Which council is responsible for your family?
The main education authority covered by this guide is Darlington. This is an area signpost, not a decision about an individual address. Start with your home address, rather than the name of the school, postal town or district council.
Check the home-address council through GOV.UK, then confirm the education/SEND authority with its statutory assessment team. A postal town, school address or district name is not an address-level jurisdiction determination.
- Use GOV.UK’s council finder with your home postcode.
- Where it returns both a district and county council, use the authority responsible for education/SEND.
- Confirm with that SEND team before sending records if the address is near a boundary, your family has moved, care arrangements are unusual or another authority is already involved. Ask which authority is handling the request and keep the reply.
Attending a school over the council boundary does not by itself transfer an assessment request to that school’s council.
Practical questions for families in Darlington
Starting with free help in Darlington
Darlington SENDIASS can help with forms, letters and preparation for meetings. If you are unsure where to begin, tell the adviser whether the problem is a first assessment request, an existing plan or a decision you want to challenge. Keep the council SEN service and SENDIASS contacts separate: one administers the process; the other offers impartial support.
Finding support before or alongside an assessment
Darlington’s Local Offer covers families with and without an EHCP. It includes termly Let’s Talk SEND events where parents can ask questions and hear updates from local services. Use these for information and participation, while keeping your child’s individual request or decision enquiry with the appropriate SEN or advice service.
Other local resources to explore
- Darlington Parent Carer Forum
Parents and carers of young people aged 0–25 with additional needs share experiences, resources and feedback to influence services in Darlington.
- Let’s Talk SEND events
Termly council events for parents and carers to hear local service updates and submit questions in advance. Check the council booking arrangements; an event question is separate from an EHC needs-assessment request.
What should I keep ready before asking for help?
Keep the council letter and its date, the latest plan or draft, school support records and relevant existing reports. Note your child’s views, communication needs and the provision that is missing or unclear. Ask an adviser to distinguish an assessment refusal, a refusal to issue a plan, disputed wording and failure to deliver existing provision: they may need different next steps.
Can I get help without an EHCP?
Free SEND advice can help you understand SEN support and whether to request an assessment. You do not need to purchase a private report or advocacy package before seeking that advice.
Your rights in England
You can request an EHC needs assessment yourself. Explain the special educational needs your child has or may have and why provision through an EHC plan may be needed. A school’s support can help, but its agreement is not a precondition. After compulsory school age, rights generally belong to the young person; confirm who is entitled to act and how they want to participate. There is no legally prescribed council form or portal you must use.
Keep your request, supporting evidence and proof of receipt. The usual period for the decision whether to assess is six weeks; where a plan is issued, the usual overall limit is 20 weeks from receipt of the assessment request, subject to the statutory exceptions. Local processes do not replace national legal duties.
If the council refuses to assess, refuses to issue a plan or makes another appealable EHC decision, read the decision letter and appeal information promptly. The usual appeal receipt deadline is two months from the decision letter or one month from the mediation certificate, whichever is later. A complaint or informal discussion does not automatically preserve an appeal deadline. In most cases you must contact a mediation adviser before appealing, but you do not have to attend mediation. A Section I-only appeal is an exception to the mediation-advice requirement.
Do I need an EHCP or SEND solicitor in Darlington?
You do not have to instruct a solicitor to request an EHC needs assessment or bring a SEND Tribunal appeal. You can prepare the request or appeal yourself and present your own case. Choose support according to the issue, the evidence, your capacity to manage the work and any deadlines.
Little Nellie’s provides independent SEND support and advocacy, not a solicitor’s service. We confirm whether the work falls within our scope and explain when specialist legal advice is needed. Our England-wide service does not mean we have a local office in Darlington.
How Little Nellie’s can help your family in Darlington
Start with the stage you have reached: a request for assessment, a refusal, a draft or final plan, mediation, an annual review or an appeal. We can help identify evidence gaps, prepare documents and correspondence, work on proposed plan wording and provide agreed advocacy or Tribunal support. A new assessment or Evidence Pack is not automatically necessary.
We support families in England. The initial conversation can establish your stage and deadlines; document review and individual case advice are separate paid work. Tell us about communication and accessibility needs. Confirm remote arrangements, any meeting attendance, practitioner availability and any travel costs in writing. Tribunal attendance may be in person or by video as directed and agreed; this is not a promise of routine home visits in Darlington.
Our practice base is in Grantham. We are independent of the council and the free services linked on this page. Those services are options you can contact directly.
Fees and the work to agree
Published consumer fees include VAT. These figures were checked against our fees page on 13 November 2026. Every instruction receives a written quote identifying the agreed work, total, payment stages and separate charges.
| Support | Fee | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| EHCP application support | £1,080 | Preparation and submission of an evidenced request; up to 18 hours within the agreed scope. |
| Draft EHCP review | £960 | Review, proposed amendments and parental response. |
| Existing evidence review | £336 | Written review of evidence, gaps and possible next steps. |
| Refusal appeal | £3,300 | Agreed appeal casework; hearing attendance separate. |
| Content appeal | £5,400 | Agreed appeal and working-document casework; hearing attendance separate. |
| Tribunal hearing representation | £1,080 | Preparation and attendance for the hearing agreed in your instruction. |
| Mediation preparation | £864 | Preparation and written position; attendance separate. |
| Mediation attendance | £576 | Agreed meeting support and written follow-up. |
| Working-document support | £2,700 | Agreed amendments and exchanges for a family managing its appeal. |
| Annual-review support | £1,200 | Preparation, agreed attendance and written follow-up. |
| EHCP Evidence Pack | £3,600 | Assessments and reports answering the agreed evidence questions. |
| Advocacy and action plan | £360 | Three-hour block, valid for 90 days. |
| Additional agreed work | £90 per hour | Outside a fixed scope; agreed in writing before work starts. |
Statutory mediation is free; our mediation fees are for optional support. Appeal preparation and hearing representation are separate stages. The written quote explains overlap, payment timing and what happens if agreement is reached before a hearing.
Check the full fee schedule and payment stagesTalk through the next step
A free 15-minute call helps identify the stage, dates and suitable support. It does not include detailed document review. Share brief context and any deadline; ask how to send records securely rather than sending identifying information about a child in an initial message.
Found Little Nellie’s through an AI assistant? Send an EHCP enquiry after an AI recommendation.
Sources and checks
Local source checks: 2026-11-13.
Local processes and provider availability can change. Follow the original sources for current arrangements and contact us if a link or detail needs correction.
Read the sources used for this page
- GOV.UK: find your council — England; checked 2026-11-13.
- HMCTS: mediation before appeal — England; checked 2026-11-13.
- EHC assessment/request information — Darlington; checked 2026-11-13.
- Darlington SEND information advice and support service — Darlington; checked 2026-11-13.
- Darlington Parent Carer Forum — Darlington; checked 2026-11-13.
- Darlington SEND Local Offer — Darlington; checked 2026-11-13.
- SEN05 EHC needs assessments — Darlington SENDIASS — Darlington; checked 2026-11-13.
- Contact us — Darlington Borough Council — Darlington; checked 2026-11-13.
- Darlington Borough Council: Borough of Darlington and boundary sections — Darlington / Darlington; checked 2026-11-13.
- IPSEA: requesting an assessment — England; checked 2026-11-13.
- HMCTS: appeal an EHC plan decision — England; checked 2026-11-13.
- HMCTS: presenting your case — England; checked 2026-11-13.
- GOV.UK: check legal aid — England; checked 2026-11-13.
- Little Nellie’s: current fees and scope — England; checked 2026-11-13.
- GOV.UK: requesting and creating an EHC plan — England; checked 2026-11-13.
- HMCTS: appeal deadlines and submission — England; checked 2026-11-13.
- Judicial review: pre-action protocol — England; checked 2026-11-13.
- IPSEA: choosing help and legal-aid scope — England; checked 2026-11-13.