Tools to Represent Yourself at an Employment Tribunal (England and Wales)
This guide covers England and Wales. It is general information, not legal advice, and is not a substitute for advice about your own situation. Laws and figures change - always check the current position on GOV.UK before relying on any detail here.
Representing yourself at an employment tribunal is common and lawful. The hard part is not finding a tool - it is knowing which tool is for which job, and not outsourcing your deadline or your evidence to a chatbot that sounds confident.
This guide is a practical inventory for England and Wales: free official sources, free calculators, and optional paid or middle-ground products. For the full self-rep journey, start with going to tribunal without a solicitor. For how the options compare on cost and effort, see help options compared.
1. Official free guidance (start here)
These are the primary sources tribunals and advisers expect you to know exist:
| Resource | Use it for |
|---|---|
| GOV.UK employment tribunals | How to start a claim, what forms to use, overview of process |
| ACAS Early Conciliation | The step that usually pauses the clock before an ET1 |
| ACAS Code on disciplinary and grievance | Process standards that can adjust compensation by up to 25% |
| Citizens Advice - employment tribunals | Plain-English explanations and practical checklists |
| Judiciary - ET rules and practice | Rules of procedure and presidential guidance |
None of these builds your case for you - they set the rules of the road.
2. Free calculators (numbers that must be right)
Deadlines and statutory money figures should come from code or official calculators, not from memory or a language model.
Aricase free tools (no signup)
| Tool | What it answers |
|---|---|
| Tribunal deadline calculator | Time limit to start ACAS Early Conciliation for your claim type |
| Notice period calculator | Minimum statutory notice you are owed or must give |
| Redundancy pay calculator | Statutory redundancy pay only (April 2026 weekly-pay cap) |
| Unfair dismissal basic award calculator | Basic award formula only - not total compensation |
| Claim value estimator | Indicative whole-claim range (ballpark, not a prediction) |
| Award data explorer | Patterns from published outcome data |
All free tools: /tools.
Official GOV.UK calculators
| Tool | What it answers |
|---|---|
| GOV.UK redundancy pay calculator | Official statutory redundancy pay estimate |
| Other GOV.UK tools as published | Always prefer the official calculator when one exists for your question |
Tip: "basic award" and "whole claim value" are different questions - using the wrong calculator is a common mix-up.
3. Document and process guides (still free)
When you are ready to write, these Aricase guides walk through the artefacts:
- How to fill in the ET1
- Schedule of loss
- Witness statement
- Hearing bundle
- Tribunal process step by step
- Employment tribunal deadlines
4. Generic AI (use carefully)
ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, Gemini and Perplexity are useful for learning, not for final deadlines, live caps or tribunal-ready drafts. See what generic AI gets wrong about employment claims.
5. Optional paid / middle-ground products
If free guidance is not enough structure:
| Type | Typical role | Caution |
|---|---|---|
| Self-serve case-building (e.g. Aricase) | Guided case prep for E&W; Aricase adds an automated quality check on six areas | Not legal advice; cannot represent you at a hearing |
| Solicitor marketplace / fixed-fee tasks | Buy discrete solicitor tasks | Check regulation and what is included |
| Full solicitor or no-win-no-fee | Run the claim for you | Highest cost; selection criteria on NWNOF |
| Direct-access barrister | Hearing advocacy without a solicitor firm in the middle | You still own the paperwork unless agreed otherwise |
Aricase's case-building product is free to start with no card and no subscription: your case plan, a set number of messages with Ari, your first document and one review of a draft you wrote are free. A Case Pass is £50 for 2 months on one case. It covers every other document Ari prepares for that case and as much help from Ari as you need for your case (fair use applies). If your case needs longer, you can buy another 2 months; nothing is charged automatically (see the pricing section for the details). The six areas Aricase grades automatically are the roadmap, the strength of each issue, the timeline, the overall assessment, evidence gaps and any drafts. Free calculators remain free. To compare chatbots, AI self-representation platforms and other AI services on price, whether a person looks at your work and where they apply, see AI tools for employment tribunal claims compared.
How to choose in one minute
- Check your deadline - deadline calculator + deadlines guide.
- Use official process pages - GOV.UK + ACAS.
- Calculate only the figure you need - redundancy vs basic award vs whole-claim range.
- Build documents from evidence - not from a chat transcript alone.
- Add paid help only if complexity, value or capacity requires it - compare in help options.
Self-representation is a real path. Tools help most when each one has a single job - and when the non-negotiables (time limit, evidence, honest schedule of loss) stay under your control.
This article is legal information, not legal advice. Deadlines and statutory money limits change - verify current figures on legislation.gov.uk, GOV.UK and ACAS before relying on them.
Sources used in this guide
- GOV.UK: Employment tribunals
- ACAS: Employment tribunals
- Citizens Advice: Taking a problem to an employment tribunal
- GOV.UK: Calculate your statutory redundancy pay
Links to legislation.gov.uk, gov.uk, acas.org.uk and bills.parliament.uk are official sources. Always check the current version on the source site before relying on a specific point.
Frequently asked questions
What free tools help if I represent myself at tribunal?
Start with GOV.UK and ACAS for the process, Citizens Advice for plain-English help, and free calculators for numbers that must be correct - especially the tribunal time limit and statutory redundancy or basic award figures. Aricase publishes free calculators for deadlines, notice, redundancy pay, claim value ranges and award data with no signup.
Is a calculator enough to run a tribunal claim?
No. Calculators answer one question (a date or a formula figure). A claim also needs evidence, an ET1 narrative, case management compliance, a schedule of loss and hearing prep. Use calculators for the arithmetic, then build the case around your facts.
Should I use ChatGPT instead of a purpose-built tool?
Generic AI is useful for learning jargon, but it is a poor source for deadlines, live statutory caps and tribunal documents. See the guide on what generic AI gets wrong about employment claims. Prefer code-calculated dates and figures, plus official sources.
Do I need paid software to self-represent?
No. Many people self-represent with only free public guidance. Paid tools or limited solicitor advice are optional when you want structure, drafting help or a quality check without full representation.
Where does Aricase fit?
Aricase is a self-serve case-building platform for England and Wales employment tribunal claims: AI helps you build the case, and the case file is automatically graded on six separate areas. It is legal information and case prep help - not legal advice or representation at a hearing. Free calculators on the site do not require an account.
Key terms
Building a claim without a solicitor?
Ari helps you organise what happened, your evidence and the documents a tribunal expects, with your case file automatically graded on six separate areas.
The six areas, graded automatically: the roadmap, the strength of each issue, the timeline, the overall assessment, evidence gaps and any drafts.
Start your case freeOr use the free Employment tribunal deadline calculator.
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