(UK) 29,446 cases of parents appealing SPED ruling in 2024-25; 99.2 success rate

July 7, 2026, Warning over backlog in SEND tribunal cases | Tes

SEND is an area where rising demand for services is leading to tribunal appeals opening at a faster rate than cases are being resolved, report says

Special educational needs cases are helping to drive record levels of backlogs in tribunals, a report has found.

The What is driving increases in tribunal backlogs? report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) highlights special educational needs and disabilities as one of the areas where there have been large increases in appeals against council decision-making.

The report notes that across the tribunal system, including SEND tribunals, the open caseload is double the level it was before the Covid pandemic as new appeals outpace the number of cases being resolved. . . .

The report says that this reflects the fact that more people are requesting services or decisions from the state, such as education, health and care plan (EHCP) assessments from local authorities.

Rise in appeals to SEND tribunal

It also shows that the number of appeals from parents to the SEND tribunal has risen from 4,277 in 2016-17 to 29,446 in 2024-25.

The appeal success rate has remained high and is increasing, with 93.9 per cent of appeals finding in favour of appellants in 2016-17 and 99.2 per cent in 2024-25.

And the report notes that parents can appeal to a tribunal over a council’s refusal to assess a child for an EHCP plan, or the refusal to issue a plan or its contents.

Luca Rizzotti, research economist at the IFS and an author of the research, said: “Tribunals are an important part of the justice system, allowing individuals to appeal against decisions made by the state. But they are coming under significant strain, with record-high backlogs that risk undermining their ability to function effectively.

“There are two main options for the government to reduce tribunal backlogs: reducing the number of appeals that reach tribunals or increasing the number of cases tribunals can resolve. Fewer appeals are desirable if they result from better decision making by state actors earlier on, so that people receive the benefits, services or status they are entitled to without needing to appeal.”

He added: “But fewer appeals would be concerning if they instead reflect greater obstacles deterring people with legitimate claims. Increasing tribunal capacity, by contrast, may require public investment that is hard to mobilise, but it is less likely to restrict access to justice.”

Demand for EHCPs expected to rise

The increase in SEND tribunals comes with the demand for EHCPs expected to rise further until the end of the decade.

The government is reforming the SEND system and will change how EHCPs are delivered from 2029-30. It also aims to make mainstream schools more inclusive for pupils with SEND, with plans for every secondary school to have an inclusion base.

Its own forecast for EHCP growth is that the proportion of pupils with a plan will increase to 7.7 per cent by 2030, before dropping as the government reforms start to take effect. . . .