At the age of 16, young people make the transition to their post-16 learning destinations. While for many this is not always a straightforward process, for young people with SEND, transitions can be particularly challenging.
So often, young people with SEND have flourished within a secure and nurturing environment provided by their specialist or mainstream school. The collaborative, person-centred working practices of professionals within these settings ensures that they can meet needs of each individual, resulting in a highly personalised approach to learning, aligning with each young person’s interests and aspirations.
However, when the time comes to move on to their next step, which can often be a bigger, mainstream setting or large employer, things can begin to fall apart.
Students can find it tricky to navigate the application process for courses, work placements or jobs. All too often, we see neurodiverse young people who, having made remarkable progress at school, move on to their next steps and become overwhelmed and disengaged, unable to manage the unfamiliar environment. This leads to them opting out and becoming yet another NEET statistic.
According to Ambitious about Autism’s We Need An Education campaign, fewer than one in four autistic young people access education or training beyond school and these figures translate to the workplace.
Data from the 2021 census, meanwhile, shows that just 29% of autistic adults in the UK are in paid employment, and that figure is just 4.8% for people with learning disabilities.
A catalyst for change is needed to address this situation. Not only because everyone deserves to lead a rewarding life where they can fulfil their ambitions and achieve their potential, but also because employers need to recruit from this existing pool of talent.
As an experienced senior leader in SEND education and chair of the governing body at Manchester’s Digital Independent Specialist College (DISC) for young people with autism, I consider there to be key steps that schools and next steps providers can take to prepare young people with SEND for the transition into post-16 education and training.
Navigate the application process together
When young people consider opportunities beyond school, such as college, an internship or paid employment, the application process almost always involves online form-filling.
However, many students with SEND require support to access the digital world with independence. We must recognise the support requirements of a young person in navigating the application process and ensure that appropriate help is available.
Unfortunately, it is not uncommon to see digital exclusion preventing young people from applying for places within post-16 provision. This can be addressed by providing students and their families with access to wi-fi and laptops and supporting their understanding of the application process at each stage.
Often the literature provided by next step providers is written in professional language which does not always consider the needs of young people with low literacy levels. This can raise anxiety levels, reduce a young person’s confidence, and is exclusive simply by its nature, even before the young person begins to understand what lies ahead. Post-16 education and training providers have an important role in making information accessible for all.
Disrupt expected pathways
Neurodivergent young people can often be guided towards traditional entry level roles in retail, hospitality and healthcare. Large supermarkets, hospitals and hotels have the infrastructure to provide supported internships and opportunities for young people to succeed on study programmes combining work experience with employability and independent living skills.
While these traditional roles might suit some students, they do not provide relevant career opportunities for all. We cannot forget that every young person, regardless of ability, has unique interests and talents, and therefore requires exposure to a range of different career pathways.
Many neurodiverse young people with SEND are passionate about technology, social media, and design. However, in the digital and creative industries, employers are smaller, leaner and more disparate, often lacking the resources required to offer supported internships in the same way as larger organisations. This is where schools must seek out more specialist organisations like the charity Digital Advantage and its internship programme and its Digital Independent Specialist College (DISC) which is based in Manchester and caters for 16 to 24-year-olds who have an Education, Health and Care Plan.
DISC offers supported learning at a pre-internship and internship level, bringing education and industry together. Young people engage in experiential learning opportunities within the digital and creative sector, such as graphic design, cyber-security or podcasting. Interns gain transferable employability skills, working on real-life briefs for clients, but within the small-scale, supported environment of a specialist college.
Engage with local employers
Young people with SEND are talented individuals. Their skills and qualities appeal to a range of employment sectors. Vocational curriculum design should be underpinned by an understanding of local labour market information; employer engagement is key to providing opportunity for all.
This is particularly important when we consider young people with SEND. With the growing demands on businesses and local employers to offer work placements for young people, particularly since the introduction of T levels, it is increasingly difficult to secure meaningful work experience opportunities for neurodiverse students. Building effective relationships with employers is key to being able to support them to understand the wealth of talent that exists within the neurodiverse community.
Change recruitment practices
We must do what we can to dispel the myths relating to employing a young person with SEND, by addressing the lack of understanding of how young people and adults with additional needs can be supported to succeed in the workplace. Disability awareness training, delivered by those with lived experience, can be a powerful tool in this process. There are excellent examples of best practice, where settings engage with employers to demonstrate the value of recruiting neurodiverse young adults while simultaneously exploring collaborative ways of implementing more inclusive recruitment processes.
Complex and rigid recruitment practices mean that a host of talented and diligent young people are prevented from participating in training that will enable them to enter the workforce and contribute positively to the society in which they live.
Many employers still follow traditional hiring methods which fail to consider reasonable adjustments for SEND applicants. The use of formal interviews for example, may prevent potential candidates from demonstrating their true abilities, particularly if they are anxious or take additional time to process information.
This can impact significantly on neurodiverse young people seeking employment in the creative and digital industries, where employees are often expected to be gregarious, out-going and quick-witted. Neurodiverse young people sometimes find social interaction difficult and experience challenges when faced with interview questions. While many display exceptional talent and the potential to be highly successful within the creative and digital sector, current recruitment practices often pose barriers to young people entering this sector.
Where employers explore inclusive recruitment processes, such as working interviews, there is robust evidence to demonstrate that neurodiverse young people are highly successful employees.
Work experience, job carving and the support of a job coach can also lead to successful entry into the world of work. It is employers who are willing to offer flexible recruitment practices and are responsive to applicants’ needs that experience the most success when hiring a young person with SEND.
Final thoughts
If a wholly diverse and inclusive workforce is to exist, it is time for a review of recruitment processes, a renewed focus on person centred approaches to career pathways, and a recognition of the value of effective pastoral, social and emotional support within the post-16 sector.
As a society we owe it to our neurodiverse young people to allow them the opportunities to progress on to successful careers across all employment sectors. We may be pleasantly surprised just how much of an asset these young people can be to our workforce.
Diane Ainsworth is deputy headteacher at Pioneer House High School in Manchester, part of the Prospere Learning Trust.