(UK) Southampton: 62 parents appeal SPED rejections for their children

June 23, 2021, Southern Daily Echo: Dozens of appeals over disabled education https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/education/19394420.dozens-appeals-disabled-education/

South central England

SOUTHAMPTON families applied to tribunals to overturn dozens of council decisions on disabled children’s education last year, figures reveal. Ministry of Justice data shows 62 appeals were submitted to the Special Educational Needs and Disability tribunal in Southampton in 2020. The number was up from 48 the year before and more than three times the 20 appeals in 2014. Children and young people who require extra support for their education are assessed by the local authority…. Across England, while the number of appeals registered rose to 7,843 in 2020, the proportion of outcomes appealed dropped slightly to 1.7%, from 1.8% in 2019. The Department for Education said the extension of EHC plans from school-age children to under-25s, as well as a trial to allow tribunals to make other recommendations, explained the rise in the number of appeals.