What is mediation for an EHCP and do I have to do it?

Mediation is a voluntary meeting where an independent mediator helps you and the council resolve an EHCP dispute. You don't have to go, but you usually need a mediation certificate before appealing to the SEND Tribunal. The mediator does not take sides and cannot impose a decision; their job is to help you and the council reach an agreement you can both live with.

Voluntary to attend, but the certificate is usually required

This is the part councils' letters tend to bury. There are two separate things, and only one of them is compulsory:

• The mediation meeting is voluntary. Nobody can make you sit down with the council. If you don't want to, you simply say so.
• The certificate is usually required. Before the Tribunal will register most EHCP appeals, you must first contact the mediation adviser named in your decision letter and get a mediation certificate from them (Children and Families Act 2014, section 55).

So "do I have to do it?" really means two answers: no, you don't have to take part in the mediation, but yes, you usually have to ask for the certificate. If you tell the adviser you don't want to mediate, they have to issue that certificate within three working days (SEND Regulations 2014, regulation 34), so it need not hold up your appeal. GOV.UK confirms the certificate is the document the Tribunal needs to see before you can register your appeal.

The one exception: placement-only appeals

You do not need to consider mediation, and do not need a certificate at all, if your appeal is only about which school or type of school is named in your child's plan, the bit of the plan that names the placement (Section I). Those appeals can go straight to the Tribunal. The certificate rule applies when you are challenging the needs (Section B) or the support (Section F), or a refusal to assess or a decision to stop the plan. The full breakdown is on GOV.UK and at IPSEA.

Is mediation worth doing?

Sometimes. It is free, quicker than a hearing, and it can settle part of a dispute without anyone going to Tribunal. But it doesn't bind the council the way a Tribunal order does, and you keep your right to appeal whether mediation works or not. Of SEND appeals decided in 2024/25, 99% went in the family's favour, so the certificate step is rarely a barrier worth losing sleep over. For free, independent advice on whether to mediate in your case, contact IPSEA or your local SENDIASS.

One thing to know for the longer term: the 2026 Schools White Paper and the Education for All Bill propose reshaping how plans work later in the decade, but nothing takes effect before September 2030, current plans are protected, and the mediation and certificate rules above are the law today.

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