The right to learn post-16

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Post-sixteen education options for students with disabilities and SEN

Students with disabilities and SEN have the same opportunities available to them at sixteen as their peers, but they often need a range of adjustments, from support in the classroom to transport support and services, to ensure that they can make the most of these opportunities. Choosing the best options and ensuring all the right support is in place are parts of the transition process that starts in Year 9, when the student is choosing their GCSEs. The options can range from going to a school sixth form to looking for permanent employment. This article focuses on the opportunities for further education.

At college there is a wide range of qualifications and subjects that students can work towards. Courses include Entry Level 1, 2 and 3 Certificates and Awards, GCSEs, vocational GCSEs, AS and A Levels,  National Vocational Qualifications and BTEC National Diplomas, Advanced Vocational Certificates and Special Diplomas. Further education (FE) colleges can also offer students the chance to take courses that help them develop skills such as independent living skills. It is important that the young person chooses a course that interests and challenges them. Most subjects can be made accessible with the appropriate support. It should not be assumed that learners cannot do something because of their impairment. Deaf people can study music, and students with dyslexia can train to be journalists.

Young people also need to find a college that can meet their needs. While local FE colleges should be able to meet the needs of most students, some young people with disabilities and SEN may benefit from the specialised support an independent specialist college can provide. From 2010, the funding for a place at a specialist college will be the responsibility of local authorities (LAs) and the Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA).

When considering the opportunities available, young people with disabilities and SEN need to get information, advice and guidance from a wide range of sources to help them decide what they would like to do in the future. Visiting a college on an open day, and speaking to support staff and current students can help them decide whether the college will suit them and meet their needs. The young person should have a Connexions advisor, who can help them review the information they have received and liaise with all the people involved, to help transition from school to college go as smoothly as possible.

FE colleges have a legal duty under Part 4 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) not to treat students with disabilities less favourably in admissions or while they are studying. They are not required to lower entry requirements to enable a student with a disability to attend a particular course, but they must not place additional entry requirements that others applying for the course do not have to meet. They also have a duty under the DDA to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that students with disabilities are not substantially disadvantaged. This means that the student should be able to access the campus and all the college facilities, including the library, computer labs and classrooms. While studying, they should have access to the equipment and human support that will enable them to meet their potential.

Under Section 139a of the Education and Skills Act 2008, the LA must arrange for a young person with a statement of SEN, who intends to leave school, to have an assessment of their needs carried out in their last year at school. The LA also has the power to arrange assessments for young people with disabilities, but without a statement of SEN, where the learner appears to the authority to have a learning difficulty and would benefit. This assessment can be passed on to the college, with the young person’s consent, and can help identify the types of support and adjustments the student will need while at college.

Support for students with disabilities and SEN in FE colleges is usually called additional learning support, and the college should have someone, usually called the Additional Learning Support Co-ordinator, responsible for ensuring that students get the support they need. Under the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, LAs and the Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA) will take on responsibility for funding young people with disabilities and SEN under the age of 25 who have a 139a assessment. This funding enables the college to put an individualised package of support in place that could include, for example, extra teaching for students with dyslexia, an interpreter for deaf students, flexible timetables, materials in alternative formats such as large print or Braille or computer software.

Some students have needs beyond their educational support needs and these will be met by different organisations. Social services should meet personal care needs, such as help using the toilet facilities or someone to help with travelling to college. The local primary care trust (PCT) or NHS board should meet health care needs, such as someone to administer medication at college.

All LAs have a duty to ensure that no student is prevented from accessing or taking part in FE due to lack of transport support or services. LAs must produce a transport policy statement that identifies the transport support and provision available to all learners aged between 16 and 19. This must specifically include the transport support and services available to students with learning difficulties or disabilities. This may include services such as independent travel training, which helps young people with disabilities and SEN travel on public transport independently. Other non-transport options can also be considered, such as peripatetic teachers, mobile provision and e-learning.

When young learners with disabilities and SEN are looking at the opportunities available to them when they leave school, they should be making their choices based on their interests and abilities, in the same way as their peers. Many different individuals and organisations may be involved in ensuring that they have the support in place to enable them to pursue their interests; good quality information, advice and guidance (IAG) is essential, as without a supported, co-ordinated and person-centred transition plan, young learners may end up in inappropriate and unsupported provision, or may risk being not in employment, education or training (NEET). The Education and Skills Act 2008 will raise the age of participation to eighteen by 2015, and this presents an opportunity to improve the quality and range of IAG, the curriculum on offer and provision available to learners with disabilities and SEN. However, it is important that there are safeguards in place to enable young people to meet their requirement to participate in education and training and make the most of the opportunities available to them.

Further information

Hannah James is an Information and Research Worker at Skill: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities:
www.skill.org.uk

Article first published in SEN Magazine issue 44: January/February 2010.

Hannah James
Author: Hannah James

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