Special Educational Needs: Tribunals

(asked on 12th October 2026) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what are the current average wait times to complete Special Educational Need and Disability appeals heard through the HM Courts and Tribunals Service which have received an Order allowing the case to proceed towards determination on the papers.


Answered by
Sarah Sackman Portrait
Sarah Sackman
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This question was answered on 15th October 2026

The current waiting time for a final oral hearing in a Special Educational Needs and Disability appeal is 84 weeks.

The time taken to complete a Special Educational Needs and Disability appeal after an order for determination on the papers is set by the judiciary according to the circumstances of each case. Establishing an average would require a manual review of every case and could therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The average wait for a call to the SEND helpline to be answered is approximately two minutes (1 minute 56 seconds). The current longest response time for written correspondence, including emails and letters, is eight days.

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