They refused to assess. What now?

What the decision actually means

You asked the local authority to carry out an EHC needs assessment. They have decided not to. That is all this letter is: a decision not to assess. It is not a finding that your child is fine, that their needs are not real or that you were wrong to ask.

It is worth being clear about that, because refusal letters often read as though the question has been settled for good. It has not. This is one decision, at one point in the process, made by people who in most cases have never met your child.

The legal test is lower than you have probably been told

Under section 36 of the Children and Families Act 2014, the local authority must carry out an assessment if two things are true:

• the child has or may have special educational needs; and
• it may be necessary for special educational provision to be made through an EHC plan

Read those two phrases again, because they are doing a lot of work. Not does have — may have. Not is necessary — may be necessary. The bar for getting an assessment is deliberately low, because the assessment is the thing that establishes what is actually going on. You do not have to prove the case before the investigation.

This matters because most refusals are argued as though the test were much higher than it is.

Common reasons for refusal and what to make of them

“The school needs to do more first”

There is no legally required number of assess–plan–do–review cycles before an assessment can be requested and no rule that a school must have exhausted some fixed budget. If a child’s needs may call for provision beyond what the school can reasonably make from its own resources, the test may be met now.

“There is not enough evidence”

This one is worth pausing on. The purpose of an assessment is to gather evidence. Using a shortage of evidence as the reason not to gather evidence is circular and it is one of the most common grounds on which refusals are successfully challenged.

That said, more evidence in your appeal will help. See the list below.

“Your child is making progress”

Progress does not settle the question. A child may be making progress precisely because of intensive support that is not sustainable or may be progressing academically while struggling badly with communication, regulation or attendance. The question is what provision the needs call for, not whether numbers have moved.

“They are not far enough behind”

Attainment is not the legal test. A child of any attainment level can have special educational needs. Some children mask extremely effectively at school and fall apart at home — and the home picture is relevant evidence, not a separate matter.

“There is no diagnosis”

A diagnosis is not required for an EHC needs assessment and waiting for one is not a lawful reason to refuse. Needs are what matter. Many children have significant special educational needs without any diagnosis and some have a diagnosis without needing an EHC plan.

What to do next

1. Check the letter contains what it must

   A refusal must tell you the reasons for the decision, your right to appeal, the deadline and that mediation information and advice are available. If any of that is missing, say so in writing — it is worth having on the record.

2. Decide how hard you want to push and how fast

   You can ask the local authority to reconsider informally, go to mediation or appeal. Asking them to reconsider costs nothing but does not pause the deadline. If you go that route, keep the appeal clock in view.

3. Contact a mediation adviser

   For this kind of appeal you must contact an independent mediation adviser before you can register it. You do not have to go ahead with mediation — you can decide it is not for you and still receive the certificate you need. The local authority must give you the adviser’s contact details.

4. Register the appeal

   The appeal goes to the First-tier Tribunal (SEND). You do not need a solicitor, you do not pay a fee and the tribunal is independent of the local authority. Send the decision letter and your mediation certificate with the form.

5. Keep gathering evidence while you wait

   Appeals take time and you can add evidence as you go. Use the wait rather than enduring it.

Evidence worth gathering

You are trying to show that your child may have special educational needs and that it may be necessary for provision to be made through a plan. Useful material includes:

• Anything already written by the school — provision maps, SEN support plans, review notes, reports, records of interventions tried and what happened
• Attendance data, particularly if it has changed and any record of a part-time timetable, internal exclusion, suspension or repeated collection
• Reports from any professional already involved — educational psychology, speech and language, occupational therapy, paediatrics, CAMHS, school nursing
• Your own account of home life. This is evidence, not background colour. Write down what mornings look like, what happens after school, what your child says about school, how long recovery takes at weekends and in the holidays
• Your child’s own views, in whatever form suits them — writing, drawing, a recorded voice note or something you write down on their behalf
• A short diary. Two or three weeks of dated notes is often more persuasive than a general description, because it is specific and hard to argue with

What happens if you appeal

Appeals against a refusal to assess are frequently successful and a considerable number never reach a hearing at all — local authorities often agree to assess once an appeal is registered and the evidence is in front of them. The Ministry of Justice publishes tribunal outcome statistics if you want to see the current picture.

If it does reach a hearing, the tribunal is used to parents appearing without a lawyer. The panel will have read the papers, they will ask you questions and they are interested in your child rather than in your presentation.

Two things worth knowing. Winning an appeal against a refusal to assess means the local authority must carry out the assessment — it does not automatically mean a plan will follow. And an assessment is worth having regardless, because it produces the professional evidence that shapes everything afterwards.

Free help, before you pay anyone

There is genuinely good free support available and you should use it. We would rather you did than paid us unnecessarily.

• IPSEA — free, legally based advice on SEND law, with a dedicated tribunal helpline and template letters. If you read one other thing, read theirs.
• SENDIASS — free, impartial local information, advice and support. Every local authority must have one and it is independent of the decision you are challenging.
• Council for Disabled Children — guidance and resources.
• The SEND Code of Practice — the statutory guidance itself. Chapter 9 covers the assessment process.