Hackney
Data availableLondon
72
appeals registered, 2024 (official DfE figure)
106
appeals registered, 2025 (official DfE figure)
Data available. At least one Freedom of Information response gives real, extractable figures on tribunal appeals or outcomes for this council.
Thinking about appealing, or partway through it? These are free, independent sources of advice — not run by this site, and not run by any council.
- Hackney SEND Information, Advice and Guidance Service (SENDIAGS) — this council's own free SEND information, advice and support service. Every council is legally required to fund one, at arm's length from itself · 020 7275 6036.
- IPSEA — Free, independent legal advice on SEN law — including EHC plans and tribunal appeals.
- SOS!SEN — Free helpline and 1:1 advice specifically on preparing a SEND tribunal appeal.
- Coram Children's Legal Centre — Free education law advice line, including SEN appeals and EHC plan reviews.
- GOV.UK: appeal an EHC plan decision — The official government guide to the appeals process itself — who can appeal, mediation, costs.
Estimated outcome breakdown
Estimated, not reported
Resolved before hearing — 77 (72.6%)
Contested, council lost — 19 (17.9%)
Contested, council won — 5 (4.7%)
Partially split — 5 (4.7%)
This council's own answer doesn't give a usable outcome breakdown. This estimate applies the pooled England-wide outcome rate (no regional sample was large enough to trust on its own) to this council's own real, officially-published appeal volume for 2025 (106 appeals) — see how estimates work.
By decision type
By decision type — 2020
| Category (council's own wording) | Appeals | Overturned |
|---|---|---|
| Refusal to assess | 12 | — |
| Refusal to issue an EHCP | 0 | — |
| Against Sections B&F only | 5 | — |
| Against Section F only | 1 | — |
| Against Section I only | 4 | — |
| Against Sections B,F&I | 14 | — |
| Against decision to cease EHCP | 0 | — |
By decision type — 2021
| Category (council's own wording) | Appeals | Overturned |
|---|---|---|
| Refusal to assess | 16 | — |
| Refusal to issue an EHCP | 1 | — |
| Against Sections B&F only | 6 | — |
| Against Section F only | 4 | — |
| Against Section I only | 10 | — |
| Against Sections B,F&I | 12 | — |
| Against decision to cease EHCP | 0 | — |
By decision type — 2022
| Category (council's own wording) | Appeals | Overturned |
|---|---|---|
| Refusal to assess | 30 | — |
| Refusal to issue an EHCP | 0 | — |
| Against Sections B&F only | 3 | — |
| Against Section F only | 1 | — |
| Against Section I only | 11 | — |
| Against Sections B,F&I | 21 | — |
| Against decision to cease EHCP | 2 | — |
By decision type — 2023
| Category (council's own wording) | Appeals | Overturned |
|---|---|---|
| Refusal to assess | 28 | — |
| Refusal to issue an EHCP | 1 | — |
| Against Sections B&F only | 5 | — |
| Against Section F only | 2 | — |
| Against Section I only | 18 | — |
| Against Sections B,F&I | 11 | — |
| Against decision to cease EHCP | 0 | — |
By decision type — 2024
| Category (council's own wording) | Appeals | Overturned |
|---|---|---|
| Refusal to assess | 26 | — |
| Refusal to issue an EHCP | 2 | — |
| Against Sections B&F only | 6 | — |
| Against Section F only | 4 | — |
| Against Section I only | 17 | — |
| Against Sections B,F&I | 16 | — |
| Against decision to cease EHCP | 0 | — |
Freedom of Information responses
SEND tribunal appeals registered against the Borough, by calendar year: 2019 - 26, 2020 - 36, 2021 - 49, 2022 - 68, 2023 - 65, 2024 - 71. Breakdown by ground for 2020-2024 (Refusal to assess / Refusal to issue an EHCP / Against Sections B&F only / Against Section F only / Against Section I only / Against Sections B,F&I / Against decision to cease EHCP): 2020 - 12, 0, 5, 1, 4, 14, 0; 2021 - 16, 1, 6, 4, 10, 12, 0; 2022 - 30, 0, 3, 1, 11, 21, 2; 2023 - 28, 1, 5, 2, 18, 11, 0; 2024 - 26, 2, 6, 4, 17, 16, 0. On win/loss: 'All appeals are defended to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the extenuating circumstances. Many are conceded part way through or even during a hearing.' Overall LA success rate since 01/06/2020 after an oral hearing is stated as 20 out of 270 appeals resolved to date, with the remaining 2023-24 appeals still pending; those 20 went in favour of the LA. A second table (2020-2023) gives, for each year, total appeals for the year and number of appeals resolved WITHOUT a hearing: 2020 - 36 total, 17 resolved without a hearing; 2021 - 49 total, 31 without a hearing; 2022 - 68 total, 47 without a hearing; 2023 - 65 total, 50 without a hearing. Internal legal resource allocated: 2020-2022 - 1 full-time officer, 36 hours/week; 2023-2024 - 1 full-time officer (36 hrs/wk) plus 1 part-time apprentice (21 hrs/wk); in all years occasional consultation with an Education Lawyer employed by Hackney Legal & Democratic Services, with no fees incurred. External legal support engaged 2019-2024: No.
Caveat: No category breakdown given for 2019 (only the total of 26 registered appeals). The cumulative LA success rate of 20/270 is counted only from 1 June 2020 and only for appeals resolved after an oral hearing (i.e. excludes the many appeals conceded/resolved without a hearing) and explicitly excludes 2023-24 appeals still pending as of the response date (24 Jan 2025). The second table (with per-year totals and 'resolved without a hearing' counts) also repeats a per-ground breakdown by year, but its 2023 row was not clearly legible in the scanned document at the resolution available, so it is not restated here to avoid transcription error — the fully legible first table above should be used for the 2020-2024 per-ground breakdown of registered appeals instead.