Coronavirus impact on EHC plans and children with special educational needs

CCLC examines the impact of coronavirus on schools, the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Tribunal and children on EHC plans or who have special educational needs Coram Children’s Legal Centre (CCLC) supports hundreds of families each year in appeals related to special educational needs. In addition our work helps ensure specialist provisions set out in Education…


CCLC’s Qaisar Sheikh ranked in Chambers and Partners 2020

We are pleased to announce that CCLC’s Qaisar Sheikh has been ranked in leading legal directory Chambers and Partners 2020 in the category of Education Law, alongside other leading solicitors in this area. Chambers and Partners comments: Qaisar Sheikh is well known in the market for his work in various types of cases, particularly EHC…




Studying and immigration bail

We have published an information page on studying, ‘no study’ conditions and immigration bail. In January 2018, changes were made to the law regarding immigration bail. Anyone without leave to remain to enter will be subject to immigration bail. This includes asylum seekers, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, undocumented children and young people and care leavers without…


CCLC secures a residential independent specialist college for a young person with SEN

CCLC acted for a young person (AB) in an appeal before the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability). CCLC were instructed to represent AB in the case of Mr C (on behalf of AB) v X Council. AB appealed against the sections of her Education, Health and Care Plan issues by her local authority relating to…


Lawful and unlawful exclusions

Evidence from our Child Law Advice Service suggests that the number of children out of school through unlawful exclusions may be significantly higher than officially recorded.


CCLC brings important case on legal costs in tribunal proceedings

An important judgment in an education case brought by CCLC sets out the law and procedure which should apply when applications for costs are made in the First Tier Tribunal. In the case of MG v Cambridgeshire County Council (SEN) [2017] UKUT 0172 (AAC), CCLC represented the parent of a child with special educational needs…


Schools attendance and term-time holidays

At the start of April, the Supreme Court ruled in a high-profile case on the issue of taking a child out of school during term time. A year previously, Jon Platt took his youngest daughter out of school for seven days to go on a family holiday to Disneyland Florida during term time without permission.…


Young Syrians finally recognised as refugees

Syrians who are resettled in Britain will finally be recognised as refugees by the UK Government. The Home Office has announced that Syrian refugees who are being resettled here will now be granted refugee status, rather than humanitarian protection. This will enable Syrians to access university and to travel more easily to visit relatives in other European…


Report: Growing up in a hostile environment

‘Undocumented children are triply vulnerable, as migrants, as persons in an irregular situation and as children. The laws tend to tackle their situation from a migration and status standpoint, and not from a child viewpoint’ Council of Europe A recent estimate put the number of undocumented migrant children in the UK at 120,000, with over…