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Can my son take Functional Skills for Maths and English instead of GCSEs?
This is at a mainstream school with ARP (which covers Maths and English). He has an EHCP and school think he will struggle even with the Functional Skills, but they say as a mainstream school they cannot let him only do the FS, he has to do the GCSEs in both subjects as well.
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University admissions disability discrimination appeal for 17 year old F/T college student - is Legal Aid available?
My daughter has recently been rejected from a performing arts university after she applied to a degree course. She has diagnoses of Autism and Dyspraxia and an EHCP which I made the University aware of in various emails about her application over the last 12 months. Her disabilities are also recorded on her UCAS form.
The final stage of the admissions process was an in-person audition and interview which was a disaster as her anxiety levels were off the scale, she made mistakes (despite being a superb musician and singer), the questions asked were not Autism and Dyspraxia friendly (they asked abstract, open questions and she felt that they were trying to catch her out) and she left after having a meltdown. It’s a heart-breaking situation for her.
I believe that the University have broken the Equality Act (2010) by failing in their anticipatory duty to offer reasonable adjustments in the audition, as best practice for interviewing Autistic/Dyspraxic candidates has not been applied in any form to the audition.
I have years of experience fighting battles for diagnoses, EHCP, transport and many other barriers as you might imagine a SEND parent has. I am currently looking at appealing against the University decision and it occurred to me that there might be specialist solicitors out there that could help me.
Before I start this battle on my own, can anyone advise if this is the sort of situation that a specialist solicitor would take on and if so, is it possible to get legal aid, and if so would that be for help with dealing with the university appeals process or only if we were to proceed to County Court?
Thanks!
Jerry & Debs
11 Feb 2026
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How can I request a change to the type of assessment in a University admission audition as a reasonable adjustment due to disability? (Related to my previous question University admissions disability discrimination appeal)
After a rejection, where she was disadvantaged by a lack of adjustments in the audition (she has Autism and Dyspraxia diagnoses + an EHCP), despite copious evidence of the University being informed of her disabilities and vulnerability in writing.
I am looking at a possible outcome for my appeal (if it is allowed that is) and the University policy states if an appeal is upheld there will be one of 4 outcomes:
1.An apology
2.Another audition without prejudice
3.Conditional offer
4.Offer
The best I can hope for is another audition but I feel that this puts my daughter in the same situation, only this time around, with adjustments. It's highly likely that she will still have extreme anxiety and there's every chance she may fail again as a result of her disability.
Would I be able to request a different, less stressful way of them testing her competence as she's being denied her chance to prove herself through no fault of her own? It seems so unfair.
I also feel uncomfortable about another audition ‘without prejudice’ which appears to be totally reliant on them being fair. Surely this could just be a case of ‘paying lip service’ and only auditioning her again to get themselves out of the discrimination complaint and then still rejecting her as they don’t want her as her parents have complained, and we may be seen as ‘difficult’
There really isn’t anyone to police what they do and say behind closed doors with admissions problems as the OIA don’t cover that process.
Jerry & Debs
11 Feb 2026
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Suspensions
Son is 6 years old - suspected ADHA,PDA and Trauma related anxiety (owing to my incurable cancer diagnosis). He is in year 1 of a primary school who were very slow to acknowledge his SEN needs, despite paperwork backing this from age 3. He has a sen support plan in place, along with a positive behaviour plan - both heavily written by me as the SENCO is very inexperienced. He now has 1:1 at all times he is in school - with a note in the sen plans that he should be with a trusted adult at all times, because of a flight risk and risk to others. This year he has been suspended 3 times already with the last suspension being 2.5 days for spitting. The situation occurred because his trusted adult was not with him, no adult was. My question is - can the school really suspend him, when they are failing to stick to what's been agreed and counter to the plan, fail to identify new triggers and learn from experience. Many thanks legal brains for giving your time.
Michelle Bullen
21 Jan 2026
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Can I claim transport costs arisen while appealing changes to transport provided (appeal was successful)?
- Transport changed from solo taxi to shared taxi without new risk assessment being conducted
- initial appeal (end of august, just before school returned) submitted parent statement
- initial appeal failed, warned one attempt left. Gathered evidence from multiple professionals for stage two appeal and triggered pre-action protocol letter
- while appealing - self funded transport with the same company the LA had been using previously, receipts provided
- outcome - won appeal and LA concluded solo transport was required, however refusal to reimburse any costs as it was parental choice to send our son to school and we hadn't provided all the evidence (which we didn't have) at stage one
Context - our son is a school refuser (gaps in attendance can lead to increase in distress behaviours going in / increased refusal), his school is out of county and we were unable to drive him ourselves, all our leave was allocated to school holidays, our son has a congenital brain injury and cannot be left at home without supervision, our son has previously looked after child status (adopted) and significant trauma, the loss of regular driver triggers rejection and toxic shame responses (including self injurious behaviour).
Additional - initial appeal August 2024, pre action protocol issued October 2024 (and not accepted as stage two complaint hadn't gone through - we thought both ran together, additional costs associated with this), complaints re costs incurred outcome August 2025. (Process initially delayed by gathering evidence, and then by stress incurred / health issues)
Costs incurred - around £5,000, now in debt as a result as had been told if we won the appeal we would claim costs back (but county staff member - recording of this phone call is unavailable we have been told, as not all calls are recorded) -
Understanding change of placement in section I after permenant exclusion?
My son is in year 7, EHCP and been permanently excluded.
He was in mainstream and I was trying to get a change of placement but the LA had not put the paperwork through in time and told me to wait. In which time he was PEX. I'm not appealing the PEX as it's pretty pointless, he lasted 10 weeks in Mainstream school.
Now the PEX has prompted a change of placement under section I. I have named a specialist, the LA are consulting on Parental preference. But they feel his needs can still be met in Mainstream and consulting with them.
Due to the PEX he is now educated outside of school and the LA have set him work online with a tutor online. Which obviously does not meet provision F. I also work full time and after next week I have zero childcare. I have complained to the director of children and suprise, nobody cares.
I have two questions with anyone that has been through this:
1.When the LA name a school that is not parental preference I have the right to appeal under SEN tribunal, this is currently a 9-12 month wait, is this triaged as more urgent as he is not in school? Also will the 'tutoring' remain in place whilst I appeal?
2.I have contacted every solicitor I possibly can to proceed with judicial review, can anyone recommend anyone that could take legal aid and has availability?
I actually have no idea what to do and I don't actually no how I'm going to keep my job. Anyone that's been through this experience and could share would be much appreciated, I can't find this situation online anywhere.O -
If a tribunal is open for an ehcp can I still carry out a phased transfer review of the ehcp
Parent went to tribunal over an EHC and a draft amended EHC is still being argued over. LA have asked for the original final EHC to be reviewed as per Phased transfer regulations. Mum has said it is not legal to do so if it is at tribunal
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GCSE options; My yr11 Autistic child wishes to reduce her options to 3 subjects instead of 4. This will be Drama that is removed, therefore allowing a study block session within her timetable. If she had her diagnosis at the time of selecting her options I understand that this may of been offered. Us requesting it now is these a reasonable adjustment and can the school refuse the change?
The school are saying that this is a big ask and that it won’t be possible.
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Teacher ask for child to be collected from school because he was throwing things
What support can I access to assist my son, who has been having behaviour issues that have been increasing for 6 weeks? He has been vocally matching other children in the class (it is important to add that my son is verbal, and the other children are non-verbal, as in they do not communicate using words, but I guess they communicate both using their device and vocally). My son will continually be vocal and disturb the class, hit the teacher, hit other children, throw things at the assistant teachers and other children. He has an autism diagnosis (level 3) and has been attending the education support classes at the same school for 5 years without any behavioural issues until recently.
The first 4 weeks, this behaviour was communicated to me by writing in the communication diary, which is kept in his school bag, by speaking with Dad after school during pick-up, and through a behaviour support plan that was sent home for me to sign and return the following day. The strategies included him requesting a break, requesting to go to another class, or the sensory room. If this is done five times, he is rewarded with a treat. During this time, I expressed wanting to meet with them because of the things written in the diary, but his dad, the messenger, let me know they (the teachers) said this was not necessary because they thought they could deal with it, and the strategies they were using were helping.
Last week, I requested a meeting in writing via email, and we met later in the week. I said I was concerned about the things written in the diary and was not sure why no one had called to let me know at the time of the incidents. I also wanted to follow the same strategies at home but had some issues because of different parenting styles between me and Dad. We will meet again tomorrow with both parents and his therapist in attendance. He was excluded from school today because they were unable to stop him from throwing things at other children, and he was placed in a class by himself. I understand it is a safety concern, but what services can I access? What steps should I take? What can I do as a parent to help my son with his behaviour issues?Cristina M
28 Aug 2025
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Can a teacher exclude a child from school because their behavior arises from the loss of essential accommodations, leaving them without any alternatives or support?
I am wanting to support the family to navigate this so I am wondering if this letter I drafted would help the situation.
I am writing to formally request a SEND Assist referral for my son, [Child’s Full Name], who is currently enrolled in the special education program at ____ Primary School. Due to his neurodivergent profile, [Child’s Name] relies on a specific object ______ for emotional regulation and predictability. While I understand the school has raised safety concerns, I believe these can be addressed through reasonable adjustments and trauma-informed planning. This has worked in the past, where we have been given the opportunity to come together to work on a solution that works for everyone.
Despite previous meetings and discussions about his behaviour, no resolution has been reached, and recently [Child’s Name] has been excluded from school and left in the care of a family member because I could not meet with the teacher that day due to work commitments, but I was available the following day. This is now impacting his right to inclusive education under the Disability Standards for Education 2005.
I am requesting SEND Assist involvement to:
- Assess the regulatory role of the object and propose safe alternatives
- Support the school in implementing inclusive, neurodivergent-friendly strategies
- Ensure [Child’s Name] can return to school safely and respectfully
Please confirm that this referral will be initiated. If not, I will escalate the matter to the Department of Education and seek support through Disability Services and allied health professionals.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Kind regards,
[Mother’s Full Name]
[Contact details]Cristina M
25 Aug 2025