EHC needs assessment refusal
Your assessment request was refused. Work out exactly why before deciding what to do next.
A refusal letter can trigger several routes at once: understanding the local authority's reasons, protecting mediation/appeal rights, checking the evidence and deciding whether advocacy or specialist SEND legal advice is needed.
1. Pin down the decision
- Keep the full decision letter and any attachments.
- Record the date on the letter and the date you received it.
- Highlight each reason the local authority gives for refusing to assess.
- Separate what the letter says from what you were told verbally.
- Check what mediation and appeal information came with the decision.
2. Compare each reason with the evidence
Do not respond by sending everything again. Map each refusal reason to the evidence that already exists, then identify what is missing or unclear.
Evidence already there
Which school, professional, health or family evidence directly answers the point made in the refusal?
Evidence gap
What does the decision-maker say is missing? Is the problem lack of evidence, unclear functional impact, support not yet evidenced, or something else?
Start with the EHC needs assessment evidence toolkit, then use the evidence organiser and professional evidence builder where needed.
3. Check the local route
Kent County Council and Medway Council publish their own EHC assessment information and disagreement routes. Those local pages should be read alongside the national SEND Code of Practice and tribunal guidance.
Kent
Kent County Council publishes information about EHC needs assessments, mediation and appeals.
Open the Kent local hub →Medway
Medway Council publishes its EHC assessment process and disagreement routes, including mediation and tribunal information.
Open the Medway local hub →4. Protect the formal rights
A refusal to carry out an EHC needs assessment is one of the decisions that can be appealed to the SEND Tribunal. In most cases you must contact a mediation adviser before appealing. The decision letter and current GOV.UK tribunal guidance should be treated as the source of truth for the deadline and process.
Advocacy, meetings or further correspondence do not automatically stop a mediation or tribunal deadline. If the case is becoming tribunal-focused, specialist SEND legal advice may be more appropriate.
How In Your Corner may help
- Turn the refusal reasons into numbered questions.
- Map the evidence against those reasons.
- Build a chronology of support, reviews and decisions.
- Help prepare focused correspondence or meeting questions.
- Identify when the issue has moved beyond practical advocacy into specialist legal advice.
Practical parent-advocacy guidance, not legal or clinical advice. Reviewed 18 August 2026 against the official sources linked on this page. See how we write, check and correct guidance.
Official sources / further reading
SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years (GOV.UK) ↗Appeal an EHC plan decision (GOV.UK) ↗Kent: EHC assessment decisions and criteria ↗Kent: mediation support and appeals ↗Medway: appeal an EHC assessment decision ↗Reviewed 18 August 2026. Official decision letters and current official guidance take priority.
Questions parents ask
Answers for parents and carers in England. These answers were checked on 27 September 2026; use the linked official source where your next step depends on a legal duty or process.
What can I do if the council refuses an EHC needs assessment?
Read the reasons and decision letter, keep its date and check the appeal information promptly. A refusal can be appealed to the SEND Tribunal. Mediation advice requirements and appeal deadlines matter; asking the council to reconsider does not automatically protect your appeal time. Use the evidence to address the assessment test rather than assuming a diagnosis alone settles it.
Record the decision and deadline.
Official source: GOV.UK: appealing an EHC decision.