Tribunal?
No, you are not required to have a solicitor to attend a SEND Tribunal, however specialist SEN legal support is often found to be invaluable.
A solicitor specialising in SEN can help you prepare evidence, understand the process, meet deadlines, and present your case clearly, which increases the likelihood of a successful outcome and ensures your child’s needs are fully represented. Crucially, we will appraise you prospects of success at all key stages.
How long does the SEN appeal process take?
The timescale for resolving SEN disputes depends on the steps involved. Most cases start by engaging with the local authority, through reviews, requests for amendments, or formal complaints, and may include mediation. If these steps do not resolve the issue, an appeal to the SEND Tribunal can be made.
Generally, only those appeals at phase transition stages e.g. move from primary to secondary school or secondary school to a post-16 placement are fast tracked to be heard before start of the new academic year. At present appeals are taking over 12 months to be heard although the aim is agree matters ahead of a final hearing where possible.
Our SEN solicitors can advise on the likely timeline at each stage, help manage procedural requirements, and ensure deadlines are met, helping to prevent unnecessary delays in securing the support your child needs.
How much does a SEN solicitor cost?
Boyes Turner are committed to providing expert, clear, and easy to understand advice. Part of that commitment is to be clear about costs. We understand that every case is different, and we tailor all quotes to the amount of support you need and costs will be transparent throughout the whole process.
Your first contact with us will be a telephone conversation. During this conversation we will discuss your options, whether you really need further advice and possible costs. Legal advice can be more affordable than you think.
If you require further advice, we can offer an initial meeting to discuss your case in more detail. The initial meeting is normally between 1 and 1 ½ hours for which we charge £300 + VAT.
For some clients, an EHCP health check and strategy planning is beneficial. We will review key documents and develop a clear, tailored strategy which we will take you through on a virtual meeting. We will advise during the initial phone call if this option would be suitable for your needs. This package costs around £2000 + VAT.
Once you have had a chance to consider all available options, you can then decide to instruct us to do as little, or as much, as you want.
We will charge on the basis of an hourly rate, which is between £150 – £300 + VAT.
As we only do what you want us to, the cost of your matter is entirely in your control. We are happy to discuss your budget and what we can do to help you within that budget.
Alongside our hourly rate, we also may be able to offer a capped fee model. The capped model sets a maximum amount you will pay for a defined set of services, providing you with greater predictability and control over your costs. The capped fee model is designed to give you peace of mind, knowing that once the agreed amount is reached, no further charges will apply. This is designed to give access to high-quality advice within a manageable budget. To find out more about our capped model and pricing structures, please get in contact with our SEN experts.
Legal aid
Unfortunately, we are unable to offer advice funded by legal aid. There is an online calculator to work out whether you would be eligible for legal aid.
If you are seeking advice via legal aid, you must do so by contacting Civil Legal Advice on 0345 345 4345.
Why use our special educational needs solicitors?
- Specialist experience in SEN law: Our solicitors have extensive experience advising families on the full range of special educational needs legal processes. Our expertise ensures you receive clear, accurate advice grounded in a detailed understanding of the law and how local authorities apply it in practice.
- Focused, practical solutions: We take the time to understand your child’s individual needs and circumstances. Our advice is tailored to help you secure the right support, whether that means strengthening an EHCP, challenging inadequate provision, or appealing a local authority decision.
- Supportive and collaborative approach: The SEN process can be overwhelming. We work closely with families, schools, professionals and other advisers to ensure all evidence and communication is aligned and coherent. This collaborative approach helps streamline the process and strengthens your case.
- A leading full-service law firm: Boyes Turner is recognised by Chambers UK and The Legal 500 as a leading law firm. As a full-service firm, our specialist teams can support you with related legal needs where required, including Court of Protection, community care, medical negligence and private wealth, ensuring a cohesive and coordinated approach to your care.
Contact us
If you would like advice about a related matter, please complete the form and one of our SEN specialists will be in touch as soon as possible.
Please note we do not offer legal aid. Read about our fees.
Or give us a call:
Special educational needs insights
Podcast
Video
Autism and EHCPs – What you need to know
Podcast
Video
EHCPs – What do I need to know about Personal Budgets and Direct Payments?
Podcast
Video
Initial thoughts on DfE’s policy paper: Every child achieving and thriving
Podcast
Video
The importance of a good educational psychologist in EHCP cases
Podcast
Video
Can you get a EHCP for dyslexia?
Podcast
Video
SEND Tribunal – How to manage timetable delays
Podcast
Video
New school, new phase, new EHCP? EHCP phase transfers explained
Podcast
Video
A reminder: The importance of expert evidence for an EHCP
Podcast
Video
Key points to know about Education Otherwise Than at School or College (EOTAS/C)
Podcast
Video
The SEND Crisis: What parents need to know about the House of Commons Education Committee Report
Our special educational needs solicitors
Our SEN case studies
Podcast
Video
Siblings with ASD – 52 week placement and social care input
Podcast
Video
Specialist placement for a child with severe visual needs
Podcast
Video
Making sure our son gets the education he needs at the school we want
Podcast
Video
Making sure my son gets his educational needs met
Podcast
Video
One mum’s fight for the right school placement for her son
Podcast
Video
Appeal against the Statement and successful negotiation with the local authority
Podcast
Video
Appeal to SENDIST against the LA’s refusal to conduct a statutory assessment
Podcast
Video
Funding restored for independent specialist residential college
Podcast
Video
SENDIST appeal against the school named on the Statement
Podcast
Video
Successful appeal against a refusal to assess results in fully funded package of support
What our clients say
Tribunal for placement
What our clients say
We were immediately impressed
What our clients say
SEN Tribunal
What our clients say
Support with the EHCP appeal
What our clients say
SEN support for EHCP
What our clients say
I would most definitely recommend
What our clients say
I’m thankful
What our clients say
James was a pleasure to deal with
What our clients say
James was knowledgeable but at the same time very approachable
What our clients say
Guiding us through EHCP and transition
Recognised leading UK law firm
Boyes Turner is consistently ranked as a leading law firm by top legal directories Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500.
Stay ahead with insights from Boyes Turner
Sign up to our newsletters to receive the latest legal updates, insights, and news from our specialists.
