SEND Mediation Explained: Certificate, Process and Whether to Attend

Updated 4 July 2026 · Legal citations verified against legislation.gov.uk

Somewhere in the council's refusal letter you will find a line about mediation, and for many parents it lands as one more hoop between their child and the help they need. Here is the reassuring truth: the mediation requirement is far smaller than it looks, and once you understand it you can turn it from an obstacle into a choice. This guide explains what section 55 of the Children and Families Act 2014 actually requires, the difference between considering mediation and attending it, the one type of appeal that needs no certificate at all and how the certificate can even extend your appeal deadline.

What section 55 actually requires

Section 55 of the Children and Families Act 2014 says that before you can register most SEND appeals, you must have a mediation certificate. Councils sometimes describe this as "you must go to mediation first". That is not what the law says.

The duty on you is to consider mediation. In practice that means contacting a mediation adviser, whose details must be in the council's decision letter (regulation 5(3) of the SEND Regulations 2014 requires a refusal to come with appeal rights, time limits and mediation information). The adviser explains what mediation is and how it would work in your case. Once that conversation has happened, you are entitled to your certificate whether you decide to attend mediation or not. The certificate simply records that you considered it.

So the real decision is not "do I have to do mediation" but "do I want to". Attending is free, and so is the adviser conversation. Nothing about getting a certificate weakens your appeal or signals anything to the tribunal.

The one exception: section I only appeals

There is a single carve-out. If your appeal concerns only the school named in section I of the EHC plan, the type of school named or the fact that no school is named at all, you need no mediation certificate. You can register the appeal straight away.

Watch the word "only". The moment your appeal also challenges the needs in section B or the provision in section F, the certificate requirement applies to the whole appeal. Many parents appeal B, F and I together, and for that combined appeal a certificate is needed. Our guide to appealing the contents of an EHCP explains how those sections fit together.

How the certificate interacts with your deadline

The appeal deadline has two limbs: 2 months from the date on the council's decision letter, or 1 month from the date on your mediation certificate, whichever is later. This is worth reading twice because it works in your favour.

If you contact the mediation adviser promptly and get your certificate in week two, your deadline is simply the 2 month one. But if the decision letter sat in a school bag, or the adviser took a while to reach, and your certificate arrives seven weeks after the decision, you now have 1 full month from the certificate date, which lands later than the original 2 months. The certificate can never shorten your window; it can only extend it. Even so, do not treat this as slack. Contact the adviser as soon as you know you disagree with the decision, and if everything has gone wrong a late appeal is still possible with written reasons, though acceptance is the tribunal's call. Every date in the process is collected in our EHCP appeal deadlines guide.

When mediation genuinely helps

Mediation is a meeting between you and the local authority with an independent mediator keeping the discussion structured. It is not a court, nobody gives evidence and the mediator takes no side. It can be genuinely useful when:

• The dispute is narrow. If the disagreement is one section of a plan, one piece of provision or a misunderstanding about evidence, a structured conversation can fix it in weeks rather than months.
• The council's decision looks weakly reasoned. Sitting across a table and walking through the legal test with your evidence in front of them prompts some authorities to change position without a tribunal.
• You want the relationship to survive. You may be dealing with this SEN team for years. A resolution reached together can feel less scorched-earth than a tribunal order, and for some families that matters.

When mediation mostly delays

Mediation has no power to force the council to do anything. If the authority arrives with no intention of moving, you spend weeks arranging and attending a meeting that changes nothing, while your child's situation at school stays the same. Signs that point towards appealing without attending:

• The council's position is a blanket line, for example that it never assesses children at a certain stage of SEN support, rather than an engagement with your child's evidence. Blanket policies have no basis in the legal test.
• The same council has already ignored detailed representations you made in writing. A meeting rarely succeeds where documents failed.
• The disagreement is fundamental, for example whether your child needs a plan at all, and only a binding decision will settle it.

Remember the two are not exclusive. Attending mediation does not stop you appealing afterwards if it fails, and registering an appeal after mediation uses the same forms and process, covered in our SEND35 and SEND35A form guide.

The practical sequence

1. Read the decision letter and find the mediation adviser's contact details, which regulation 5(3) requires the council to include for a refusal.
2. Contact the adviser and have the conversation. Decide during it whether a meeting could realistically move your council.
3. If you decline mediation, ask for your certificate there and then. If you attend and it fails, you receive a certificate afterwards.
4. Note your deadline: 2 months from the decision or 1 month from the certificate, whichever is later.
5. Register your appeal with the certificate enclosed, unless your appeal is section I only.

Frequently asked questions