• Alice deCoverley profile 560x670 2

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

      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...

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    • Investigation report

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

      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,...

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

      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,...

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    • December education law newsletter - out now!

        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)...

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    • Legal directories success for 3PB education law team

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

      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...

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    • Alice deCoverley

      IICSA junior counsel Alice de Coverley on Inquiry findings into child sex abuse and UK religious groups

      3PB education and public law expert Alice de Coverley acted as Junior Counsel for Ofsted, led by Sarah Hannett QC, in this major public inquiry. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) has found "shocking failings" and "blatant hypocrisy" in the way major UK religious groups handle child sex abuse allegations. IICSA concluded some religious organisations in England and Wales were "morally failing" children. IICSA set this all out in its report arising from their...

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    • sexual harassment in schools webinar

      Reaction to Ofsted review; and the Everyone's Invited website

      Ofsted's publication of its review on safeguarding policies in state and independent schools and colleges in relation to sexual abuse on 10 June has further emphasised how prevalent sexual abuse is in our education institutions and that steps must be taken to tackle this issue. Head of 3PB's Education law group Charlotte Hadfield, Sarah Bowen and Alice de Coverley from 3PB’s Education and Employment & Discrimination teams presented a webinar at 5pm on 21st June...

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    • Judicial Review update: practice and procedure

      Judicial Review update: practice and procedure

      Following the Part 54 Practice Directions revisions of 31st May 2021, which marked some substantial changes to judicial review claims moving forward, specialist judicial review practitioners Mathew Gullick KC, Caroline Stone, Matthew Wyard and Alice de Coverley from 3PB’s Public Law team presented a webinar on the changes on 1st June 2021. Topics for discussion included: The new rules on where to issue your claim The new requirements for pleadings and bundles Urgent applications and...

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    • April 2021 Education law newsletter

      Welcome to April's newsletter Welcome to the fourth edition of the 3PB Education law team’s newsletter. You will find this quarter’s newsletter packed full with 3PB news, analysis and case law updates from John Friel, Emma Waldron, Alice de Coverley, Jennifer Agyekum and Alex Leonhardt. This quarter’s topics include: two different reflections on a year of virtual hearings, an analysis of R (L, M, P) v Devon County Council [2021] EWCA Civ 358 (regarding statutory...

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      3PB Education team publishes December newsletter

      3PB's specialist education law barristers have published the third edition of the 3PB Education team’s newsletter edited by Katherine Anderson. The newsletter features contributions from Charlotte Hadfield, Emma Waldron, Alice de Coverley, Matthew Wyard, and Alex Leonhardt. You will find this quarter’s newsletter packed full of 3PB news, analysis and case law updates, as well as our opening hours over the Christmas period. The newsletter covers various topics including: School attendance in times of covid-19...

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    • 3D Schools

      Authors discuss new legal book on school exclusions

      3PB education barristers Charlotte Hadfield and Alice de Coverley marked the launch of their new legal text on 'The Law in Relation to School Exclusions' with a Q&A session led by fellow barrister Lachlan Wilson yesterday (25 November). Exclusion from school is a sanction of last resort that can hugely and adversely impact a pupil’s life outcomes for many years. Moreover the law relating to school exclusions is a complex tangle of public and regulatory...

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    • 3D Schools

      3PB Education Barristers author seminal new book on school exclusions and the law

      Education law specialist Charlotte Hadfield, who heads the Education Team, and her barrister colleague Alice de Coverley have co-authored the first book on the law on school exclusion since 2002 - 'The Law in Relation to School Exclusions' published by Law Brief Publishing. The book will be launched officially on November 25 at 5pm in a Q&A interview of both authors via Zoom. Exclusion from school is a sanction of last resort that can hugely...

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