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Written question asked by Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat) on Friday, 28 August 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 2 September 2026. It was answered by Georgia Gould (Labour) on Tuesday, 8 September 2026 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Special Educational Needs: Appeals

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many EHC Plans were appealed to the First-Tier Tribunal on SEND each year between 2015/16 and 2025/25 in a) East Sussex and b) England.

Answer

The department publishes information on education, health and care (EHC) plans annually in the ‘Education, health and care plans’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans. This includes national and local authority level information on EHC needs assessments and tribunals.

Information on the number of EHC needs assessments appealed at the First-tier Tribunal between 2022 and 2025 is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/3895e9b5-a83e-426e-2dfe-08df07a6df71. Information is not available for earlier dates.

Information on the total number of appeals to the First-tier Tribunal is published as a supporting file to the EHC plans statistical publication. The latest edition of the publication (2026) provides information for 2024 and 2025. Earlier data can be found in the 2025 edition of the publication.

Information on the outcome of appeals to First-tier Tribunals, by type, is not currently held by the department. The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Tribunal cases disposed of, as well as outcomes, in the SEND Tribunal Tables.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
22768
Session
2026-27
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Appeals Special educational needs
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk