Education – legal aid deserts

We should all be able to secure the education and support our children need. However, families across England and Wales are struggling to access legal aid providers. This means they cannot challenge discrimination in schools or appeal decisions made by local authorities around their children’s education provision.

We analysed data from the Legal Aid Agency directory of providers (March 2023) and the Office of National Statistics (2022) and found that in England and Wales:

  • nine in 10 people in England and Wales do not have an education legal aid provider in their local authority: that’s over 53 million people

Hover over your local authority to find out if there's a legal aid provider in your area:

View the full map or compare to 2022

The civil legal aid review will include in-depth analysis to better understand how people facing education issues access funding and support.

Find out more about the review

Looking for legal advice?

The Law Society does not provide legal advice. If you're looking for help with paying legal costs, our page for the public can help.

Find out about help with paying legal costs


Maximise your Law Society membership with My LS