31/01/2026
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1C8w9Byeoi/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Almost as troubling as the systemic failures leaving so many children out of education is the number of people exploiting desperate parents.
Over the past year, I’ve been approached by a growing number of self-styled “advocates” offering to “help” me navigate the process. I’ve been down this road before. One such advocate came highly recommended, yet we ultimately spent more on her advice than we now pay our £360-per-hour solicitor. She repeatedly went on holiday, then handed our case to her husband for a telephone case management hearing. He arrived completely unprepared, proceeded to insult both the judge and the local authority, and left me feeling exposed and undermined. It reflected badly on me, despite being entirely outside my control.
I’ve since heard similar accounts from other parents: advocates who disappear when cases become complex, who stonewall clients, or who quietly withdraw when things get uncomfortable.
Alongside this, there is a troubling trend of people aggressively marketing tutoring and therapy services to families in crisis. I say this as an experienced therapist myself: you will never see me recommending my own services on social media, nor approaching desperate parents directly. That boundary matters.
When you are frightened for your child, exhausted, and under pressure, it is easy to mistake confidence for competence and marketing for ethics.
Please be wary. Ask hard questions. Check credentials. And remember that genuine professionals do not need to chase families in distress.