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Special Educational Needs: Appeals

Asked by Tom MorrisonLiberal DemocratMinistry of JusticeTabled Answered 8 July 2026UIN 14551

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what is the average wait for a SEND tribunal appeal to be heard from receipt of the appeal and what was the average wait for a SEND tribunal appeal in each year from 2019-2025.

Answered by Sarah Sackman

Data on the average waiting time between appeal lodgement and first hearing, and between appeal lodgement and final disposal, for Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) appeals is not routinely recorded by the Tribunal. Consequently, the average waiting time for a SEND appeal to be heard from receipt of the appeal, including a yearly breakdown for the period 2019 to 2025, could only be obtained through the manual review of individual case records. This information could therefore only be provided at disproportionate cost.

HMCTS does not routinely record the number of requests made under Rule 7 of the Tribunal’s procedure rules. This information is therefore not held.

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