Education News

Welcome to August's newsletter Welcome to 3PB’s Education Law Team Newsletter. You will find in this edition the recording of our webinar on the new school exclusions, suspensions and pupil movement guidance, published by the Department for Education on 13 July 2022. We are delighted to announce important 3PB wins in the Supreme Court (Part-time music teacher wins landmark case on calculating holiday pay for ‘part-year’ workers) and in the Upper Tribunal (Upper Tribunal confirms...

Upper Tribunal confirms appeals can be brought against review decisions of the SEN Tribunal for Wales

2nd August 2022

3PB education and public law barrister Matthew Wyard (pictured here) has succeeded in an important Upper Tribunal appeal in which the tribunal has confirmed that appeals can be brought against review decisions of the Special Educational Needs Tribunal for Wales. The decision was published yesterday 1 August. The appeal in AB v Newport City Council [2022] UKUT 190 (AAC) concerned a decision by the Special Educational Needs Tribunal for Wales (“SENTW”) to uphold Newport City...

Mathew Gullick QC named as Lawyer of the Week by The Times

28th July 2022

3PB's Mathew Gullick QC has been named as Lawyer of the Week by The Times today, following the landmark judgment in favour of his client Mrs Lesley Brazel by the UK Supreme Court. Mathew Gullick QC acted for Mrs Brazel, a school music teacher, in the Supreme Court. Mrs Brazel claimed that her employer was wrong to give her fewer days of paid annual leave because she worked only during the school terms.  The UK's...

Part-time music teacher wins landmark case on calculating holiday pay for ‘part-year’ workers

20th July 2022

3PB barristers Mathew Gullick QC, Lachlan Wilson and Naomi Webber from 3PB's Employment and Discrimination Group - saw today a landmark judgment in favour of their music teacher client Mrs Lesley Brazel by the UK Supreme Court. This decision today follows her case being heard before an employment tribunal (in 2017), the Employment Appeal Tribunal (in 2018) and most recently the Court of Appeal (in 2019). The UK's highest court confirmed the rights of part-year...

The Upper Tribunal endorses a holistic approach to section 9 of the Education Act 1996 (parental preference on school placement)

24th May 2022

London Borough of Croydon v K.A. [2022] UKUT 106 (AAC) The Upper Tribunal published yesterday an important decision on EHC Plans which affirms the correct approach to section 9 of the Education Act 1996. The attempt by the London Borough of Croydon, on appeal, to narrow section 9 to educational benefits alone was rejected. Alice de Coverley, pictured here, from 3PB’s Education Team, represented the Respondent in this appeal, the parent, having already succeeded on...

Alice de Coverley and Gabriel Adedeji act for Ofsted in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

1st March 2022

3PB’s education and public law expert Alice de Coverley acted as Junior Counsel for Ofsted, led by Sarah Hannett QC, in this major public inquiry. Gabriel Adedeji, 3PB public law and regulatory law expert, acted as disclosure counsel for Ofsted. This latest strand of this ground-breaking investigation into the school sector by IICSA lasted for over three years and had several dimensions. Its first phase focused on residential specialist music schools and residential special schools,...

3PB education duo successful in CCLC legal challenge on speech therapy cuts

1st March 2022

Two of 3PB's well-known education team, specialist barristers Emma Waldron and Alice de Coverley - featured here left to right - have assisted law centre CCLC in their successful legal challenge to get Norfolk County Council to reverse its huge cuts to a boy’s speech therapy. Coram Children’s Legal Centre (CCLC) and the two counsel represented H, an 11-year-old boy, who was told he would only receive only 25% of the therapy he had previously,...

Matthew Wyard successful in judicial review of school transport decision for disabled child 

2nd February 2022

3PB public law barrister Matthew Wyard, pictured here, recently acted in a judicial review for the claimant in R(on the application of EP, through her litigation friend MAP) v Norfolk County Council  and successfully secured home to school transport for them, as well as an agreed quashing of multiple decisions refusing this support. The claimant, EP, is a disabled child with physical and mental disabilities. At secondary transfer she secured a place at T School....

Specialist education law barristers present SEND mock tribunal

27th January 2022

Five barristers from 3PB’s specialist education law team recently joined forces with Oxfordshire County Council to host a SEND mock tribunal as part of a training session. Barristers Lachlan Wilson, Katherine Anderson, Matthew Wyard, Jennifer Agyekum and Naomi Webber presented the mock tribunal to over 80 attendees. 3PB’s education law team represents parents, pupils, schools, and their governing bodies (both from the maintained and the independent sectors), academies, universities and colleges, NGOs including charities, students,...

  Welcome to our December's education law newsletter Welcome to 3PB's Education Law Team December 2021 Newsletter. It features contributions from specialist Education Law Barristers Aimee Fox, Emma Waldron, Matthew Wyard, Naomi Webber and Jim Hirschmann and has been co-edited by Jim Hirschmann and Katherine Anderson. You will find legal analyis on: (1) Discrimination in Foster Placeents as analysed in the recent Court of Appeal Judgment R (Cornerstone) v Ofsted [2021] EWCA Civ 1390 (2)...

Matthew Wyard counsels schools about data protection risks

1st November 2021

3PB Barristers’ specialist education and regulatory law barrister, Matthew Wyard (pictured here) has released the third article in 3PB’s Cyber Law Series. The feature covers data protection for schools and the higher education sector. Matthew highlights the rights of access to data from schools and colleges and specifically what constitutes ‘education data’. The new Data Sharing Code of Practice from the ICO is also scrutinised for how it assists the higher education sector in situations of crisis...

9 of our 14 education law juniors ranked in the 2022 Legal Directories

23rd October 2021

3PB Barristers is delighted to announce yet another record performance for its education law team in the latest editions of Chambers and Partners UK Bar directory and in the Legal 500 directory. While Chambers and Partners lists 6 individual rankings for our team in London (Band 3), the Legal 500 awards us 7 rankings in London (Tier 4), one in the Midlands and another in Wales and Chester. Nine of our 14 education law juniors...