Last week, the Policy Exchange published a report on the rise in psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders amongst children and young people, and how this might be addressed by government. Amongst the recommendations was a call for Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) provision to finish at the end of the academic year in which a young person turns 18. Presented as a means to achieve greater coherence across mental health and neurodevelopmental services by aligning age-based eligibility criteria, it would also undoubtedly lead to considerable financial savings.
The government has made no secret that achieving financial sustainability is one key aim of its special educational needs and disability (SEND) reforms. Reducing the number of EHCPs in the system appears to be central to its plans to get a grip on ‘spiralling costs’. While we wait for the publication of a White Paper, there has been much speculation about just how radical this reduction might be – and which types of needs and learners might be squeezed out. Could post-19 provision be a target for ‘efficiency savings’? Might 19 – 25 year olds be at particular risk in a bonfire of EHCPs?
We already know that local authorities (LAs) view the increased scope of their responsibilities post-16, brought about by the Children and Families Act of 2014, as a key factor contributing to rising demand and costs. Despite the fact that the most recent SEN2 data reveals a slight uptick in post-19 EHCPs for 2024/5, we are increasingly hearing from colleges, both general FE and specialist, that local authorities are becoming less willing to maintain EHCPs beyond the age of 19, and that some are preferring to see young people progress directly from their special school into adult social care.
Currently, publicly funded education for young people with an EHCP does not automatically come to an end when they reach 18. The Children and Families Act makes clear that their EHCP can be maintained beyond this point, and they can continue being funded in the same way as 16 – 19-year-olds, up until the age of 25, so long as they are still working towards the outcomes in their EHCP and their need for additional support continues. This extended access to publicly funded learning reflects the fact that many young people with SEND learn more slowly than their peers and therefore need more time to progress and achieve to their potential.
The wording in the SEND Code of Practice about maintaining or ceasing Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) at age 19, however, is vague enough to allow for different interpretation by different LAs. It is this ambiguity, alongside a lack of understanding on the part of policy makers and budget-holders of the critical purposes served by post-19 provision for young people with SEND, that makes post-19 provision vulnerable.
Last year across the whole of England there were just over 37,000 EHCP holders aged 20 and above, the vast majority (82%) of whom were aged 22 and below. We may not be talking large numbers but the impact of removing their right to an extended education would be catastrophic for those affected and likely to result in increased public spending in the longer term. The individual stories that follow show the benefits of post-19 provision for young people, their families and wider society. They are based on the composite experiences of real young people with SEND.
Young people’s stories
More time to reach the same levels as their peers without SEND
Extra time in education will allow some young people with SEND to reach the same attainment levels as their peers without SEND.
Jamie
Sixth-form college student, Jamie, who is autistic and has ADHD, completed three A levels over three years rather than the usual two, which gave him time to develop study skills and personal organisation strategies, before heading off to university just before his 20th birthday.
Nisha
Nisha, whose mental health struggles had resulted in her achieving only a handful of lower-level GCSEs at school, successfully retook her English and maths GCSEs at a general FE college, first completing a level 2 BTEC and then a level 3 before securing a degree apprenticeship aged 20.
More time to reach their own individual potential
Achieving goals associated with age-related norms is not relevant for all young people with SEND. For some, the extra years of learning give them the time to reach their own personal goals, with educational opportunities offered at a point when they are ready to benefit from them.
Zainab
Zainab progressed from her special school sixth form to a specialist FE college aged 19. The college designed a two-year personalised programme, combining education and therapies, to further develop her communication, independence and self-regulation skills. Having fully achieved the outcomes in her EHCP, Zainab and her family were happy for her to leave education when the programme came to an end and her plan was ceased. When she moved into a social care setting aged 22, Zainab was able to apply the skills she’d learned at college: she could control her own environment through use of switches – changing channels on the TV, turning lights on and off, for example. She was able to communicate her preferences to her support workers and her newly acquired self-regulation strategies meant that she no longer needed 2-to-1 support when out in the community.
Sam
During his last few years at a special school for children with moderate learning difficulties, Sam was focused on adjusting to his increasing sight loss, developing mobility skills and establishing new working methods. He had limited ambitions for his future when he left school at 18 – until a friend of the family suggested he might try a supported internship. He didn’t know what sort of work he wanted to do so the specialist college he applied to recommended he first complete a pre-internship. In his first year, he built up his employability skills and self-confidence and explored different career pathways through short periods of work placement. The following year, Sam undertook a supported internship at a city farm and was delighted when at the end of the programme, aged 21, he was offered part-time work as a farmyard assistant.
Making up for lost time
For some young people with SEND, extra time in education post-19 is a form of compensation for lost learning at an earlier point. They may have missed out through ill-health, placement breakdown or lack of suitable provision.
Amie
At 13, Amie stopped going to school due to her mental health issues. Over the next three years, she had periods of time in a hospital school, alternative provision and home education. By 16, she had disengaged altogether, and her mental health had worsened. Amie remained at home, except for a stay as an in-patient in a secure unit, until she was 21 when she enrolled at a specialist college for young people with SEMH (social, emotional and mental health) needs. One-to-one learning took place in her home at first, then in a local community setting, before she began to gradually build up her attendance at the specialist college and to access some academic courses at a general FE college. By the age of 24, Amie had five GCSEs, was on course to complete two A levels and had an offer of a place at university.
Jayden
At 16, Jayden took up a place in a general FE college on an Entry level hospitality and catering course delivered within the college’s supported learning department. Despite his autism and moderate learning difficulties, he did well, progressing after a year onto a level 1 course on the college’s main city-centre site. His anxiety levels quickly escalated in the busy environment, and he began to display behaviours of concern that the college could not safely manage. Jayden withdrew at the end of the first term. He took up a place the following September at a specialist college where he worked with a psychologist and a speech and language therapist to help manage his anxiety. By the age of 20, he had successfully completed his catering course and gained a level 2 qualification.
A moral and a financial imperative
If policy makers and budget-holders saw for themselves how post-19 provision can turn around lives and open doors, they would realise that these young people are not only being supported to access the education and training they need but also enabled to make positive contributions economically and socially to their communities and wider society. They would also see that the relatively small short-term savings to the public purse (given the low numbers involved) would be far outweighed by the long-term costs in terms of increased need for health and social care and unemployment benefits, for example. This is not just a moral issue of ensuring equality of opportunity for young disabled people, there’s a hard-nosed financial case here for investing now to save later.
David Holloway, Senior Policy Manager for SEND at the Association of Colleges, often describes the failure to invest in SEND in FE as ‘like building a bridge two thirds of the way across the river’. Removing access to post-19 provision is like refusing to put up a hand-rail on the steps down to steady those who need a little extra support as they make their way off that bridge and into a fulfilling adulthood.