SEND Watchtower

← Know your rights

Free advice services, matched to where you are

Applies when: early concern — something is not right; on sen support at school; assessment requested — waiting on the decision; the authority refused to assess; assessment underway; plan issued; annual review; at the tribunal.

The entitlement

Every local authority area must provide a SEND Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) offering free, impartial advice to parents and young people — a statutory duty under section 32 of the Children and Families Act 2014. National charities add free legal advice lines and casework help on top.

Source: Children and Families Act 2014, section 32 (advice and information) (UK Parliament); Information, Advice and Support Services network — find your local SENDIASS (Council for Disabled Children).

What to do

  1. Find your local SENDIASS through the Council for Disabled Children's directory — free, impartial, and funded to advise on exactly this.

    Source: Information, Advice and Support Services network — find your local SENDIASS (Council for Disabled Children).

  2. IPSEA for legal advice on assessments, plans, and appeals — booked advice-line appointments and model letters.

    Source: IPSEA — Independent Provider of Special Education Advice (IPSEA).

  3. SOS!SEN for its helpline and hands-on tribunal preparation support.

    Source: SOS!SEN — helpline and tribunal support (SOS!SEN).

  4. Contact for the benefits side — DLA guidance and support for families with disabled children.

    Source: Contact — for families with disabled children (Contact).

What the data shows

Only 55% of parents already inside the EHC plan system had heard of SENDIASS, and only 43% of the Local Offer, in the DfE's survey of 13,643 parents and young people. The services exist; families are not told.

Source: Experiences of EHC plans: a survey of parents and young people (2017, 13,643 responses) (Department for Education).

If this is you

If you are at the very start

Before any formal process starts, your local SENDIASS is the right first call — it can explain the options before anything needs deciding.

Source: Information, Advice and Support Services network — find your local SENDIASS (Council for Disabled Children).

If you are heading to the tribunal

At the tribunal stage, IPSEA's appeal guidance and SOS!SEN's casework help are the two services built for what comes next.

Source: IPSEA — Independent Provider of Special Education Advice (IPSEA); SOS!SEN — helpline and tribunal support (SOS!SEN).

This guide states entitlements and cites the source of every claim. It is not advice about an individual case — for that, contact IPSEA or your local SENDIASS.