Glossary

Plain-English definitions for the terms used across this site — not a substitute for legal advice, just enough to make sense of what a council page is actually telling you.

Annual review

The yearly check a council must carry out on every EHC plan it maintains, to decide whether it should stay the same, be amended, or stop ("cease to maintain"). A council's decision after an annual review can itself be appealed.

Appealable decision

One of a fixed set of council decisions a parent or young person is legally entitled to appeal to the SEND Tribunal about — for example, refusing to assess, refusing to issue a plan, or the content of Sections B, F or I. The DfE's own "appeal rate" figures used on this site are appeals as a share of these decisions specifically, not of all council activity.

Cease to maintain

A council's decision to stop an EHC plan altogether, usually because it decides the child or young person no longer needs one. This is itself an appealable decision.

Consent order

An agreement between a family and a council that settles an appeal before it reaches a tribunal hearing — the council agrees to some or all of what's being asked for. Most SEND appeals end this way rather than with a judge's ruling, which is the whole reason this site tracks a three-way split (resolved before hearing / contested and lost / contested and won) instead of a single win rate.

EHC needs assessment

The formal assessment a council must carry out to decide whether a child or young person needs an EHC plan. A council refusing to carry one out is a separate, and separately appealable, decision from refusing to issue a plan afterwards.

EHC plan / EHCP

Education, Health and Care plan — the legal document setting out a child or young person's special educational needs and the support a council must provide. Introduced by the Children and Families Act 2014, replacing the older "Statement of SEN."

First-tier Tribunal (SEND)

The tribunal that actually hears SEND appeals — often just called "the SEND Tribunal" on this site and elsewhere. Its decisions aren't published anywhere in England, which is why this site's per-council figures come from Freedom of Information responses rather than an official case archive.

Freedom of Information (FOI)

The legal right, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, to ask a public body like a council for information it holds. Every per-council figure on this site traces back to an FOI response someone has already made and published — see methodology.

Local Offer

Each council's own published information about the SEND support available in its area, which every council is legally required to maintain. A council's SENDIAS service (see below) is usually listed there.

Mediation

A meeting with an independent mediator, required before most SEND appeals can proceed, aimed at resolving the disagreement without a tribunal hearing. Attending is compulsory to get a right of appeal; agreeing with the outcome is not.

SEN / SEND

Special Educational Needs, and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities — used close to interchangeably in practice, though SEND is the newer, broader term used in the Children and Families Act 2014 and in most current official statistics.

SENDIASS

SEND Information, Advice and Support Service — the free, impartial advice service every council is legally required to fund, run independently of the council itself. Linked on every council's page on this site, where known.

Section B, F, I

The three parts of an EHC plan most often disputed at tribunal: Section B describes a child's special educational needs, Section F the special educational provision a council must arrange to meet them, and Section I names the school, college or other institution the child will attend. This site's decision-type breakdown is built around these three.

Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber / UKUT AAC)

The tribunal that hears appeals against a First-tier Tribunal (SEND) decision on a point of law — not a full re-hearing of the case. Its decisions, unlike the First-tier Tribunal's, are published and form real legal precedent.