EHCP Placement Disputes vs Ordinary Admission Appeals

Two genuinely different processes

If your child has (or is applying for) an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) that names, or is being asked to name, a specific school, that decision is made through a different statutory process entirely - the EHCP naming and annual review process - not through an ordinary school admissions appeal. Disputes about EHCP content or the named school go to the SEND Tribunal, a different body from an Independent Appeal Panel.

An ordinary admissions appeal, by contrast, is about oversubscription and procedural grounds - whether the admissions criteria were correctly applied, or whether your family’s circumstances outweigh the school’s reasons for refusal under the School Admissions Appeals Code.

Why this matters so much

Where an EHCP names a specific school, different legal duties apply from those in the ordinary admissions system, and disputes are generally resolved through SEND Tribunal processes rather than admission appeal panels. Building an ordinary admissions appeal case for a child who should actually be going through the EHCP naming/annual review process (or a SEND Tribunal appeal) risks missing the deadlines and arguments that actually apply, and vice versa.

How to tell which applies to you

• If your child does not have an EHCP, and the refusal is about oversubscription or a general admissions criterion, this is an ordinary admissions appeal
• If your child has an EHCP and the dispute is about which school is named in it, or whether the local authority should name a particular school, that’s an EHCP naming/annual review matter, with disputes going to the SEND Tribunal
• If you’re not sure which applies, it’s worth checking directly with your local authority’s SEND team or an independent education adviser before proceeding down either route

Where School Place Appeal fits

This service only covers ordinary England admission appeals. During case review, we check for signals that a case may actually be an EHCP placement dispute and won’t proceed with generating an Appeal Pack if it looks like that applies - not because the underlying need isn’t genuine, but because it needs a different process entirely.

Common mistakes with this scope question

• Starting an ordinary admissions appeal when the real dispute is actually about EHCP content or which school is named in it
• Assuming a diagnosis or additional need alone means EHCP rules apply, when what actually matters is whether an EHCP exists and names, or is being asked to name, a school
• Missing the different deadlines that apply to a SEND Tribunal appeal because you were working from an ordinary admissions appeal timetable instead

Quick FAQ