Careers advice
Planning for post-16 options whilst in education
The government states that all young people aged 16-18 should be in some form of education, employment or training. This is part of the raising participation age initiative. It's the duty of the council to ensure that this is the case, and to support those who are struggling to access provision.
Whilst at school, impartial careers information, advice and guidance should be made available to pupils and must be delivered by a level 6 qualified, registered careers adviser. Once a young person has left school, it then becomes the responsibility of the council to provide the same offer to all year 12 and year 13 young people, or up to the age of 25 if the young person has an education, health and care plan (EHCP).
Schools will help with planning for post-16 choices, and for pupils with EHCPs this is done via the preparing for adulthood process starting in year 9. In year 11 the school careers adviser will help all year 11s make their post-16 choices more specific, and create a plan for each young person to move forward into education, employment or training. For those with EHCPs this plan will be discussed as part of an annual review, which should take place in the autumn term, and will be organised by the SENCO. It will involve key teaching staff, the young person and their parent/carer, the careers adviser, the local authority SEN case officer, and often a representative from a relevant local college or training provider. Following the annual review the SEN case officer will review the paperwork and any suggested amendments to make sure that the EHCP is accurate and up to date so that they can consult with the young person's chosen college to see if it's able to meet the young person's SEN needs. You can find out the timescales for this process on the phased transfers page of the local offer.
It's the young person/family who will need to complete the application process for the young person's chosen further education course/programme. The SEN case officer will be the link person for any issues and queries that arise from this point forward. You can find out who your child/young person's SEN case officer is by looking at the SEN case officer allocations page on the local offer.
If a young person needs support with post-16 options in year 12 or 13 and older, they should contact their college in the first instance so that an annual review can be called if necessary. If not, you can contact your chilld/young person's SEN case officer to discuss support/options available.
Post-16 options open to young people with an EHCP
Please refer to our list of FE providers.