Green Paper: Children and Young People
with Special Educational Needs and
Disabilities - Call For Views
October 2010
About Skill
Skill: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities is a national charity that promotes
opportunities to empower young people and adults with any kind of disability to
realise their potential in further, continuing and higher education, training and
employment throughout the UK. Skill works by providing information and advice to
individuals, promoting good practice and influencing policy in partnership with
disabled people, service providers and policy makers. Skill is a registered charity
and a company limited by guarantee.
As a member of the Department for Education Learners with Learning Difficulties
and/or Disabilities (LLDD) Advisory group Skill has contributed to the group’s advice
on the SEN Green Paper which has been sent to the Minister and the Department
for Education.
Skill fully endorses the Advice Paper submitted by the DfE LLDD Advisory Group
and we would like to take the opportunity to contribute our own response.
Skill works with disabled young people and their families from transition from school
to further education, training, Apprenticeships, Higher Education, volunteering and
into employment through adult life.
We have therefore concentrated on questions 4, 5 and 6, with a focus on issues
concerning post-16 transition.
Experiences of disabled young people – the learner voice
Skill works in partnership with disabled people through membership, a free Helpline,
e-mail enquiry service, Ambassador Programme and in partnership with
professionals and organisations representing disabled people. Specifically our Youth
Working Party, made up of disabled young people, has informed the content of this
paper.
When asked about their personal experiences in transition from school to adult life,
as young people with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities, members of
our Youth Working Party made the following recommendations:

Planning must start well in advance of leaving school, so that the young person’s
needs and choices are fully explored
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
Planning must be individualised and centred around the young person’s voice.
Too often decisions are still being made for young people

More timely, effective and impartial information, advice and guidance (IAG) is
needed so that disabled young people can make an informed choice. Taster
sessions at colleges are important particularly, as there is a big difference
between Special Schools and FE.

Agencies need to work more closely together to make the process smoother - in
particular the funding agencies and local authorities (LAs).
Question 4
(4) How can we ensure all schools and colleges have high expectations for
children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, and
help young people to develop the skills for employment and their future
potential and contribution to society?
The importance of focussing on what students with SEN and disabilities can
do rather than what they cannot
Skill believes the aspirations of disabled learners and their parents can be increased
if schools and colleges have higher expectations for learners with SEN and
disabilities and that they focus on what learners with SEN and disabilities can do
rather than what they cannot.
When learners reach transition age and consider the options post compulsory
education it is important that schools and colleges positively promote further
education and the wide range of qualifications and subjects that young people can
work towards - whether that is Entry Level Certificates or Awards, GCSEs, AS and A
Levels, or higher education. Further Education (FE) colleges can offer disabled
young people the chance to take courses that help them develop independent living
skills as well as vocational work-related skills. 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
young people with dyslexia can train to be journalists.
Promoting employment and work based learning opportunities
It is important that employment/work is the key outcome throughout the curriculum
and provision and that learners with SEN and disabilities are encouraged to work
towards meaningful employment. Employability needs to be embedded in the
curriculum and be a strong common theme. Schools and colleges can raise
expectations for children and young people with special educational needs and
disabilities, and help them to develop skills for employment through promoting
volunteering and work based learning opportunities. Volunteering as a route into
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employment has been highlighted by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
and other qualitative research in the area suggests benefits include learning new
skills, increasing confidence and developing or maintaining work habits1.
Skill is currently working with over 250 disabled young people, some with severe
learning difficulties, to develop their employability skills, find volunteering
opportunities in the community and to support them in the workplace. Skill would be
pleased to inform the development of the work–related curriculum for disabled young
people as a stepping stone to employment.
Understanding of support available and reasonable adjustments
Schools and colleges can raise the aspirations of learners with SEN and disabilities
by promoting the range of support available to disabled people in education,
employment and training, for example through reasonable adjustments. Under the
Equality Act 2010 education providers and employers have a duty to provide
reasonable adjustments2 to make sure that a disabled person has the same access
to everything as a non-disabled person, as far as is reasonable. The duty contains
three requirements that apply in situations where a disabled person would otherwise
be placed at a substantial disadvantage compared with people who are not disabled:
a requirement to change policy and criteria; a requirement to overcome barriers by
physical features; and a requirement to provide auxiliary aids (additional equipment).
Funding for reasonable adjustments
Schools and colleges need better awareness of the financial support available to
make these adjustments for students who wish to progress onto further and higher
education and into employment. Currently in post 16 education Additional Learning
Support (ALS) funds disability support staff and equipment vital for disabled young
people in meeting their learning aims. In Higher Education Disabled Students’
Allowances (DSA) is funding made available to disabled students for reasonable
adjustments and equipment.
The 2010 Ofsted review into Special Educational Needs and Disability, “A Statement
is not enough”, found that many of the disabled students who wanted to progress to
higher education at the age of 18 had difficulties in the transition period and were
uncertain whether the financial support they would require in order to be successful
would be available. Arrangements to support their transition and to obtain the
disabled students’ allowance (DSA) were also found to be variable. Research shows
that students who receive DSA attain better class degrees; however there is disparity
between those eligible and those who receive DSA.
1
Corden, A. and Sainsbury, R, 2005, Volunteering for Employment Skills: A qualitative research study
Social Policy Research Unit, University of York, York. Gaskin K (2004) Volunteering and availability
for work: an evaluation of the change to Jobseeker’s Allowance regulations - A report to the
Department for Work and Pensions.
2 Educational providers have a duty to all disabled learners regardless of whether they have a Section
139a assessment
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Skill believes that more needs to be done to remove the perceived barriers and
promote uptake of DSA. Skill actively promotes the DSA application process to
potential higher education students with the publication ‘Into Higher Education’,
through the Skill Helpline and by disseminating good practice at conferences and
events.
Awareness of Access to Work
Schools and colleges also need better understanding of the financial support
available to help employers make reasonable adjustments and to ensure young
people and their parents are informed.
Access to Work (AtW) funding is available to support people in employment who
require adjustments to work. Advisers can provide both advice and support to the
employee and funding to meet any extra costs which may arise because of support
needs. It is important for students with disabilities to realise that support is available
when in employment and that job coaches and other initiatives can help people with
learning difficulties and/or disabilities to access work.
Awareness of all these options should be developed from an early age so that
disabled young people can make informed decisions about their career options.
Transport
Effective transport provision for disabled young people is integral in enabling learning
outcomes, progression and independence. Schools and colleges must inform
learners that local authorities are responsible for providing transport to education,
employment and training provision. and for learners with learning difficulties and/or
disabilities up to the age of 25.
All LAs have a statutory 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 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.
It is critical that LAs should provide independent travel training, which helps young
people with disabilities to learn the skills to be able to travel on public transport
independently. This may be appropriate at school age, but may need to take place
post--16 and post–19.
Without the skills and confidence to plan a journey and use public transport and taxis
safely, disabled people are not able to take an active role in their community, get to
work or to socialise. Those who do not have independent travel skills are more likely
to become isolated at home and unable to participate in their communities or enter
employment.
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Question 6
(6) How can we improve the transition from school to adult life for young
people with special educational needs and disabilities and the support
provided for their families throughout?
The importance of getting transition right
Transition from school to Further Education is an important time in any young
person’s life. Disabled young people should have the same choices available to
them post sixteen as their peers. They often need a range of adjustments, from
support in the classroom to transport support and services, to ensure that the young
person can make the most of these opportunities.
The recently published Ofsted review, ‘The special educational needs and disability
review’, evaluated how well the legislative framework and arrangements served
children and young people who had special educational needs and/or disabilities.
Skill welcomes the review for considering education for learners with SEN and
disabilities up to the age of 19, and shares concerns about some of the findings.
For example that: ‘too many young people with learning difficulties and disabilities,
and those with SEN find it very difficult to make the transition from school to an adult
life that is as independent and purposeful as possible’.
Skill is very concerned that pupils with a statement of SEN are half as likely to
achieve 5 or more GCSE grades A*-C than their non-disabled peers.3 This is not
because they are of lower ability but because there are significant barriers within the
system.
Evidence of poor transition outcomes
The recently published Equality and Human Rights Commission report ‘How Fair is
Britain 2010?’ states that children with SEN/disabilities are generally recognised as
being particularly disadvantaged within the education system - for example, nearly
three-quarters (71%) of permanent exclusions in England involved pupils with some
form of SEN. The report also shows that pupils aged 16 with SEN perform less well
than pupils with no identified disability and that people with disabilities are more likely
to have no qualifications above Level 14.
Statistics also show that disabled young people are considerably more likely than
non-disabled people to not be in education, employment or training (NEET)5 . In
2008 the Youth Cohort Study found that 29 per cent of disabled 18 year olds were
NEET compared to 12 per cent of non- disabled 18 year olds6. It is important that a
wide range of learning opportunities are available that will re-engage this group of
3
National Pupil Database 2005/06-2008/09 http://www.officefordisability.gov.uk
Hills, J., et al., 2010. An Anatomy of Economic Inequality in the UK, report of the National Equality
Panel. London: Government Equalities Office. Page 103.
5 Disability Review, Leonard Cheshire Disability, 2008.
6 Youth Cohort Survey: The activities and experiences of 16 year olds: England and Wales,
Department for Children, Schools and Families, 2008.
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young people. With raising the participation age (RPA), education providers, delivery
partners and support services must consider how to engage with young people who
are NEET and how to establish good provision and support for those learners who
may require extra support in staying engaged in meaningful learning up to the age of
18.
Lack of choice post-16
Skill suggests that these negative trends can be reversed by providing learners with
SEN and disabilities with a real choice of options when they leave school. The 2010
Ofsted report of SEN and disability found that real choice of education and training
opportunities at 16 was limited for many disabled young people and those with
special educational needs and that few courses are available for young people with
the lowest levels of attainment.
Qualifications and assessment accessible to disabled people
In order for choices to be realistic qualifications need to become more accessible for example apprenticeships need to be a viable option for disabled young people.
Fewer than 10% of apprentices have a disability7 and currently the proportion of
apprentices declaring a learning difficulty or disability is declining, from 10.7% in
2007/08 to 8.4% in 2008/09 (age 19-24).8 This trend needs to be reversed as well
as support within Apprenticeships increased and awareness raised among
employers.9 Entry requirements and the existing frameworks are insufficiently flexible
to allow entry to disabled people who would be able to undertake the work and
develop the work skills.
Similarly Foundation Learning provision for those working below Level 2 across
schools and FE must be flexible and destination led to ensure that disabled young
people can fulfil their potential whether that is continuing education, work,
Apprenticeships, or independent living. Job coaching is an essential way of
supporting disabled people into employment and the costs of job coaching should be
funded for providers to facilitate progression to employment.
7
How Fair is Britain 2010? Equality and Human Rights Commission (2010)
http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/uploaded_files/triennial_review/how_fair_is_britain__complete_report.pdf
8 Data taken from Individual Learner Records and First Statistical Release in December 2009
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Personalised and Quality Careers Education Information Advice and Guidance
(IAG)
Effective transition for learners with SEN and disabilities is dependent upon
personalised, impartial and quality careers education, information, advice and
guidance (CEIAG). Between the ages of 14 to 25 young people have to make
important decisions about their education. For disabled young people it can be a
confusing and complicated time, as they often receive support from a number of
different agencies, including health, social care services and education.
Skill strongly stresses that quality and timely CEIAG helps disabled young people
and their families to make informed decisions about their future progression options,
not just 16-19, but 19+ and through their adult lives.
Effective CEIAG helps young people to become aware of all the options available to
them, without stereotyped limitations. It raises the aspirations of young people, their
parents, teachers and other professionals who work with them. For learners with a
learning difficulty and their parents/carers CEIAG forms the basis of a smooth or
difficult transition from school to post-16/19 provision, training, independent living
and employment.
The first step for a learner with SEN and disabilities on transition is to explore all the
options available - choices should be based on their interests and abilities, in the
same way as their non-disabled peers. Skill believes that it is very important that the
learner has a voice in what is done in their name and influences positively how
services are delivered. Skill would like to stress the importance of early intervention
and planning and that it is essential that the transition process starts at least by Year
9.
Disabled young people need quality IAG from a wide range of sources to help them
decide upon their future. They should be encouraged to ask friends, family, teachers
and support staff questions about the options available to them and to discuss what
they like and what they don’t like about learning. Visiting colleges, taster courses,
speaking to support staff and current learners/employees can help these young
people decide the best options for them. Specialist careers service Personal
Advisers should liaise with all those involved in their transition to ensure the move
from school goes as smoothly as possible.
Staff training and resources
The Education and Skills Act (2008) placed a duty on LAs to provide a Connexions
service to all young people 13-19 and to 25 for learners with a learning difficulty or
disability. Skill is very concerned that the Connexions budget from Department for
Education to LAs is not ring-fenced and that Connexions budgets across the country
are being dramatically reduced.
In order for LAs and careers services to provide quality services LAs need to invest
in training for face to face Personal Advisers (PAs) to understand the support needs
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of learners with learning difficulties and to develop the knowledge and skills to deliver
quality Section 139A assessments (see below for more detail). Managers also need
a thorough understanding of the work their PAs are required to deliver for young
people with a learning difficulty and need to allocate resources accordingly and
monitor the quality of delivery.
Accountability
Skill is also concerned that there is no open accountability on how Connexions
budgets are spent by LAs or their performance on delivering their statutory duties,
including Section 139A assessments. Skill recommends that the Department should
monitor the performance of careers services, how funding is utilised and feedback
from parents and users regarding transition from school to post-16 provision,
including for learners with a learning difficulty.
Any changes to the delivery arrangements of careers education, advice and
guidance to young people must be disability equality impact assessed to ensure the
needs of disabled young people can be met. In particular the training and quality
standards of guidance professionals must meet national competence standards.
Assessment processes
Currently there are many different types of assessment a disabled young person
may have, from pre-school, through to the Section 139A Learning Difficulty
Assessment on leaving school at age 16 to 19.
There is a need for a clear, nationally determined framework to ensure fairness for
all young people, wherever they live and whatever their disability.
There is also a need for assessments to be transparent, and owned by the young
person and their family, and regularly reviewed. The assessments may involve
medical or specialist diagnosis, but should also identify the young person’s support
needs and a clear progression plan. Parents should have a named lead professional
or key-worker whose job it is to co-ordinate professionals working with the family and
be a reliable contact point for the family.
From year 7 the progression plans should incorporate activities that will facilitate
transition from school to post-school education and training.
Quality Section 139a Learning Difficulty Assessments
At present the Section 139A Learning Difficulty Assessment is the tool used to
facilitate transition from school. Although the s139A may in time be replaced by
alternative assessment models, we have commented in some detail on the s139A
assessments, because they are in place and they will impact on the lives of very
many disabled young people in the coming months.
Skill believes that any policy changes to the way careers services in England are
delivered needs to provide clear guidance on the responsibility for Section 139a
Assessments. Currently the quality of assessments varies greatly across the country
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and in some cases they are not always carried out. In both cases this leads to
disadvantage in the transition process.
Under Section 139a of the Education and Skills Act 2008, Local authorities have a
duty to provide an assessment for young people with a statement of SEN who they
believe are likely to receive further education, training or higher education. Local
authorities also have the power to arrange an assessment for disabled young people
without a statement of SEN where the learner appears to the authority to have a
learning difficulty and is likely to receive further education, training or higher
education. This is important as many disabled young people may not have a
Statement of SEN for various reasons, however, may require support to continue in
post-16 education and training.
The assessment collates existing medical, social and educational assessments and
leads to a holistic, personalised progression action plan. This identifies the young
person’s preferred education and training route and support needs. Post–16
education and training providers, the young person and their parents can use this to
negotiate appropriate provision and support. The LAs should also use these
assessments to inform their planning to ensure appropriate education and training is
available for disabled young people in the area.
The s139A assessment should be an integral part of the careers education, advice
and guidance process and should be reviewed to help the student’s smooth
progression.
Quality control
Currently many learners with SEN and disabilities face difficulties receiving a quality
assessment, which poses a barrier to their participation in post 16 education and
training. Skill recommends that LAs comply with the statutory guidance on the
s.139a assessment, which states that where a local authority believes that an
assessment would benefit a learner (regardless of whether the learner has been
assessed or supported before), they will arrange for an assessment to take place.
In case law (Alloway v London Borough of Bromley) the judgement concluded that
there needed to be tighter control on the quality and compliance of S139A
assessments. Ensuring high quality of assessments is critical as they will determine
the provision and support young people can access and in turn, their learning
outcomes and progression. Skill recommends there should be a quality control
framework that underpins the s139a assessment process. The framework must
involve disabled learners, parents, and organisations representing disabled learners.
Skill recommends that LAs put in place a training needs analysis for Personal
Advisers (PAs) and managers and deliver appropriate training on s139A
assessments. LA performance should be monitored to ensure they have sufficient
numbers of staff qualified to Level 4, in line with the Apprenticeships Schools
Children and Learning Act 2009.
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Increasingly Local Authorities are reducing the number of young people with a
Statement of Education Needs and as a result it is possible that fewer learners with
SEN and disabilities will be making their transition to further education with a Section
139a Assessment.
Course fees for 19-25 year olds
There is evidence from our members and Helpline that increasingly colleges are
charging young people the cost of their course fees from age 19, even if they have
only just left school. Many families with disabled children will not be able to afford the
fees for post-16 education and will drop out of education and training at 19, even
when they have only left school at 19. Skill is concerned that these young people are
penalised and treated less favourably than non-disabled students for taking longer to
complete their education for disability related reasons. Their choices in transition are
immediately reduced, and they may no longer have a way of remaining in education
or training, gaining work-related skills or entering employment.
Managing different packages of support from different agencies
Many different individuals and organisations are involved a young person’s transition
from school to adult life and it can be a very difficult experience for young disabled
people who may transfer from different services at different times and have to liaise
with different agencies. Research shows that disabled young people don’t always
find it easy to understand the current systems that are in place to support them when
leaving school. Too often systems unintentionally place barriers in the way of
disabled people and their future choices. This can make it more difficult for them to
progress onto further education, employment or training than for their non-disabled
peers.
Skill is concerned that the Ofsted review 2010 found that effective links between
agencies to prepare young people to move on at age 18 and above were insufficient,
particularly between education provision, adult social care, health services and Job
centre Plus. Too often systems are ‘silo based’ –dealing only with their immediate
concern.
Local authority duty to plan appropriate provision for all young people 16-18
and to 25 for those with a learning difficulty and/or disability
LAs have a strategic planning role to ensure that there is a range of education and
training available to disabled young people leaving school. In order to do this
effectively LAs must put in place means of collecting data not only on the number of
young people in the area with different types of disability, but also an analysis of the
education needs and the support needs of this cohort.
In addition there needs to be a comprehensive survey of existing provision, including
that offered through voluntary sector training providers and support groups, which
often provide very specialist and local opportunities for disabled people not available
at large colleges. LAs will then be able to identify gaps in current provision and begin
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to work with local providers to develop capacity to offer new and appropriate
programmes that meet the needs of disabled young people.
Local Authorities are in a good position to engage with all the departments that
support disabled people, Adult Social Services, housing, education and training.
Local 14-19 partnerships have demonstrated effective multi-agency working and
reflect the government’s drive for localism. They are well placed to inform strategic
planning for post-16 education and training for disabled young people and to coordinate other agencies.
Evaluation of transition for disabled young people.
We would also like to stress the importance of evaluating the transition of learners
with SEN and disabilities, as many issues at post 16 reflect poor diagnosis and
advice in the early years of schooling. Skill is concerned that there is no clear
responsibility for the evaluation of young people’s transition.
The recent Ofsted SEN review found that the evaluation of progress made by
disabled young people within post-16 provision was limited, and that there is no
consistent system for tracking the outcomes across transition from previous
placements. Skill believes that better cooperation and multi-agency working would
enable more effective tracking and recommends that LAs should continue use the
Connexions client tracking data to plan for the likely support needs of learners with
SEN and disabilities to prevent them becoming NEET and to provide appropriate
support and provision should they become NEET. This should include flexible start
dates for programmes that will re-engage young people with a learning difficulty.
Terminology
Currently the school, post-school and HE sectors all use different terminology, which
may also be different from that used in social care or medical services.There is a
need to adopt a common terminology across all education sectors to ensure
common understanding by professionals and families alike. This would improve
communications and the transition process.
Key worker
Young people and their families need a named key worker whose job it is to coordinate staff from each agency involved in supporting the young person, including
health services, social care, benefits, education and training. The 2010 Ofsted
review found that ‘where educational support for children and young people was
most effective, the local authority had taken a strategic and coordinating role to
ensure that a wide range of needs could be met effectively, right through to post-16
education’. Skill believes that agencies have a responsibility to work together to
ensure positive outcomes for learners with SEN and disabilities and a key worker
would make that easier.
Skill Policy Team
October 2010
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