Frequently Asked Questions

SEND Parents Help is a free AI assistant designed specifically for families navigating Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) processes in England. It connects you to ChatGPT or Google Gemini, enhanced with a specialist knowledge base covering EHCPs, DLA, Blue Badges, school transport, and more.

It was built by a parent going through the same journey, to help other families understand their rights and navigate statutory processes with confidence. If you're new to AI, our beginner's guide explains everything in plain English.

When you ask plain ChatGPT a SEND question, it gives you a long, generic answer covering every possibility. It sounds confident but often buries the important bit in hundreds of words of background information. SEND Parents Help works differently:

• It asks before it answers. Instead of dumping everything it knows, it asks a clarifying question first so it can give you advice that actually fits your situation.
• It knows the specifics. It draws from a curated knowledge base covering England's SEND law, DLA form guidance, EHCP timelines, exclusion rules, and more, updated regularly from official sources.
• It's concise and actionable. You get clear next steps, not a textbook summary. It tells you what to do, not just what the law says.

See a real side-by-side comparison where we asked both the same question and didn't edit either response. The difference is striking.

Your conversations go directly to ChatGPT or Google. We cannot see, access, or store anything you type or upload. The only connection to us is our knowledge base, which provides SEND guidance to help answer your questions, but receives no personal information.

We use anonymous usage data to improve the knowledge base. For example, we can see what ChatGPT is requesting from our knowledge base, but we have no way of knowing who made the request or what was said in the conversation.

For full details, see our privacy policy. If you have questions, use the feedback button on any page.

Not at all. The assistant can help with any SEND-related question. The specialist areas are where it has deep, curated expert knowledge drawn from official sources. For everything else, it still has the full capabilities of ChatGPT or Gemini, it just won't have the same level of specialist, verified detail.

Yes. SEND Parents Help is completely free to use. You just need a ChatGPT or Google Gemini account to get started (both free to sign up). The free tier works fine for trying it out and asking questions. If you're actively working through SEND paperwork, we'd recommend a paid ChatGPT plan for higher message limits and better file uploads. See our account setup guide for details. We're not affiliated with any government body or commercial organisation.