Hearing listed
A hearing date has arrived. Most cases settle before it. If yours does not, we are in the room with you.
Your appeal package built the case: the form, the evidence, the working document and the case review. This unit is the hearing itself. We represent you at the SEND Tribunal, in person or by video, present the evidence, take the panel through the working document and respond to the council's witnesses. If the council concedes before the day, it is not charged. Little Nellies is the SEND and EHCP service of Nellie Supports Ltd, a private social work practice in England.
£1,080 including VAT. 10 hours of representation at the hearing, invoiced on the hearing notice and not charged if the council concedes before the day.
At a glance
Stage
Hearing listed by the SEND Tribunal
Deadline in play
The final bundle date on the hearing notice
Fee
£1,080 including VAT, one unit
Hours included
4 preparation, 4 to 6 attendance
Who delivers
The Little Nellies practitioner who built your appeal
Where
England only, in person or by video
£1,080
Fixed fee, including VAT
10 hours
Work included
Not charged if conceded
Attendance
Professional help
Qualified expert MDT
Plain English explanation
What tribunal representation is
When an appeal is not resolved through the working document and the case review, the First-tier Tribunal (SEND) lists a hearing. Representation is the preparation before that hearing and the attendance on the day: putting the evidence, taking the panel through the working document, and answering the council's case.
Preparation: the final bundle checked against the tribunal's practice direction, the disputed sections mapped to the evidence, the panel's likely questions rehearsed with you, and the council's case anticipated. Attendance: we are in the room or on the link with you for the hearing, presenting the case we built together.
It is not the appeal itself, which is the refusal appeal or content appeal package, and it is not regulated legal advice or advocacy by a lawyer. Where a case needs a solicitor or barrister, we say so before the hearing is listed, not after.
The council can concede up to the morning of the hearing
Most appeals that reach a hearing date still settle before it. Attendance is invoiced when the hearing is listed and not charged if the council concedes first, so you never pay for a day that does not happen.
Is this you
Is this you?
The tribunal has listed the hearing. The notice gives a date, a venue or a video link, and a deadline for the final bundle. By now the working document has narrowed the case to the sections still in dispute, and the council may still concede any of them up to the morning of the hearing.
Representation is a separate unit for a reason: most appeals never reach this point, and no family should pay for a hearing that does not happen. If yours does, the preparation makes sure you know what will be asked and why, and the attendance means the evidence is put by someone who built it.
The hearing notice has arrived and I do not know what happens on the day.
The council has conceded most of it but not the school.
We have run the appeal ourselves and cannot face the hearing alone.
The final bundle is due in a fortnight.
A charity helped us lodge the appeal but cannot attend.
We bought the working document from you and it is now listed.
What is included
What we do for this fee
10 hours of representation at the hearing, invoiced on the hearing notice. The preparation is your appeal package, already paid for.
Final run-through with you
Attendance on the day
Presenting the evidence
The working document
The council's witnesses
Deliverables
How this fee is calculated
Representation at the hearing is £1,080 including VAT, fixed. We only invoice it when a hearing notice arrives, and if the council concedes before the day it is not charged. The case was built inside your appeal package; nothing about the preparation is charged again here.
1
How the hearing is decided
The hearing is before a First-tier Tribunal panel, usually a judge and one or two specialist members, under the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) Rules 2008. You may be represented by anyone you choose; representation does not have to be by a lawyer. The tribunal decides the appeal on the evidence as it stands at the date of the hearing, working from the final bundle and the working document.
Anyone can represent you
Evidence at the date of the hearing
The bundle has rules
The council carries the burden on Section I
2
What the Tribunal expects on the day
The panel wants to know, for each section still in dispute, what the evidence shows the plan should say and why the council's version falls short. Preparation is about anticipating the panel's questions and the council's case, and making sure the witnesses and the documents answer them. Nothing new is invented on the day; the hearing is where the work already done is put.
Children and Families Act 2014, section 51; Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) Rules 2008, rules 11, 15 and 27; SEND Tribunal Practice Direction No. 1 of 2025 (bundle and expert report requirements); SEND Code of Practice 2015, chapter 11.
The test
How the SEND Tribunal considers your appeal
Hearing notice received
Send us the notice the day it arrives. Both parts of the unit are invoiced on it, payable before the hearing.
Final bundle due
The bundle is checked against the practice direction and filed on the tribunal's date.
Two weeks before: preparation calls
The case map is agreed with you and the panel's questions rehearsed.
The hearing
In person or by video, usually half a day. The panel may give a decision on the day or reserve it.
The decision
Usually within two weeks. We read it with you and set out what the council now has to do and by when.
What happens and when
What happens and when
Evidence we build
Evidence we present
Nothing new is built at this stage. The hearing is where the evidence already in the bundle is put to the panel.
The final bundle, indexed and compliant with the practice direction
The working document, narrowed to the sections still in dispute
The council's advice and the reports the amendments rely on
Provider profiles and provision analysis where Section I is in dispute
Your parental statement and your child's views
What you receive
What you receive
The case map: each disputed section against its evidence
The preparation note, with the panel's likely questions and the answers
Attendance at the hearing, in person or by video
The working document presented to the panel
A written note after the hearing
The decision read with you, and the council's next duty 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.
Representation at the hearing
£1,080 including VAT
- 10 hours, in person or by video
- Evidence presented, working document taken through, council's witnesses tested
- Invoiced on the hearing notice or when the final bundle is due
- Not charged if the council concedes before the day
You pay for the hearing only if the hearing happens.
What it sits on top of
From £2,700 including VAT
- Refusal appeal £3,300 including VAT, or content appeal £5,400 including VAT
- Or a standalone working document £2,700 including VAT, with no appeal package needed
- Through to a hearing: add £1,080
- Most appeals resolve before the day
The hearing unit is bought after one of these, never on its own.
The journey
The hearing, and the appeal it sits on top of
The unit sits on top of the refusal appeal, the content appeal or a standalone working document. Both parts are invoiced together on the hearing notice. Only the preparation is kept if the council concedes.
For parents
Two calls so nothing on the day is a surprise. Someone beside you who knows every page of the bundle. No fee for a hearing that is conceded.
For SENCOs and professionals who refer
Where the school is a witness, we prepare alongside it so the setting's evidence and the family's evidence say the same thing.
Why us
Why families choose Little Nellies for the hearing
The person who attends is the person who built the evidence and the working document. Little Nellies delivers representation through a regulated team of registered social workers and a Chartered Psychologist, and charges for the day only if the day happens.
Why families choose Little Nellies
The practitioner who built the case attends it
Bundle checked against Practice Direction No. 1 of 2025
Two preparation calls before the day
One practitioner for the duration
Registered social workers and a Chartered Psychologist
Attendance charged only if the hearing happens
A family's content appeal, run through the working document over two rounds, was listed for a video hearing twenty months after lodging. Two sections remained in dispute: the hours of speech and language therapy in Section F and the placement in Section I.
Preparation took two calls. We went through the final bundle page by page, agreed who would speak to which document, prepared the parents for the panel's likely questions on the placement, and set out the council's probable case and the answer to each point.
Nine days before the hearing the council conceded the therapy hours. The placement went to the hearing. We attended by video, presented the provider profile and the provision analysis, and took the panel through the working document.
The decision came a fortnight later. The attendance fee was charged because the hearing took place; had the council conceded the placement as well, it would not have been.
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 need a solicitor or barrister at a SEND Tribunal hearing?
Not usually. The tribunal is designed to be accessible, representation can be by anyone you choose, and most parents are represented by an advocate or represent themselves. Where a case raises a point of law that needs a lawyer, we say so before the hearing is listed.
What happens if the council concedes before the hearing?
The appeal is decided by consent or withdrawn, no hearing takes place, and the attendance fee is not charged. The preparation fee is kept because the work has been done.
How long does a hearing take?
Usually half a day, sometimes a full day for a placement dispute. Most are now heard by video. The panel may give its decision on the day or in writing within about two weeks.
How much does tribunal representation cost with Little Nellies?
£1,080 including VAT for representation at the hearing, invoiced on the hearing notice and payable before the day. It is not charged if the council concedes first. The preparation is part of your appeal package and is not charged again.
Can I buy representation if a charity helped me lodge the appeal?
Yes. Families who lodged the appeal themselves or through a charity can buy the working document and representation without an appeal package.
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
The appeal against a refusal to assess or issue, from the form to the case review.
The appeal against Sections B, F and I, with the working document included.
For families who lodged their own appeal and need the working document built.
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.