SEN APPEAL FORM
NOTICE OF APPEAL FORM CHECKLIST – WHAT TO SEND US WITH THIS FORM
If you want to appeal against your local Education and Library Board’s refusal to assess or
re-assess your child’s special educational needs, we will need:
 A copy of the letter from the Education and Library Board letting you know
about their decision and giving you your right of appeal;
 Your reasons for making the appeal – you can find the reasons in section 4 of
the appeal form;
 A copy of your letter to the Education and Library Board requesting the
statutory assessment/re-assessment; or
 A copy of the form from the school to the Education and Library Board
requesting the statutory assessment/re-assessment; and
 The documents you will be relying on to support your appeal.
If you want to appeal against your local Education and Library Board’s refusal to issue a
statement of special educational needs following a statutory assessment, we will need:
 A copy of the letter from the Education and Library Board letting you know
about their decision and giving you your right of appeal;
 Your reasons for making the appeal – you can find the reasons in section 4 of
the appeal form;
 If the Education and Library Board has issued a “Note in Lieu”, a copy of that
note and the documents attached to it; and
 The documents you will be relying on to support your appeal.
If you are appealing against any or all of parts 2, 3 or 4 of the statement of special
educational needs or against the school named in a statement, we will need:
 A copy of the letter from the Education and Library Board letting you know
about their decision and giving you your right of appeal;
 Your reasons for making the appeal – you can find the reasons in section 4 of
the appeal form;
 A copy of your child’s current statement that came with the letter above
(usually called a final statement or final revised/amended statement);
 The appendices that came with the statement. These are a set of documents
that are attached to the statement. Please note: If you are appealing against
an amended statement the Education and Library Board may not have attached
all of the appendices. You will need to take these from the original or proposed
amended statement;
 Written confirmation that you have told the school that you want it to be named
in part 4; and
 The documents you will be relying on to support your appeal.
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If you wish to appeal against the Education and Library Board’s decision to cease (or no
longer maintain) your child’s statement, we will need:
 A copy of the letter from the Education and Library Board letting you know
about their decision and giving you your right of appeal;
 Your reasons for making the appeal – you can find the reasons in section 4 of
the appeal form;
 A copy of your child’s current statement (the one the Education and Library
Board says it is going to cease); and
 The documents you will be replying on to support your appeal.
Please use this form if you want to appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability
Tribunal. You must send in this form so that it arrives in the tribunal office no later than
the first working day, 2 months after the Board told you that you could appeal. If the end
of the 2 month period is in August, you will have until the first working day in September
to submit your appeal.
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This form has to be photocopied, so please use black ink and capital letters.
SECTION 1 – Your Child’s Details
Please give below the details of the child, for whom the appeal is being made:
Child’s surname:
Child’s first names:
Child’s date of birth:
Is the child a boy or a girl?
Child’s Ethnic Origin
It would help us if you tick one of the boxes below. You do not have to, but the
information will give the Tribunal useful statistics.
We keep all of this information
confidential.




White
Chinese
Indian
Pakistani




Irish Traveller
Bangladeshi
Black African
Black Caribbean


Mixed Ethnic Origin
Other
If you have ticked Other, please give details:
Dispute Avoidance and Resolution Service (DARS)
Under the Special Educational Needs and Disability (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 the
Education and Library Boards have to provide an Alternative Dispute Resolution Service.
When they give you your right of appeal to this Tribunal they will also advise you of your
right to contact DARS.
It would assist us in collating data if you could let us know whether or not you used this
service.
We would therefore appreciate it if you could answer the following questions.
Did you use the Dispute Avoidance and Resolution Service (DARS):  Yes
 No
Where you able to resolve any issues through DARS:
 No
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 Yes
SECTION 2 – Your Details
Please give your details below. Parents can appeal jointly but if you live at different
addresses we will only send papers to the name you give first.
Your title:
Mr 
Mrs 
Miss 
Ms 
Other 
Your surname:
First names:
Your relationship to the child, eg father, mother, guardian:
Your address:
Postcode:
Your daytime telephone number (if any):
Your home/mobile number (if any):
Your title:
Mr 
Mrs 
Miss 
Ms 
Other 
Your surname:
First names:
Your relationship to the child, eg father, mother, guardian:
Your address:
Postcode:
Your daytime telephone number (if any):
Your home/mobile number (if any):
Email address (if any):
From time to time we may need to contact you urgently and it is useful if we can send you
an email. If you would prefer us not to use email please tick here .
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SECTION 3 – Your Representative’s Details
If you have a representative to whom tribunal papers should be sent instead of to you,
please give the following details:
Name:
Address:
Postcode:
Daytime telephone number (if any):
Fax number (if any):
SECTION 4 – Your Appeal (Including your Reasons for Appeal)
Please give the name of the Education and Library Board whose decision you are
appealing against:
Please give the date you received the letter from the Board telling you that you could
appeal to the tribunal:
Please tick the box or boxes below that apply to your appeal.
I am appealing to the SEND Tribunal because:
1.
I (or the school) asked the Board to assess, or reassess my child but
it has refused

2.
The Board has assessed my child but refused to provide a statement

3.
I have asked the Board to change the school named in the statement,
but it has refused

The Board has decided not to maintain my child’s statement

4.
The Board has provided a statement or has not amended the statement following a
reassessment, but:
5.
I disagree with part 2 or part 3, or both
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
6.
I disagree with the school it has named in part 4

7.
It has not named a school in part 4

The name and address of the school I would prefer my child to go to is (Please give the
name and address of the school if you have ticked the box in 3, 6 or 7).
Reasons for appeal
It is important that you give enough reasons so the Board can respond to your appeal.
Below is a guide of what we need to know. Please fill in your reasons in the space
provided. You can type your reasons for appeal on a separate page(s) and attach them to
this form.
Refusal to assess or reassess – please tell us why you think your child needs a
statutory assessment or reassessment.
Refusal to make a statement – please tell us why you think your child needs a
statement.
Parts 2 or 3 of the statement – please tell us what you disagree with and why, and
what you would like the parts to include or not include.
A school named in part 4 of the statement – please give reasons why you think that
the current school cannot meet your child’s needs and why you consider that the school
you want to be named in part 4 is more appropriate for your child.
No longer maintaining a statement – please give reasons why you think your child
still needs a statement.
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SECTION 5 – Disability Discrimination Claims
We also deal with claims about discrimination in schools (see page 25).
If you would like us to send you a copy of our booklet
‘Disability Discrimination in Schools: How to make a claim’,
please tick this box
Would you like your SEN appeal to be heard at the same time
as an existing disability discrimination claim? (We can only
do this if both cases have progressed to the same stage in
the process)

Yes  No 
If ‘Yes’, please give details of the disability claim
Date claim was sent:
Claim number:
SECTION 6 – Lodging your Appeal
You must sign and date this form.
Your signature(s):
(We can only accept documents from you if you have signed here)
Date:
Please make sure that you send the appropriate documents listed in the checklist on page
1 or 2 of this form, along with this completed form to us at the address below:
Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal
Tribunal Hearing Centre
2nd Floor
Royal Courts of Justice
Chichester Street
BELFAST
BT1 3JF
Telephone: 0300 0200 7812
Email: [email protected]
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