If you disagree with either a fixed period or a permanent exclusion, you can 'make representations', which means attending a meeting to give your views about it to the governing body of the school or setting.
Exclusions must be upheld by the governing body of the excluding school or setting. This means that they will review information about what has led to the decision to exclude and then choose to agree with it (uphold) or disagree with it (over-turn).
If they disagree with the decision, then your child can return to their school and the exclusion will be removed from their record.
If they uphold the decision then the exclusion will take place. You could then ask for the decision to be reviewed by an Independent Review Panel (IRP).
The IRP do not have the power to overturn an exclusion. They can help by instructing the governing body to review their decision.
Parents are allowed to request the presence of a SEND expert (such as an educational psychologist or specialist) at an IRP to provide support and advice. Your child does not need to be on the school SEND register or have an EHCP. They will not diagnose your child, but may be able to provide advice about how their SEND may be affecting their behaviour in school.
If the governing body do not over-turn a permanent exclusion after reviewing it again, they will be asked to pay an additional £4,000 above the cost of permanently excluding a pupil to the local authority.
If you feel that the exclusion could be related to disability discrimination under the Equality act 2010, then you could instead make a claim to the first tier tribunal, who do have the power to overturn the exclusion and re-instate a pupil. Get help dealing with disability discrimination.