By "real" - we need to be able to clearly see that a real person wrote the review.

Cost: £££££

Cost: £££££

I paid £2,000 in advance for support. The advocate did not read any documents in advance of any meetings but claimed she did.

I feel completely scammed by the support I received, especially since the prices are so high

Cost: ££

Cost: ££

Sarah Lockwood has offered incredible support to our family. I would not use anyone else!

However, she is very busy and I don't think she is taking on more cases right now

Cost: £

Comment from SEND Allies:

I love the idea of this website, to drive up standards in the area of SEND advocacy. I would just ask though that if any of my clients are unhappy with my service at any time that they chat with me, as I would always want to work things out and do my best for you. Cheers x

Cost: £

SEND Allies have offered absolutely fantastic support at an incredibly low cost. Considering how much other advocates can charge, this doesn't feel real!

Cost: ££

Cost: ££

It is so nice to have support from an advocate who truly cares, and who is full of kindness.

Her input has been incredible

Cost: ££

Cost: ££

Cost: ££

Sue Peacock is pretty fantastic. I am not sure what else to say. I wouldn't use anyone else.

Cost: ££

They are great and offered exactly what I needed

Cost: ££

Cost: ££

She knows her stuff, offers an impressive service and is a very reasonable cost

Cost: £££££

I paid quite of lot of money to be given barely any support and to just be told to do things myself.

For the same amount of money I could have gotten some real support from somewhere else

Cost: ££

Cost: £

SEND Family Instincts have an online platform you get access to via a monthly subscription, which really gives you the info and guidance you need to become your own advocate.

After a few negative experiences with advocates, this was perfect for me.

Cost: ££

Used the monthly subscription service, which was good. Also used the more in-depth service to review EHCP and got detailed, personalised and knowledgeable advice. Plus they are very friendly and approachable too.

Cost: £

I took an hour of time with Sue Peacock to go over some EHCP questions 121. It was well worth the fee (which was reasonable) and I didn't require further assistance.

Cost: £££

Used to review our EHCP draft. Great in detail feedback on the key areas of the EHCP. I used Sarah as I know she has experience of EOTAS, and this experience from her was clear in the useful, practical feedback.

Cost: ££

Sarah was incredible for giving me the EOTAS knowledge I needed, after I had a very poor experience with SENDIASS, who seemed to know nothing

Cost: ££

I used the monthly subscription - this was not a Facebook group membership - but a help desk to which you could email queries and also library of letter templates etc. I also used an additional paid service for an EHCP draft check. I found both very helpful when going through the EHCP process. We went through this, and EOTAS was decided as the only suitable provision without tribunal.

Cost: £

Fantastic supportive and knowledgeable. Sue has been with us every step of the way.

Cost: £££

Great helpful staff, fees weren't the cheapest but they had great knowledge and made good progress with the LA in our tribunal case. It cost a lot of money but took the stress off my shoulders so was worth it. Would definitely use again.

Cost: £

Sharon is one of the most passionate and knowledgeable advocates I've met. She knows the processes so well and helps to ensure I'm you get whats needed for your child

Cost: £

Brilliant service, Sharon is extremely supportive and knowledgeable

Cost: £

Absolutely wonderful service - you can ask them anything to do with the EHCP process and they're very knowledgeable, understanding and honest. Their advice is very personalised and doesn't just link to generic advice.

Cost: £££££

I was very happy when I initially worked with this organisation to the point that we returned to them for work more than once.

However I would say my experience was positive due to the consultants we worked with, rather than due to the organisation them selves. Those employees no longer work there.

I had recommended this organisation to many parents as a direct result of the quality of the support we received from these employees.

When we worked with the organisation again I was horrified when things did not progress positively with how the organisation responded to our reasonable request for an explanation on costs and on work promised and not completed.

I do not wish to give much information here for fear of identification just to say that I was told I was the problem and not the service. We paid our hefty bill and moved on.

I try to be fair. I can see that they help parents as I do see positive reviews. However, my experience of their attitude to us when we questioned costings/ work I found extremely concerning. I would never use them again.

Cost: £

Alison has helped me with some really complex complaints to the LGO and the ICO. I find her really supportive and knowledgeable.

Cost: £££££

Let me down at a very important meeting by cancelling just before. Didn't feel I got any support or learned anything I didn't already know when I did speak to them. Fees are eye-watering considering they charge for even opening an email.

Cost: £££££

I've attended some good courses with them in the past - however, their spiel at the beginning about their company takes far too long and promotes their paid services and are more expensive than other companies offering similar courses. They very rarely mention any free or low cost charity services and seem to go out of their way to disparage these services. They say that they offer some parents a free service if they can't afford to pay but they really let us down on numerous occasions despite us waiting weeks for their help. When I have used their free telephone advice line the advocate didn't even listen to me and was driving at the time and spent most of the call moaning about directions and the traffic. The 15 minutes felt like it was just to offer the paid service rather than give any useful advice or even be listened to.

Cost: £

Sue got me through Appeal with my daughter's EHCP and we were successful in gaining EOTAS. She gave clear advice throughout and completed tribunal paperwork as well as communicating with our caseworker. It took a huge amount of stress off me and meant I could focus on my daughter. It helped me manage the gaslighting and misinformation from the LA. She re wrote the ehcp using reports and vastly improved it. At Tribunal she showed expertise presenting our case and the judge clearly recognised her knowledge and competency. In my views her fees were extremely reasonable and she only ever charged for with that was clearly itemised. I've recommended her to others and heard similar positive feedback.

But when people share negative experiences with advocates we are threatened with legal action and more - and it isn't right.

So we have created an anonymous SEND Advocate feedback website so we can openly see who offers a great service and who to avoid.

Please help get it started by sharing your experiences with advocates, then these reviews can be added to the site.

It is completely 100% anonymous, so it is safe to share your experiences.

SWIPE SIDEWAYS TO SEE THE REVIEWS

If you have submitted a view and would like feedback on why it hasn't been posted - please message on one of our social media platforms (scroll down to see them)

Cost: £

Amazing value, for small monthly fee they will promptly answer e mails, lots of good resources and add on services like phone calls etc. prompt, friendly, professional and good value.

Cost: £

My daughter wouldn't be in the right school/setting without Sarah's help. She is very professional and very passionate about helping SEN children and their families.

Cost: ££

Cost: ££

We first approached Sean (http://www.senaction.co.uk/) when our independent Educational Psychologist recommended him. She told us that over the years she’d worked with several SEN Advocates but she had found working with Sean a breeze and out of the lot she’d recommend Sean the most. This strong positive feedback was enough for us and we decided to give Sean a call.

In my first call Sean came across as calm and composed. He listened to our issues and gave sound advice. I was a bit hesitant because he charged a single one off fee. However, Sean and I came to a payment agreement and that worked really well for us.

Once we were with Sean, everything was automatically sorted. He took complete control of the case management, leaving us only to make decisions. He was there most of the times to give advice. There were times when Sean was not approachable, but these were times I knew he was at tribunal or evidence dead line helping other parents in need.

Sean has deep understanding of how LA personnel think and strategize and nearly all his prediction about the way our tribunal will proceed, happened exactly as he expected them to happen. He held our hand through out the process.

Once we were near the evidence deadline is when Sean really came into action and sorted out all the evidence in what can only be called perfection.

At the tribunal, Sean fought for our child's case with extreme skill of a master craftsman. He fought for our child like he would fight for one of his own. At no point did I feel him slacking or compromising. It is an experience of it’s own to see him perform his magic in the tribunal. Sean’s final written submissions were a piece of art. I must have re-read them a dozen times because they were just so skilfully worded.

A few things to add, to this
1. We won the tribunal
2. Although we had one postponement and two adjournment, at no time did Sean ask for additional payment
3. Sean continued to support with “after care” and replied to my queries even after tribunal was over
4. Sean is a wonderful person, and it’s been great to know him and have worked with him.

If you are going to SEND Tribunal over EHC Plan, I cannot recommend Sean enough.

I would also like to refer you to Sean FAQ page on his website that has helped me a lot in understanding the EHCP process

Cost: £

Lovely team, who keep our children at the heart of everything they do.

They have helped me navigate the scary and unfamiliar world of SEND and ehcp’s.
Their knowledge, experience and integrity meant I felt ready for each and every step knowing they’d got my back.

I’ve recommended them to so many who’ve become one of us; the parents we didn’t know we needed to be, fighting the battles we never chose to enter.

I’m so grateful

Cost: ££

Cost: £

Very knowledgeable, approachable, kind, empathetic and approachable. Lyndsay Critchlow goes above and beyond to support others, for free on the support group and in the paid services she provides. She truly gets what parents are going through and keeps it real when working with you. I have in the past previously used another advocacy service, but after using SEND Education For All I'll not go else where. Highly recommended ⭐️ Thank you for all you do Lyndsay.

Cost: £££££

The advocate we used was very knowledgeable and helpful however they no longer work for the company. We had no end of issues with the account department and the admin side as they were very clearly money orientated.

We had a payment plan with them and part way through we got told the company name had changed from Sunshine Support to SEN Support Ltd on their bank accounts. Little did I know that a year after clearing our payments, an administration company contacted me saying my payment plan had been handed over to them as Sunshine Support went into liquidation. It took a lot of stress to prove that I had paid off my plan and sadly I don’t trust a company who go into administration then immediately set up under another name offering the same service.

The company is expensive and not very organised or friendly. They can be manipulative of vulnerable parents who then feel stuck needing their support. We ended up spending over £6k for not much progress

Cost: £££

Absolutely amazing service given with a fantastic advocate! They were extremely understanding towards our situation and helped us throughout the time when we signed on with their service. Even before we signed on with them, they were very happy to provide free consultations. We went to SEND Tribunal with Sean as our representative and I could not have fought any better than he did.

Cost: £

The most amazing caring and passionate service I have come across. I have used advocacy before and didn’t ever feel like we mattered. Not like this! Every step of the way the whole team were there for me. I never felt rushed, pushed or any other negative feeling. I have never known a professional service with such a caring and family feel. I have used them for appeals, EHCNA, PIP and DLA and have had the best experience! I cannot recommend enough. Most importantly….. they are honest!

Cost: £££££

Very expensive, didn't really help with a complex EoTAS case, the advocate was "kind" but I didn't feel like I was being supported as such or the process really explained well. The bills were enormous, spending nearly 3k and I saw no benefit from this really. As an information service ie Facebook lives etc on what's "good" they spread the SEND word, but as an advocate..i wouldn't recommend them

Cost: ££

Rebekah has a good knowledge of the EHCP process and what should happen at each step of the way. We were initially impressed and used her for a draft EHCP check, however, we ended up doing the work ourselves based on her advice which was not what had been requested. Rebekah’s involvement unfortunately also made things far more complicated as she copied emails to our case worker which were not ready to be sent, corresponded with the LA without copying us in and delayed us from doing things (because she disagreed with the LA’s policies) which then worked against us.

Her service is not overly expensive and if you are looking for advice then she is probably good value for money, but unfortunately we were looking for somebody to work on the EHCP process with us and Rebekah ended up creating more work and stress for us.

Average Cost: ££

Cost: £

I was recommended this service by someone in a SEND group. I’m so glad I was I cannot speak highly enough about them I’ve recommended the service to lots of other parents. I got them to do my draft deck it was SO thorough! It was so much better than I could ever have imagined it said everything I would have wanted and more stating laws and facts! Honestly fabulous and helped secure my son a SILC school. I would always use this service for any advocacy services.

Cost: £

Cost: £

Sara is incredibly knowledgeable, supportive and empathetic. She truly cares about each family she helps. Her input in school meetings is especially beneficial. She helped me to get a new EP report to amend my son's EHCP ready for high school and she is always on hand in her Facebook group to provide advice, guidance and support.

Cost: £

I was really happy with the service I received from SFI’s paid helpdesk over one year, to support two of my children’s complex EOTAS tribunals, five weeks apart. Staff are ipsea trained and very experienced on tribunal cases and EOTAS.

It was a key part of my ‘circle of support’ and without it I feel I could have crumbled. It’s a great low-cost service though you do need to be fairly organised to email in queries and allow time for a response but I got in the flow with that. I also paid for one hour admin time on a working document draft check. Feedback was that it was excellent and they refunded me the fee! Really appreciated that. I’ll be back when things get tricky with LA again. We won both cases for EOTAS.

Average Cost: £

Cost: £

Lucy at Send Matters is amazing! She supported me with two of my children’s emotionally based school avoidance and then EHCPs. I just couldn’t get my head around everything and I was so overwhelmed with everything I felt like I was drowning and Lucy came to my rescue. With her assistance both children obtained the provisions they so desperately needed. She has an excellent knowledge of educational legislation which is invaluable. She is a force to be reckoned with, she has a fire in her belly and will fight for any child she feels is not getting their educational rights. She is also the most reasonably priced advocate around which is the cherry on the cake for me!

Cost: £

Lucy Collins is an outstanding advocate with fantastic knowledge of the law and legislation regarding education and all Sen matters

Cost: £

Amazing! Couldn’t recommend enough the work Lucy has done for my daughter and my family

Cost: £

Amazing value for money, lucy is supportive imformative very professional easy to speak to and gets the job done in a timely manner

Cost: £

Cost: £

Chris was incredibly thorough and read through all the professional and school reports. He collated the information and put together a very detailed EHCNA, which accurately reflected my daughter’s needs. The application went straight through and we didn’t have to appeal. He also provided lots of help and advice in addition to this - much of which was free. He was a real lifeline.

Cost: £

Claire is down to earth, knowledgeable & the quality of work she has produced with supporting my daughters EHCP tribunal is outstanding. Claire's fees are absolutely value for money & she has exceeded my expectations for an advocate, being conscientious, thorough & supportive in my moments of panic during my SEN journey. I have already recommended Claire to family & friends so I'm confident that anyone needing an advocate will be happy with their decision if they work with Claire.

Cost: £

Cost: £

Lucy has been an outstanding advocate for both of my sons. She has first hand experience of being a SEND parent so knows the distress you are going through. Empathetic and determined to help families get to where they need to be. Highly recommend!

Cost: £

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cost: £

I've worked with Kim from 'The Neurodivergent Advocate' since summer. In the last six months she has been excellent as an advocate. Really knowledgeable, great at communicating and reliable. She's took on a complicated case with us and has handled it so professionally. I can't recommend her enough.

Cost: £

Hugely popular Facebook group with free advice and well moderated.
We have paid for SEND advocacy and would be completely lost without her support, both personally and understanding of SEND law.
She is amazing

Cost: £££££

They were very late for a meeting in which I paid a huge amount of money for an advocate

Cost: ££££

Cost: £££££

I would avoid. Can never be contacted, mistakes made within documents submitted to tribunal

Cost: £

Absolutely amazing service. Sara is incredibly knowledgeable and experienced and her passion for supporting SEN families shines through. We looked at a number of advocates to help us with an EOTAS appeal and Sara was far the lowest cost and great value for money. She is approachable and goes above and beyond she attended meetings and negotiated with the LA and managed everything on our behalf. I would not hesitate to use her again.

Cost: £

I found Sue highly skilled in really understanding my child's complex needs which helped secure a great outcome at Tribunal.

Sue made a difficult process feel as stress free for me as possible.

Cost: £

Sarah was an amazing help for our family and our son who has a diagnosis of autism and an EHCP. We were requesting a change of provision from a mainstream to a specialist school. Sarah corresponded with both the current school and the local authority on our behalf and managed to secure our son a place in our parental preference which was an independent out of county specialist school. Sarah helped secure this place for our son without the need of appealing and in a quick time too.

Sarah is an amazing advocate with so much in depth knowledge and we highly recommend her! If we ever need advocacy support in the future we would be choosing Sarah to support us.

Cost: £

I’ve used several advocates over the last 10 years, but SEN Action is the only service I’d recommend to you. We’ve used them twice.

Sean did a fantastic job throughout our appeals and at both tribunals. His professionalism and knowledge is astounding. Additionally, his ability to calm my stress/anxiety levels with his humorous comments was very welcome!

Sean is an ex SEN solicitor. It’s this level of training and experience which sets him apart from any of the other advocates I’ve used. As someone else has commented in their review… I was also blown away watching Sean work at the hearing.

I thought his costs were very reasonable considering his level of experience. He offers a set fee for all work (was £3,500, although I’m not sure what his current fee is) which meant I didn’t need to worry about spiralling costs. He was happy to allow me to pay in instalments as well.

At first I was a little concerned that a set fee may mean less work on his behalf but I needn’t have worried. He was available to speak nearly every time I needed advice, emails were answered promptly and he also offered evening phone calls.

Danielle is also lovely and just as professional, they are a great team. She was always available and made sure that my queries were relayed to Sean.. so much better than having to leave a voicemail.

They’re both very approachable and kind, caring people.

Average cost: £££

Cost: £££££

I asked Garry to attend an annual review. He didn’t seem to understand EOTAS very well…he told our caseworker that a school has to be named in section I !!

Cost: £

Really knowledgeable knows his stuff deals effectively with schools and LA offers. Advice to questions via X

Average Cost: £

Cost: £

Laura has supported me and my family for almost 2 years following a journey that left my child NEET and with poor mental health due to school and LA failures. She has a vast knowledge of SEND law and a lot of experience in navigating the system. She has guided me through countless meetings, annual reviews and EHCP drafts with patience, determination and sensitivity. She has given me the confidence to speak out for my child and not only shown me how to advocate for myself and my child but stepped in when I couldn't cope. From despair we are now in a place where we have a plan. Laura goes above and beyond and her service has been invaluable.

Cost: ££££

Agree with other reviews. Hard to get hold of advocate. Slow communication. Invoices come fast. Knowledgeable but lack of relationship. I expect they are just so busy.

Cost: ££

Cost: ££

Helpful, professional, knowledgeable.

Cost: £

Sara supported me with a EHCP application which was accepted first time, she then went on to do a thorough and comprehensive draft check, attended meetings with the LA to push for the amendments needed which were all agreed without needing to appeal. Great service and would highly recommend. She also offers so much free support through her private community and offers free calls which is really helpful. We definitely felt in safe hands.

Average cost: £££££

Cost: £££££

Initial call was really positive as was the initial review of evidence ahead of submitting our EHCP application. After that it was all downhill, I spent as much time chasing them as chasing the LA and ended up doing 90% of the work myself. At the draft EHCP meeting the advocate attended but contributed nothing, not one thing. I ended up basically advocating myself. Spent a fortune (over 2K) which they invoice you for monthly, but it was never clear with that invoice what work they'd actually done for that money. Once we had a final EHCP through I never heard from them, I did deliberately leave it and 2 months later I had an email asking if I needed anything further from them. Absolute shameful company.

Cost: £

Cost: £

They really know what they are doing! And how to get results. Couple that with a truly kind, caring person who works tirelessly to get the job done and you are onto a winner!

Cost: £

I cannot recommend Claire highly enough! She has been absolutely incredible in helping me appeal for an EHCP for my son. Even though we were past the six month deadline and had initially been rejected, Against all odds, we WON!

Her expertise, dedication, and unwavering support throughout this process were truly remarkable. She guided me step by step, provided invaluable advice, and gave me the confidence to fight for what my son deserved. I’m beyond grateful for her help it’s life changing news for us!

If you’re considering working with Claire ,do not hesitate. She’s simply amazing and an absolute champion in her field.

Cost: £££££

Cost: £££££

Rochelle is a brilliant spokesperson / advocate in meetings but she took over and dominated meetings and her approach is particularly aggressive when this is sometimes not necessary. I had to push her to complete paperwork which was over 2 weeks outstanding and it wasn’t completed well and to satisfactory standard in my opinion. All in all very expensive for mediocre (at best) service

Cost: £

Personal service and the on call help desk is excellent.

Cost: £££££

I had seen good reviews on social media so took the plunge with a pre-paid all-in package but she then did absolutely nothing for the case and clearly had no intention of doing anything.

I had informed her what our deadlines were etc. before paying and she had confirmed that was fine and we could proceed. Then I didn’t hear from her at all, had to repeatedly chase to set up a call, which never came, with no explanation and no contact, and this happened repeatedly.

Eventually I demanded my money back but she deducted a lot, claiming time spent doing reading that clearly hadn’t been done as she evidently didn’t know the case.

She was rude and aggressive, and it only took me as long as it did to demand a refund due to constant gaslighting. Have since spoken to other parents who have had very similar experiences.

It set us back at a really hard time and I ended up having to delay our hearing because the work that was meant to be done for it just wasn’t.

Cost: £

Absolutely brilliant! Sarah is knowledgable and supportive. She is calm and patient, she listens and encourages and is very thorough. Sarah is quick to respond and is also honest about her availability and ensures that she doesn't take on too much work, which is really appreciated.

Sarah is brilliant at looking at really complex EOTAS packages and helping to instill confidence in panicking parents. Her calm manner really helped in tribunal and I'm sure it was her well written closing statement and her explanation of it during child's tribunal won the support required. Sarah is very careful to explain all fees in advance and her invoices are very transparent and fair. Sarah also explains how to save money or how to do it ourselves if we can. It's clear that she geniunely wants to help and I'm truly grateful to her - being neurodivergent myself I find the system truly awful despite knowing most of the law and processes. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend her.

Cost: £££££

Not worth the money

Cost: £

Cost: £

Anna helped me from refusal to assess for EHCNA all the way through to EHCP appeal for B,F and I. Which took me up to 2 weeks before tribunal.

Anna was always a so clear in her communication and explained things in a way that I was able to understand. In the early stages everything was very overwhelming.

She did all the paperwork, form filing, email sending etc and attended meeting with the LA with me.

I couldn’t have done it without her support. My knowledge is so much more now as a result of working so well with Anna.

Cost: £££££

I didn't feel they provided reasonable value for money.
I felt they expected me to sit back and pay without questioning things and felt i saw little substance to their service.

When I questioned the cost to responding to a short email I felt they just wanted to get rid of me.

I understand they have costs but compared to other suppliers the charges do seem incredibly high.

Cost: £

https://thespectrumsendvocate.com/

Cost: £

Amy’s knowledge of all things involving SEN law is second to none. Just as important, she treats each individual case as though it is her own. True passion and commitment behind every single factual email sent. No LA stands a chance against this powerhouse of a women!

Cost: £

Exceptional from start to finish the journey with Amy from the Spectrum Sendvocate was incredibly supportive and clearly going above and beyond to secure the provision for my daughter and achieve that outcome was remarkable. Amy has exemplary standards and the highest level of professionalism and discretion. I highly recommend this service to any parent who is in need of support and advice from a qualified expert such as Amy. Fully trained in aspects of SEND law, Amy was able to provide an effective report that led to securing alternative provision and for the LA to adhere to the delivery of Section F of the EHCP. I could not have achieved this without Amy’s input and I was inspired by how much she cared for our family and ensuring we were no longer being failed. This was quite remarkable and unique

Cost: ££££

Rochelle clearly knows her stuff and was very skilled at getting information out of witnesses at tribunal for an EHCP.
However, she wasn't great at communicating before the tribunal and I didn't feel like we were operating as a team, or that I really knew what was going on. I think she forgot that I'd never been through the process before and I really needed someone to be more involved.

Cost: £

I used Lyndsay after a slightly disappointing experience with another advocate. Lyndsay was utterly amazing, knowledgeable and very caring. She supported me through the process of tribunal, including attending meetings with the LA after they conceded and checking through a draft EHCP. I have recommended her to many parents.
I wouldn't use anyone else and she's great value for money!

Cost: £

Before we found Claire we were going around in circles, feeling very exhausted we were struggling for years, & trying to sort both our children's EHCPs to suit there needs , Claire is very understanding, and she has helped us so much and took the pressure off us, by sorting out children's EHCPs out, she has a lovely calm and friendly way and i recommend Claire to you if you were like us trying to battle through, she is also very reasonable priced well recommended

Cost: £££££

Cost: £££££

If I give 0 stars I would, paid £120 for a long drawn out experience where she offered an EHCP draft check. I paid and had a delayed response which was then basically my own comments I had initially sent - I knew no better at the time and trusted her however she missed every vague item, missed errors, didn’t identify missing needs/provision, didn’t cross check reports and charged me £120 for zero work. Now I’m much more knowledgeable I am horrified there are people like her that take money from the most vulnerable and stressed parents. Never heard back from her and she kept the money. All the wooly words and missing B and F points were missed by her. I queried things about missing assessments, OT, asked about working of outcomes and she did not respond further.

I met another lady at a SNAP event who experienced the same and when she asked her for a refund she just ignored her too. Lesson learnt. Found her via instagram/facebook, Kira the EHCP lady

I learnt more from YouTube tutorials in the end, more than she was able to provide.

Cost: £

Sue is extremely knowledgeable, easy to work with, monthly payments with clear transparency of cost, strong empathy, highly recommend

Cost: £

Amazing service, very knowledgeable

Cost: ££

Fantastic in-depth responses to questions and was happy to book calls with me when I was overwhelmed and needed fast advice and information on what to do/not do. I trust Sarah and am very grateful for her help with my children. Her knowledge around EOTAS/C and preparation for adulthood is brilliant.

Cost: £

The company is called another level support, there really is a clue in the title because Alison Fisher really is another level, no one I have ever known has been so focussed and driven on maintaining safe well being and fair out comes for children. When I met Alison she was at a feedback session for walsall HAF, she could see I had been crying and politely told me she would speak to me after the meeting, I am a very proud mother and asking for help is not an easy step to make, I knew I couldn't afford a solicitor because the education system and SEND policy are complexed and we were being thrown into the mire alot already, this was before our HERO came to the rescue. Alison remains in my phone as Alison HERO not Fisher at all times she maintains professionalism whilst extending a sensitive and understanding mothers prospective, she is fair and realistic and most importantly truthful. I am proud to recommend this service, Another level are the best there can be and when they won the Kings award for Volunteering this year it felt like some recognition for all the hard work by the King himself. Alison has had a horrendous year health wise and after suffering Cardiac Arrest and a stroke we prayed hard and our hero returned and battles on. Thank you for everything you do for our family, mere words do not express the relief of this parent to know that our child is happy thanks to the things you made possible where no one else would understand or listen. God bless Another level support - Please please keep fighting - You have made such a difference to our life

Cost: £

Claire has helped us with our two children we have been really struggling for the last 6yrs going around in circles as my daughter would say she felt like a hamster going around a wheel and not getting anywhere, she is nearly 13 now , we have had Claire's support for only a few months and she had made a positive impact on all our lives we can see a light at end of the tunnel, she is very good and always there when we need her, I honestly don't know what we would have done if we haven't found her , thank you Claire, you are very recommended 👍

Cost: £

Very knowledgeable, reassuring, passionate and professional.

Cost: £££££

If I could give 0 stars I would. Here the review I left on google or part of it.

Awful service. Accused me of requesting a costly provision and accused my LA of being rigid and unwilling. What LA isn’t difficult and to which is the whole point of desperate parents going to an advocate for help in the first place. My advocate used words like “I know your hands are tied” and “my thoughts” I had to have her work re done by a send law solicitor and when I raised a complaint as my solicitor had said the draft plan was unlawful after paying my advocate to check and amend, sunshine support completely deflected which is when they accused me of requesting a costly provision and blamed my LA for being rigid and unwilling. They closed complaint with no way of taking it further unless I spend money in legal fees which I don’t have. Wouldn’t recommend them. Go to a send law solicitor or IPSEA. I got the out come I needed for my son in the end without sunshine support. I would never use their service again.

They definitely prey off the vulnerable

Cost: £

Very good and efficient service

Cost: £

Amazing service always helped me when I need support for my son I do not know what I would have done with out finding another level support alison goes above and beyond for her clients and always puts the families needs first.

Cost: £££££

Overpriced and poor poor advocate provided. Follow up notes were less thsn good. The advocates are not what you think you will get when watching their videos. Poor advice given too. Charged me 4x what I have paid in the past.

Cost: £

Really knowledgeable support and open and honest dialogue about timeframes especially if a change has been needed. Super support with reviewing EHCP and excellent documentation provided to help with communicating with the LA. They also helped me find an advocate to come to mediation, who was also fantastic.

Cost: £££££

The initial free consult was actually really good, it met my expectations and matched the quality of another paid service I had used previously, that was unfortunately unavailable at that point in time. I went onto a waiting list to receive paid support, hoping I could speak with the same person again. Unfortunately it was a different person who literally had no advice for me other than to wait for the outcomes of complaints I had made against the LA. I specifically wanted help with supporting my PDA child in school and I had high hopes after joining a Sunshine webinar but again I received no advice. I think it cost me over £200 for the phone call and I was left feeling deflated.

Cost: ££

Sue is in incredible, knowledgeable advocate. I am so thankful for her.

Cost: ££

Sue is approachable, friendly and completely gets Send from both parental and professional view points. I have always found sue to be honest and to seek to keep costs down. Sue is very knowledgeable and her advice is wise. The only downside to her success is sometimes you now have to wait to speak to her!

Cost: ££

We were really struggling to navigate the send system until someone recommended Sue to us. Sue and Carol have been excellent and helped us to get what our child needed.

Cost: £

School applied for an Ehcp for my child and it was rejected. I didn’t understand the system back then so we de registered. A couple of years later I’ve found Sue, she helped me with a parental request and the LA quickly agreed to assess. I’m going to continue to use Sue throughout the whole process, I feel much less anxious with her knowledge and expertise

Cost: £

Cost: £

I can wholly recommend Linda at EHCP4kids she simply is an amazing person! Linda found floors in my sons ehcp she was calm and extremely professional she got the ehcp overturned from mainstream to specialist setting and also got the school we wanted named without getting to the tribunal hearing . She took the stress away from us as a family and broke down barriers and brick walls the local authority had built. Thanks to Linda my sons life has been turned around and he will now access a education. He now has a much brighter future ahead of him, I will be forever grateful and wouldn’t hesitate to use EHCP4kids in the future if I should ever need their services again. - ‘simply amazing’

Cost: £

Lyndsay is amazing, she is very knowledgeable around send law and very thorough with her document work.
I have used Lyndsay to support me with 2 of my children's EHCP now via Lyndsays paid for services, which are very reasonably priced. Both have had successful outcomes. I started off with a different advocate with my first child, where I was paying double the amount Lyndsay charges.
As well as paid for services, Lyndsay does so much for free, to try and support as many families as possible through the process, via her Facebook group, where she holds free question and answer lives, answers written posts on the group and free webinars, which have also been an incredible resource for myself and I am very grateful she offers this, it's prevented many sleepless nights from happening!

Lyndsay is kindhearted and passionate about what she does. Lyndsay is amazing and I wouldn't use anyone else and would 100% recommend her to everyone. Forever greatful for the support she has given to myself and my family.

Cost: £

SEND Matters is a superb advocacy service and support. i won my tribunal case and that was thanks to the expertise and professionalism of SEND Matters.

Cost: £

Amazing, encouraging, informative . Went out of their way to help my daughter get the education she deserves

Cost: £

Absolutely fantastic service. Email support always fantastic advice, so kind and caring too. Jess has always been brilliant, any interaction I've had with her and her team. Be it by email to support desk, their facebook group, tiktok, their lives.. so much free help as well as paid. But worth every damn penny. I recommend them to everyone!

Cost: £

Cost: £

Victoria is very knowledgeable and incredibly supportive. She has helped our family navigate tricky admin and hurdles in the SEN world all whilst being compassionate and caring. She understands that each child is unique and works within their capabilities. She is accepting and comfortable to work with in such an emotive area.

Cost: £

Victoria is an Educational Consultant and SEN Advocate specialising in working with neurodivergent children and their families. She supported me through the EHCP process, advising at every stage. I had so many questions along the way but Victoria was always on hand to explain and advise. I genuinely don't think I could have got through it without her and would highly recommend her to anyone who needs some support to navigate this frustrating and complicated process.

Cost: ££

I received a first class service from friendly, knowledgeable Sharon. She has extensive SEN knowledge and up to date information on SEN law. Sharon attended a mediation meeting with myself and supported me through a working document process and the complaint procedure. Sharon enabled me to achieve the desire result for my child. She took the stress away, by having some one who knew what they were talking about on my side. I would wholeheartedly recommend Sharon's caring support to anyone navigating the broken SEND system.

Cost: £

SEN Achieve has been supporting us for the last 5 years, from school & LA meetings, to Tribunal representation, EHCP applications & reviews, draft reviews & support advice. SEN Achieve has support us with all the complicated paperwork & getting my child into the school of our choice. Brilliant service, we couldn’t ask for more.

Cost: £££££

Cost: £££££

We instigated Rochelle help on the basis of her own reviews on her FBpage. My LA were really pushing the boundaries and wanted someone with a no nonsense approach. I should gave realised from the start that this was a bad move. She overcharged me to do a ' Grounds of appeal' as I was unsure at the time what else to put in. She said not to worry it can be added later .... yes it can but she charged me for it..... She is rigid in her advice if it does not directly related to the grounds of appeal she will not advice. She was supposed to case manage but left us to it . When I did email it mostly went unanswered. She didn't know anything about my case and had to look on the computer the 2 occasions I managed to pin her down. I asked her to review where we were up to on the case she was going to ring the LA to see if she could get a feeling where they were at . I asked if she could contact me let me know what was said. Rochelle said she didn't know if I had any hours left( it was a fixed fee)...!!

1. She had not done anything other than advice to collect documents and sent to SENDIST

2. ..it was supposed to be a fixed price no other cost
Rochelle undermined me by contacting the LA without my permission.

She does not support you in any shape or form. Our appeal is January next year and she is only just asking us to o send her final evidence. The reason we paid for a advocate was to ease the pressure on myself but the pressure was increased ten fold because Rochelle did not case manage as she was supposed to as per T&C's. She charges over the top for everything. We are not yet at tribunal but I can see that I will be defending myself on most of the appeal as Rochelles involvement will be minimal as she won't engage in the parts that are not within the original grounds of appeal

Cost: £

Cost: £

Rebecca went above and beyond for my child back in 2022. I paid for an EHCP health check and got so much more than I expected. Her knowledge is incredible and she not only put pressure on the LA to make my son's plan watertight, she made sure that his needs were highlighted in such a way that the LA agreed to name the school he needed, rather than let it go to appeal. The other schools that the LA consulted with responded that they couldn't meet his needs because it was clear that his needs would only be met at one specific school. It was his first plan and she set the bar high for me and helped me feel confident enough to deal with the LA. I'm so glad this advocacy service is up and running again! They have very clear, fair, pricing plans and they offer a 20 min free call and even in 20 mins the advice they give is brilliant.

Cost: £

Cost: £

Helped with tribunal, school, EHCP, Annual review and meetings with professionals

Cost: £

Cost: ££

Quality advice and at a good price. Great in meetings, and follow up notes are very good.

Average Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cost: £

Cost: £

Samantha is an absolute wealth of knowledge. She really makes you feel heard and advocates for your child, we are so glad we found her. Goodness know where we would be otherwise.

Cost: £

A complete lifesaver in a world of Local Authority Chaos. We can’t thank Ken and Talking SENse enough for their incredible support. The Local Authority played really dirty and did their best to break us, but Ken stood beside us, guided us and brought clarity to what was happening. Even when the Local Authority took us to Upper Tier Tribunal, they supported us despite us being forced to fork out for an unbelievably expensive Barrister (due to the nature of our legal system).

Since then Talking SENse has attended meetings, advocated on our behalf and been an incredible support to us. Talking SENse really championed our son and his needs.

I highly recommend. Yes, you need to pay for the service but they do offer free (funded) advice sessions. As we discovered, the expense is nothing compared to a solicitor or barrister. For us it was very good value for money because I was simply overwhelmed and defeated. Thanks to Talking SENse our son got a full residential placement at a Post 16 college including SALT, OT, Art Therapy and psychology.

Cost: £

Cost: ££

Good experience. They were very supportive and knowledgeable and helped me fight my corner with the LA

Cost: £

Fantastic support from Alan and Anna from writing the EHC needs assessment to appeals and mediation support and the final stages of re-drafting the EHCP.
Extremely knowledgeable, and always available to answer any questions couldn’t have continued this long journey without there guidance. Great advocates if needed.

Cost: £

Always a font of knowledge with transparent, reasonable fees. Lovely people who really care. Liz Stanley was instrumental in getting an EHCP for our daughter. They are our go-to professionals for help navigate the education system for our child.

Cost: £

Cost: £

This is a great service. Very supportive and professional in all areas

Cost: £

When everyone says it's complicated they prove its not. I value the level of communication, speed of response and their ability to respond at whatever level thats needed. For us they have been a truly excellent service :)

Cost: £

Very knowledgeable, helpful and genuinely cares and wants to help. Would 100% recommend.

Cost: £

I can’t recommend Rebecca enough. She’s always there to support me and gives the best service and support for me and my children.

Cost: £

Brilliant service thank you!

Cost: £

Brilliant service thank you!

Cost: £

Excellent service, always answers any questions and helps! They go above and beyond to make sure my child’s needs are met

Cost: £

Amazing service, from initial EHCP application to draft check, with lots of support and advice along the way. It’s a long process and it helped so much having someone who knew the procedures to guide me through.

Cost: £

Rebecca was simply amazing. She took time to explain everything. I didn't feel uncomfortable to ask questions. She made me feel comfortable and at ease. She took away so much stress off me. She helped me to achieve an independent school placement for my child. Her pricing is clear and precise, I definitely wasn't overcharged or ripped off! She understands the whole system so well. Couldn't have done it without her!!

Cost: £££££

Incompetent to advocate for SEND children & their families. Ken & staff are miss manage tribunal paper & dates they don't upload important documents with regards to health conditions, they don't respond SENAR and When you question them they simply respond with a rude & unprofessional manager. Also you can forget that they will ever speak to Ken & his team over the phone this is simply out of the question when it comes to Talking sense policy it's more of a no Talking policy. I would strongly suggest NEVER to use Talking sense as advocate.

Cost: £

Laura was invaluable in helping me navigate the world of emotional based school avoidance and applying for an ehcp. With Laura’s help I managed to get alternative provision for my son during the 18 months he was out of school. I also successfully did a parent application for a needs assessment and secured an ehcp. Her thorough approach and professionalism were vital in achieving this.

Laura’s knowledge and support was excellent and her attention to detail exceptional. In addition though her personal approach and kindness were also priceless - she was like my friend and therapist. Having laura on my side in meetings enabled me to stop getting upset and feeling patronised or ignored and helped me become stronger and more assertive.

I would not hesitate to recommend Cambridge Independent (in fact I already have a few times!) and will certainly use her in the future if needed.

Cost: £££££

Had a draft check with them. It was very expensive compared to other organisations I have since found, and the attention to detail was very lacking. Only a few things were picked up on, it felt very rushed. And I had to query several notes they'd made as they didn't make sense, and one of them they had read the sentence completely wrongly and so removed something which should have stayed in. I was upset by the very minimal help I received for a high price.

Cost: £

I have worked with Jess of SFI since 2018 in two small independent schools trying to support young people with EHCP and funding issues. The current school I work with has a high proportion of students who can't cope with the state system and we struggle at times. They get back to us (SEND team) very quickly with useful advice and suggestions.
She has also supported me with my own son who had an EHCP.

Cost: £

Cost: £

Sarah is so professional, helpful and understanding. She has supported both of my children with the content in their EHCPS and her work is outstanding. Would highly recommend.

Cost: £££££

I used Rebecca Hooley, but I found she wasn’t strong in meetings and often let me take the lead. She later started demanding extra money for texts, emails, and WhatsApp conversations, which she initially did not disclose as additional costs before she even did the work she was paid for which is the working documents and support in tribunal. She even threatened to end her service if we didn’t pay for these extras and we feel she had never intended to offer tribunal support. Moreover, she wrote to the local authority (LA) and the schools we were considering without our knowledge, despite our request to be copied into all emails. Some of the schools warned me about her, stating she was trying to complicate matters for us. Based on my experience, I do not recommend her as she made a very stressful situation more stressful. I strongly suggest using a solicitor instead.

Cost: £££

We used Rebecca for a tribunal and we lost terribly even though we had everything we needed. She claims to have worked for ipsea but we did not verify this and regret not doing so. We did not get the school, nor OT and nor salt. She was all over the place and didn't have a clue what she was doing.

Cost: £££££

It was a great service initially, but I haven’t heard back about most of the work needing doing and I am concerned I am going to miss deadlines. Very expensive yet I can’t get hold of them.

Cost: £

An absolute gamechanger for our family

Cost: £

After I first spoke with Sam I did not look back. I knew instantly that we needed her! Her incredible knowledge was immediately obvious along with being able to personally relate to and understand everything we were going through. What felt like utter chaos all came together with Sam's support and being able to hand over all our reports and paper work that had accumulated over years of trying to have our son's needs met, was a life saver. We could then focus on helping our child through extreme burnout, rather than preparing to fight the local authority. Sam helped with our EHCP application and as a result the authority agreed to assess. We now have a draft EHCP which Sam has read through and amended to ensure it is a thorough representation of all reports submitted, but also a working document on a more practical sense. She is now supporting us with a request for EOTAS...watch this space! Highly recommend Sam and everything about her! After every call I always had a spring in my step!!

Cost: £

Chris secured my child a much needed place in a specialist setting. He represented us at Tribunal from which we won. Chris helped us every step of the way. Brilliant service.

Cost: £

Going into the EHCP process we were reasonably confident. I had done some courses, read a lot, we had private assessments for OT and SALT, an NHS diagnosis…. I had what I thought was a good grasp of the processes and legalities and felt confident.

However, categorically this was an underestimation of the stress, uncertainty and unpredictability of the process. It was consuming me emotionally and physically until Sam started supporting us.

Sam was more than knowledge and expertise. It was beyond professional, it was a personable experience met with empathy, patience and incredible listening skills. It was ensuring I was informed, understood decisions, processes and supported us how we needed as a family. We weren’t just another client…. we felt heard and advocated for.

If you are reading these reviews on whether to use Sam’s services I can honestly say stop reading now and just book it. It was completely invaluable and we would not have achieved what we have without her; not only the outcome but how the impact the process had on us as a family.

Sam’s skill set is more than experience and knowledge, her skills professionally are outstanding, but her skills working with families… that’s something beyond what qualifications can provide….it’s clearly just part of who Sam is. I hope reading this she realises how special she is, what an incredible service she provides and the positive impact she has on us as a family.

Cost: £££££

I was drawn in by their well organised social media and weekly claims to have won tribunals etc. How wrong I was. We don't have a lot of money and I was shocked at how quickly our bill ran into £££ for not much in return. The advocate attended one meeting and SENDIAS were also present and much more useful. I was advised, via email that I was billed for, that I was getting good SENDIAS support and they'd be better off ending their involvement! I was dropped like a stone at the start of my journey. They never followed up on what they said they were going to do. On reflection, it was a godsend. Especially after seeing how much other families have been billed. I hope something is done about this in the future and families are refunded!?

Cost: £

We've been with SFI/magic for 3 months now. At first I was hesitant because I'd been let down by another advocacy service but I was in need of help and support. Hands down, it's the best thing I did. The support has been great. From replying to my ranting emails, sending me templates to get my thoughts in order, sharing their knowledge and experience. After every meeting I've turned into a keyboard warrior typing away to the team, knowing they'll get back to me and are on my side. We have a long journey ahead of us, but I've learnt so much in the short time I've been a member.

Cost: £££££

Rochelle definitely knows her stuff and, if you manage to get hold of her, gives good advice. She is quite aggressive in her approach and I imagine, good to have by your side in an actual appeal. I did get frustrated with how long she took to respond to emails (some were missed altogether) and didn’t feel the service was very personalised - I felt she didn’t really know us or our case. I suspect she may have been a victim of her own success as people who’ve used her in previous years and recommended her to me didn’t have the issues we had.

Cost: £

They are amazing and go our their way to help you.

Cost: £

Fantastic knowledge, help and support.

Cost: £

After initially using another very well known advocacy service, and being floored by their astronomical costs to just answer a very simple question, a friend recommended The Big E.
An absolute diamond and definitely someone you and your child want in their corner. Costs are very fair and reasonable and it gets results! We were supported not only with emails, liaising with the LA, meetings with school but also given such caring emotional support.
The Big E gets it....she is tough, she knows her stuff and she gets the job done without breaking the bank. And she genuinely wants the best for your child, I'm so glad we found her in what was a very tricky time.