I want to go to college after I finish school but I am worried I will lose all the support school have put in place for me. Is this the case? Expand No. If you have special educational needs you might need some extra help in college and your college should do everything it can to find out what you want to achieve and how it can support you to achieve that. Your school should share the information it has about the support it gives you with the college – ideally in the spring term before you move on. It is similar to the support schools have to provide but there is also focus on helping you prepare for the future. The college should work with you, your current school and your parents, to decide what support you need and how to provide it. Your college should have someone who makes sure pupils get the support they need, and you could arrange to speak with them about what support the college offers. You could also look at its SEN policies online. You can find out more about how college can support you here. If you have an EHC plan, the local authority must review and update it so it includes where you learn when you finish school. There are rules about how this must happen. See here for more information.
My college has said it has given me all the support it can but I need more. What can I do? Expand You can ask for your local authority (LA) to carry out an EHC needs assessment. This is a detailed assessment of your educational, health and care needs and how to support you. You can use our template letter to help you with this, or your college can ask for you. The person at college whose job it is to make sure pupils get help and support (sometimes called a SENCO) can help you with this request. Your parent or carer can also help you make the request. Your college should be doing everything it can to make sure you get the support you need, including thinking about making a request for an EHC needs assessment. After the EHC needs assessment, it may be possible to get extra help beyond what college can offer through something called an EHC plan. You can find out more about EHC plans here.
My sixth form has said I need an EHC plan. What is this? Expand This is a plan which lists the education, health care and social care needs you have. It is a legal document which you can rely on and enforce. It must say what: special educational needs you have, help you require to meet these challenges, setting (or type of setting) you will attend (unless education otherwise than at/in a school applies). The first step will be for you, or someone at your sixth form, to request an EHC needs assessment. Your parent or carer can help you too. You can find out more about EHC needs assessments here. You can find out more about EHC plans here.
My sixth form asked for an EHC needs assessment for me but my local authority has said no. What can I do? Expand You can ask the local authority (LA) to meet with you and someone called a mediator to talk about why the LA said no. This is called mediation. If the LA changes its mind or agrees to something else (providing more support, for example), then this should be written down in a mediation agreement. The LA must then do what it said it would do by the deadlines set out in here. If you do not want to meet with the LA like this, you can get a mediation certificate and then ask a judge to look at all the facts and decide if the LA should have said yes to the request. This is called an appeal. If the judge thinks the LA should have said yes, then the judge can order the LA to do the EHC needs assessment. That means the LA has to do it. On the LA’s letter refusing the EHC needs assessment request, there should be information about mediation and how to appeal its decision. You need to think about mediation before you can appeal to the SEND Tribunal. You can find out more about mediation here. You can find out more about how to appeal here and here. You can find out more about getting support with your appeal here.
Can I have an EHC plan after I finish college? Expand Yes. EHC plans are available for those up to the age of 25 who need one as long as you are not taking a higher education course (this will be a study programme or apprenticeship at Level 4 or above). The first step in getting an EHC plan is having an EHC needs assessment carried out. This is an investigation into your educational, health and care needs and how to support you. You can adapt our template letter to request an EHC needs assessment yourself, or your school or college could request one for you. Your parent or carer can help you too. After the EHC needs assessment the local authority (LA) will decide if you need an EHC plan. The LA must provide you with an EHC plan if you won’t get the help you need (known as your special educational provision) without one. If you’re over 18 and already have an EHC plan but have left education and don’t want any further learning then your EHC plan can be ended but the LA will need to review the plan first. You can find out more about EHC plans here.
Can my EHC plan keep going when I’m 25? Expand There isn’t an automatic right to keep your EHC plan when you are 25. But your local authority (LA) has the power to keep your EHC plan going until the end of the academic year in which you turn 25. Guidance, which the LA must follow unless it has a good reason not to, says support should generally stop at the end of the academic year so young people can complete their study (paragraph 9.207 SEND Code of Practice). This means: If you go to college, the LA could keep your EHC plan going until the 31st July after you turn 25. If you are an apprentice, the LA could keep your EHC plan going until your apprenticeship training finishes or the day before your 26th birthday if you’ll turn 26 before it finishes. (If you moved onto a level 4 or above apprenticeship your EHC plan wouldn’t be able to cover this though). If your education or training isn’t at college and isn’t an apprenticeship, the LA could keep your EHC plan going until your course ends or the day before your 26th birthday if you’ll turn 26 before it ends.
Where can I carry on learning or training? Expand You can receive special educational provision in lots of different ways. This could be through: school sixth forms (both mainstream and special schools) sixth form colleges further education colleges 16-19 Academies special post-16 institutions vocational learning and training providers in the private or voluntary sector. There are study programmes you might want to follow which include: A-levels, GCSEs, BTECs, T-Levels and other vocational or stepping-stone qualifications. You could also go on to gain work experience through an apprenticeship, traineeship or supported internship. Remember, the Children and Families Act 2014 doesn’t cover any learning that is higher education (which means study programmes or apprenticeships at Level 4 or above).