My Rights, My Say Scotland: ASN Rights for Young People Aged 12-15

Most ASN advocacy in Scotland is framed around parents. But since 2016, children aged 12 to 15 have held their own independent legal rights in the Scottish education system — rights that are entirely separate from, and sometimes more powerful than, the rights held by parents alone. The service built to enforce those rights is called My Rights, My Say.

What Changed in 2016

The Education (Scotland) Act 2016 made a significant structural change to Scotland's ASN framework. It extended many of the rights previously held only by parents — and by young people over 16 — to children aged 12 to 15 who have an Additional Support Need.

Before 2016, a 13-year-old with ASN had no independent legal standing in decisions about their education. Their parents could request assessments, dispute CSP content, or lodge Tribunal references. The child's voice was considered, but the rights belonged to the parent.

After 2016, a child aged 12 to 15 with ASN can:

• Request that the education authority assess whether they need a Co-ordinated Support Plan
• Request that the authority establish a CSP if one is needed
• Dispute the content of an existing CSP
• Make a formal reference to the Additional Support Needs Tribunal for Scotland
• Instruct their own advocacy support

These rights sit alongside — not instead of — parental rights. In practice, this means a case can be brought in the child's name, with the child as the formal applicant, even when parents are the ones driving the process.

Why the Child's Name Can Matter

There is a significant legal and financial reason to understand whether a case should be brought in the child's name rather than the parent's.

Civil Legal Aid for ASN Tribunal representation is administered by the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) and is means-tested. For an application made in a parent's name, SLAB assesses the parent's disposable income and capital. The income threshold is a weekly disposable income below £222 for automatic qualification, and the capital limit is £8,000. Many working families with even modest savings fall outside these limits.

If the application is made in the child's name, SLAB assesses the child's means — not the parents'. A child with no independent income and no capital qualifies automatically. This can make the difference between a family securing free legal representation at Tribunal and facing tens of thousands of pounds in legal costs. It is one of the least widely known provisions in Scottish ASN law, and it is entirely legitimate.

What My Rights, My Say Provides

My Rights, My Say is the free advocacy service established specifically because of the 2016 rights extension. It provides:

Independent advocacy: A trained advocate who works directly with the young person — separate from parents, school, and the education authority — to ensure the child's own views are heard clearly in assessments, planning meetings, and formal proceedings.

Legal advice and information: The service explains to young people what their rights are under the ASL Act in language they can understand, at a level appropriate to their age and capacity.

Tribunal representation: For young people who exercise their right to bring a Tribunal reference directly, My Rights, My Say provides representation support alongside or independently from parental advocacy.

The service is designed to be child-led. The advocate's role is not to impose a view or align with the parent's position, but to ensure the young person's perspective — what they want, what they find difficult, what kind of support would actually help them — is communicated accurately in formal processes that can otherwise become entirely adult-to-adult.

The Eligible Age Window: 12-15

The independent rights under the 2016 Act apply specifically to children who are 12-15 at the time of the relevant decision or reference. There are two important points around the edges of this age range.

For children under 12, parents hold all formal rights. A 10-year-old with complex ASN relies entirely on their parents to request assessments, challenge refusals, and pursue Tribunal references. There is no formal equivalent to My Rights, My Say for under-12s, though children's advocacy organisations can still support younger children in being heard within informal processes.

At 16, a young person acquires the same full independent rights as an adult under the ASL Act. The Let's Talk ASN service (run by Govan Law Centre and Barnardo's Scotland) provides free legal advocacy and Tribunal representation for young people aged 16 and over. My Rights, My Say and Let's Talk ASN therefore cover the full spectrum from 12 upwards.

How This Works Alongside Parental Rights

The 2016 extension created a situation where parent and child can both hold active rights simultaneously — and can sometimes diverge in what they want.

In the overwhelming majority of cases, parent and child want the same thing: better support, the right placement, a CSP that actually specifies adequate provision. The dual-rights structure simply reinforces the case by giving two independent parties the ability to challenge an authority's decision.

In the rarer scenario where a 12-15 year old has a genuine difference of view from their parents — perhaps preferring a mainstream setting when parents want a specialist placement, or vice versa — the education authority must take that view seriously as an independent statutory input, not merely as a consideration to be balanced against parental preference.

For most families, the practical impact is straightforward: if you are the parent of a 12-15 year old with ASN and you are challenging a CSP refusal or Tribunal process, it is worth contacting My Rights, My Say so your child has their own independent advocate in the room. It costs nothing, it strengthens the overall case, and it is what the law was specifically designed to make possible.

If you are working through a Tribunal reference or CSP dispute at any stage, the Scotland ASN Appeals Playbook sets out the full procedural pathway — including how the child's independent rights interact with parental rights at each decision point.

See more United Kingdom guides →