Mediation is when a neutral and independent third person (a mediator) helps people involved in a disagreement to come together and agree on the best way forward.

Additional support for learning mediation is a voluntary process between parents (or young people aged 16 or over) and the school, nursery or local authority. It can help rebuild relationships and communication by focusing everyone on the best interests of the child or young person.

The law says that local authorities must offer independent mediation services to try to resolve disagreements about additional support for learning. Mediation is always free of charge to parents and young people.

You can resolve most disagreements about your child’s additional support for learning by working with the school, nursery or local authority. The school or nursery should involve you fully in discussions and decisions about your child’s education and support. They should take account of your views and work with you to make sure your child has the support they need.

If communication breaks down and you are not able to reach an agreement with the school, nursery or local authority, you have the right to ask for independent mediation.

You can use mediation at any time and for any aspect of a disagreement about additional support for learning. You can also use it more than once if needed.

Some examples of issues that mediation might help with are:

Advice for parents /

Solving problems with school

Sometimes relationships between schools and families can become difficult or breakdown completely. This section explains some of the different steps you can take if problems arise.

Mediation can open communication and help everyone involved to look at the issues, explore options and come to a workable solution. This promotes good relationships and helps to make sure everyone involved has a chance to explain what they want and to listen to other points of view. It can be much easier to resolve problems, and avoid new ones, by talking things through as early as possible.

Your child’s views must be considered as part of the mediation process. Mediation can help everyone to focus on finding a positive way forward that is in your child’s best interests.

It can be helpful to try mediation before going down more formal or legal routes, such as making a complaint against the local authority, using independent adjudication or making a reference to the Additional Support Needs Tribunal. This is because the mediation process allows you to take part in the decision making, rather than having someone else make the decision for you. It can also help rebuild difficult relationships and make it easier to work together in the future.

However, using mediation does not affect your rights to use other more formal routes for resolving disagreements, so if it is not successful you can still pursue other options.

During a mediation session, the mediator will make sure each person gets an opportunity to talk about their concerns and is listened to. Sometimes past issues may be relevant, but the focus should be on the current situation and finding the most appropriate outcome for your child.

The mediation service will identify a neutral place for the mediation to happen. It should be somewhere that is easy to get to for everyone who needs to attend.

A mediator will:

A mediator does not:

You will need to openly discuss the issues concerning your child’s education and support by sharing any information you think is important and relevant. You must also be prepared to listen to the views of the other people involved and consider all options for finding a way forward.

You can make a request for independent mediation to the local authority. It is usually best to do this in writing.

You can also contact the mediation service for your area and ask them to begin the process. The mediation service will then contact the local authority to let them know that you would like to try mediation and find out if they will agree to it.

You can find out who provides mediation in your area in our Useful organisations search tool.

Mediation is a voluntary process so the local authority does not have to agree to your request. For example, they may feel the issue you raise is not suitable for mediation or could be resolved in a different way. However, the local authority will also be keen to find a solution without going through formal or legal processes, so will usually be willing to try mediation.

If you try mediation and feel like your issue has not been resolved, there are other things you can try. This can include things like making a formal complaint or requesting independent adjudication. Find out more on our page More formal routes for resolving disagreements.

You can also use mediation more than once, or for different aspects of a disagreement.

Enquire’s Useful organisations search tool provides details of mediation for additional support for learning in your local area. If you do not find a mediation service for your local authority, you can contact your local authority’s additional support for learning contact to request mediation.

Scottish Mediation can provide general information about mediation.