SEN Tribunal advise

[Trin888]

Hello wise mums… I have a question re SEN tribunal (Jan 2026) the deadline to submit evidence has passed, but I have booked an assessment with an EP/expert witness, can I submit this evidence late, along with further evidence from my sons school? The whole tribunal process is extremely stressful and overwhelming.
Just for context I am requesting EOTAS or flexi schooling with a personal budget (at his current school) but LA have refused both :(. They are trying to name another unwanted specialist school.
my son is 7 years old with an ASC diagnoses, he is extremely gifted but only teaches himself what he wants to learn and there’s nearly zero flexibility in that, he doesn’t access the curriculum at all or even enters the classroom, the school mainly take him for walks, swimming, computer room etc. He doesn’t have any friends and seems quite happy with that, he just wants to learn about his special interests on his own and that makes him happy, he is a gestalt learner processor and recites most of the day, this is normally google maps, Japanese and lines from interactive toys. Any advise would be hugely appreciated! Thanks in advance.
P.S I check every day for appointments with IPSEA and there’s nothing ever available!

You can submit a SEND7 to request late evidence is admitted.

Be careful using the term flexi-schooling. LAs jump on the term and see the time outside of school as you making alternative arrangements, in which case the LA would not be responsible for it. Instead, what you (may) want is part-time school attendance and provision otherwise than in/at school the rest of the time. That way, it is clear the LA retains responsibility for the provision.

I think you need to really think about what you are pursuing - section I blank for EOTAS/EOTIS (some SENDIST panels have a bee in their bonnet about using EOTIS) or the current school named in I.

It takes perseverance to get an appointment with ISPEA. Have you tried the call in sessions and SOSSEN too?

Thanks so much for your reply.
I didn’t know you could have EOTIS along side part time school as a request. I did have an advocate previously but am on a waiting list for some help again.
I will try SOSSEN today.
Do you know what specific evidence I would need to support my EOTIS request? My sons inability to access the classroom is not due to overwhelm its just purely because of his style of learning and lack of flexibility with that, he struggles immensely with communication, can request his needs verbally and has only just started answering simple questions with a yes or a no, but intelligence and memory is above and beyond.

You can’t have section I blank as it would be for an EOTAS/EOTIS package, but you can have the school named in section I with part-time school attendance and the provision, that is inappropriate to be made in a school, that is to be provided otherwise than at/in school set out in F.

The independent EP assessment should help. If you want to look at something else as well, in your case, I would look at an independent SALT assessment.

ETA: To clarify, when I say you can’t have section I blank, I mean it can’t be blank if there is to be a school to be attended even part-time. It could and should be blank for a full proper EOTAS/EOTIS package which doesn’t have part-time school attendance.

Thanks so much for the information.
I have an independent SALT and OT report but both are nearly two years old and neither made a recommendation for EOTAS, things looked a little different then, would you recommend I get an updated one?

Updated reports would be good if things have changed. If a lot has changed, a full new assessment will be needed. If there are only minor changes and the reports aren’t too old, some OT and SALT would agree to write an addendum instead of a full new assessment report.