Considering mediation
You do not have to mediate before you appeal. If you choose to, we make it count.
We make the mediation request, chase the mediation provider and the council to the statutory timescale, prepare you, and attend the meeting with you. Attendance is not charged if no meeting takes place. Little Nellies is the SEND and EHCP service of Nellie Supports Ltd, a private social work practice in England.
£720 including VAT for the request and preparation. £480 including VAT for attendance, charged only when a meeting date is confirmed. Everything prepared carries into the appeal.
At a glance
Stage
Mediation before an appeal
Deadline in play
The council must arrange mediation within 30 days of your request
Fee
£720 preparation, £480 attendance, both including VAT
Hours included
10 preparation, 15 attendance
Who delivers
One Little Nellies practitioner, within a regulated social work team
Where
England only, in person or by video
£720
Fixed fee, including VAT
10 preparation, 15 attendance hours
Work included
Only if the meeting happens
Attendance
Professional help
Qualified expert MDT
Plain English explanation
What SEND mediation is
A meeting between you and the council, run by an independent mediator, to try to resolve a disagreement about an EHC needs assessment or a plan before it goes to the tribunal. Nobody imposes a decision. Anything agreed is written down and the council is bound by it. You must contact a mediation adviser before appealing, but you do not have to mediate.
We make the mediation request, chase the provider and the council to the 30 day timescale, prepare the case in writing so the council sees the evidence before the meeting, agree with you what you will and will not accept, and attend the meeting with you. Afterwards you receive a written note of what was agreed.
It is not required before an appeal beyond the certificate step, and we never present it that way. It is not the appeal, and it is not regulated legal advice. Where the council will not move, the preparation carries into the appeal without being redone.
Mediation is never a condition of appealing
You must contact a mediation adviser and obtain a certificate. If you decline mediation the certificate is issued within three working days and you can lodge the appeal. A council that tells you mediation is compulsory is wrong.
Is this you
Is this you?
The decision letter tells you to contact a mediation adviser before you can appeal. Some families read that as an instruction to mediate. It is not. You have to obtain a certificate; you do not have to attend a meeting, and the council cannot make mediation a condition of anything.
Mediation is worth doing when the council has something to move on and you want a decision faster than the tribunal can give one. It is not worth doing to be seen to have tried. This service makes the request, holds the provider and the council to the statutory timescale, prepares you properly, and attends with you.
The letter says I have to contact a mediation adviser and I do not know what that means.
The council might move if someone put the evidence in front of them properly.
I want a decision faster than the tribunal can give one.
I want to try mediation but I do not want to go in alone.
We have been offered mediation and the date is in a fortnight.
The council agreed things at mediation before and then did not do them.
What is included
What we do for this fee
25 hours in two parts. The preparation is bought first; attendance is invoiced only when a date is confirmed.
The mediation request (2 hours)
Preparation of the case (6 hours)
Preparation with you (2 hours)
Pre-meeting call (1 hour)
Attendance (up to 12 hours)
Post-meeting call and written note (2 hours)
How this fee is calculated
The application and preparation is £720 including VAT, invoiced at instruction. Attendance is £480 including VAT, invoiced only when the mediation date is confirmed and not charged if no meeting takes place. Both are fixed. Anything outside this scope is agreed in writing before it starts.
1
Mediation advice and appeal requirements
For most SEND appeals, you must contact a mediation adviser and obtain a certificate before appealing. There are exceptions, including an appeal solely about the school or other institution in Section I. Taking part in mediation is voluntary. Check the decision letter and the requirements for your particular appeal; the usual deadline is two months from the decision or one month from the mediation certificate, whichever is later.
Check whether a mediation certificate is required
Taking part in mediation is voluntary
Record any agreement and the required actions
Keep track of the applicable appeal deadline
2
What mediation can and cannot decide
The mediator helps the parties explore agreement; they do not decide the appeal. Preparation identifies the evidence, the changes you seek and any issues that remain disputed. Any agreement and the actions needed should be recorded clearly. If issues remain unresolved, the applicable appeal procedure and deadline still matter.
Children and Families Act 2014, sections 52 to 55; Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014, regulations 33 to 39; SEND Code of Practice 2015, paragraphs 11.13 to 11.38.
The test
The legal framework for SEND mediation
Week 0: instruction and the request
We confirm the fee in writing and invoice the preparation. The mediation request goes to the adviser and the council the same week.
Weeks 1 to 3: the case in writing
The amendments sought are set out against the evidence and sent to the council before the meeting.
Date confirmed: attendance invoiced
When the provider confirms the date, the attendance part is invoiced. If no date is set, it is never charged.
The meeting
Within 30 days of the request. We attend with you and negotiate the wording of anything agreed.
Within three working days: the certificate
The mediation certificate is issued. Either the council acts on what was agreed, or the appeal is lodged with the preparation carried across.
What happens and when
What happens and when
Evidence we build
Evidence we prepare
Mediation moves when the council can see the case it would lose. We prepare the same evidence the tribunal would want.
The decision letter or the plan, and the council's covering correspondence
The council's own advice: educational psychology, speech and language, occupational therapy, health, social care
The school's records and its view on whether it can meet need
Your parental statement and your child's views
The amendments sought, set out in writing and tied to the evidence
What you receive
What you receive
The mediation request, made and chased to the 30 day timescale
The written case sent to the council before the meeting
Your preparation note: what to hold, what to trade
Attendance at the meeting, in person or by video
The written note of what was agreed
The mediation certificate, and the appeal deadline explained
Free help exists
Free help exists, and we say so
Three organisations give free, independent help with EHCPs and appeals. We name them because they are good, and because you should know what we add on top.
IPSEA
Free legally based advice on EHC needs assessments, plans and appeals, with a helpline and model letters.
SOS!SEN
A charity helpline and walk-in service giving free advice on the assessment and appeal process.
SENDIASS
Your local, free and impartial information, advice and support service, which every council must provide.
What we add
Done-for-you delivery. The evidence built and framed, the documents drafted and lodged, a regulated team, and one practitioner from the first call to the last letter.
Application and preparation
£720 including VAT
- 15 hours
- The request, the chasing, the written case and your preparation
- Invoiced at instruction, not refundable
- Carried into any appeal that follows
Where a certificate is issued without a meeting, this work becomes the groundwork for the appeal.
Mediation attendance
£480 including VAT
- 10 hours
- Pre-meeting call, attendance, post-meeting call and written note
- Invoiced when the mediation date is confirmed
- Not charged if no meeting takes place
Draft plan then mediation, all in: £2,160 including VAT.
The journey
The two parts of mediation support
The preparation is bought first and is never wasted: if the council declines to mediate, or the meeting does not resolve the case, the work carries straight into the appeal. Attendance is invoiced only when a date is confirmed.
For parents
A fixed fee for the preparation you know before you start. Someone beside you in the meeting. A written record of what the council agreed, so it cannot be unsaid.
For SENCOs and professionals who refer
Where the school attends, we prepare alongside it so the setting and the family present the same evidence.
Why us
Why families choose Little Nellies for mediation
Mediation works when the council can see the evidence before the meeting and someone in the room knows what the tribunal would order. Little Nellies prepares and attends through a regulated team of registered social workers and a Chartered Psychologist, and never charges for a meeting that does not happen.
Why families choose Little Nellies
Never presented as compulsory
The case sent to the council before the meeting
Chased to the 30 day statutory timescale
One practitioner for the duration
Registered social workers and a Chartered Psychologist
Attendance charged only if the meeting happens
A family's draft plan had come back with the provision unchanged after their response. They wanted a faster route than an appeal and asked whether mediation was worth trying. The council's own educational psychology advice supported most of what they wanted.
We made the mediation request in the first week and chased the provider to the 30 day timescale. Preparation set out the amendments sought, each tied to the council's own advice, and agreed with the family which points they would hold and which they could trade.
The meeting took place by video on day 27. The council's officer agreed to the Section B amendments and the therapy hours in Section F during the meeting. The placement in Section I was not agreed.
The written note recorded what was conceded. The mediation certificate was issued three days later and the family lodged a content appeal on Section I alone, with the evidence already prepared. The attendance fee was charged because the meeting took place.
This is an illustrative composite. It does not describe any individual family, and it is not a promise about any outcome.
In practice
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to go to mediation before I appeal an EHCP decision?
No. You must contact a mediation adviser and obtain a certificate. If you decline mediation, the certificate is issued within three working days and you can lodge the appeal.
How long does the council have to arrange mediation?
30 days from being told you want it. The mediation certificate is then issued within three working days of the meeting.
What happens if the council will not agree anything?
The certificate is issued and you appeal. Everything we prepared for mediation carries into the appeal without being redone, so nothing is wasted.
How much does mediation support cost with Little Nellies?
£720 including VAT for the request and preparation, invoiced at instruction. £480 including VAT for attendance, invoiced only when a meeting date is confirmed and not charged if no meeting takes place.
Is what the council agrees at mediation binding?
Yes. Agreements are recorded in writing and the council must act on them. If it does not, that record is evidence in the appeal.
Are you solicitors?
No. Little Nellies is the SEND and EHCP service of Nellie Supports Ltd, a private social work practice. We do not give regulated legal advice, and where a case needs a solicitor we say so.
Read more
Related EHCP guides
If the draft plan is the problem, the review is the earlier step and feeds straight into mediation.
If mediation does not resolve a refusal to assess or issue, the appeal to the tribunal.
If mediation does not resolve Sections B, F or I, the appeal with the working document included.
Before mediation, find out what you are walking in with.
Other stages
Book a call
Book your free 15-minute call
Tell us where you are: what has been sent, what the council has said, and the date on the letter. On the call we confirm the stage, the deadline in play and whether this is the right service. We do not give advice on the call and we do not pressure you to buy.
Written by Ben Slater, Founder and Principal Social Worker, registered social worker (Social Work England). Reviewed by Ben Slater, Principal Social Worker, registered with Social Work England. Last reviewed 10 September 2026. Read our editorial policy.