How do I challenge a school's decision to exclude my SEND child?

The first move: write to the governing board

Ask the governing board in writing to overturn the exclusion; if it refuses, request an Independent Review Panel within 15 school days, or claim disability discrimination at the SEND Tribunal within 6 months. The governing board (in an academy, the trust's responsible body) must meet to consider reinstatement, and you have the right to make written representations and to attend. Put your case in plain terms: that the behaviour arose from your child's disability or unmet need, and that the school had not made the adjustments it should have.

Send it quickly, because the windows are short. For a permanent exclusion (or a suspension that takes your child over 15 days in a term) the board must meet within 15 school days. Under the Department for Education's exclusion guidance, in force since 1 September 2023, schools should as far as possible avoid permanently excluding any child with an EHC plan, and should consider an early annual review or interim SEN review before excluding a child with SEND.

If the board will not reinstate: the review panel

For a permanent exclusion that the board upholds, you can ask the local authority or academy trust for an Independent Review Panel (IRP) within 15 school days of being told of the decision. You can also ask for a SEN expert to advise the panel, free of charge, and this applies whether or not the school accepts that your child has SEN. You do not need a diagnosis or an EHCP to request one.

One thing most guides bury: an IRP cannot order the school to take your child back. It can quash the decision and send it back for the board to think again, or recommend reconsideration, but it cannot reinstate directly. That limit is why the discrimination route below is often the stronger lever.

The parallel route: disability discrimination

A SEND child's exclusion can also be challenged as disability discrimination at the First-tier Tribunal (SEND). Excluding a disabled pupil for behaviour that came from their disability, where the school had not made reasonable adjustments, can be unlawful under the Equality Act 2010. The test is whether your child meets the legal definition of disability, not whether the school accepts they have SEND, so no diagnosis or EHCP is needed. You can run this instead of, or alongside, the appeal, and the claim must reach the tribunal within 6 months of the exclusion.

Watch for an “unofficial” exclusion

Being sent home to “cool off”, having hours cut, or being asked to keep your child off without a formal exclusion being recorded are all unlawful, however they are described and even if you agreed at the time. An excluded child still has a right to suitable full-time education. If the process has been mishandled, you can complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

What to do this week

1. Get the exclusion in writing, with the reason and the type (suspension or permanent), so your deadlines are clear.
2. Email the governing board asking it to reinstate, and say the behaviour arose from disability or unmet need.
3. Get free, independent advice from IPSEA or your local SENDIASS before any meeting.

This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.

This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.