What help can I get from College/Further Education?

Transition Officers from FE will work with students, parents/carers, and schools to plan for college, and will work with students throughout their studies. They will:

• Attend school annual reviews of your daughters Individual Development Plan (IDP) if they are considering applying to college
• Support her with applying for a course and choosing the most appropriate course
• Arrange personalised visits to college and transition activities, including during the summer holidays before they start her course
• Answer any questions you or your daughter may have
• Update the Individual Development Plan ready for her to start her course and review the plan at least annually
• Work with your daughter, parents / carers, Careers Wales and other agencies to arrange appropriate plans, such as the IDP.
• Communicate with other teams across the college to ensure people know how best to support your daughter to achieve their aspirations and outcomes
• Meet with your daughter regularly, if needed, to check how she is settling well into college and making progress
• Provide travel training if required to improve her skills and confidence to travel independently to College.

Here are some questions your daughter might want to ask your school or college:

What support does the school or college offer for students who have additional learning needs or disabilities like me?

• What sorts of things do I need help with?
• What support can I get to help me?
• What decisions can I make about my support?
• Who do I talk to if I need more support?

The college will work closely with all those involved in the students care and learning to make sure that the transition from school to college runs smoothly. They can support young people with the following:

•  An invite to attend a college taster day or an arranged visit over the summer holidays if needed
• Discussions with our student support team about things like, career options, travelling to college and transition plans
• An invite to a ‘coffee morning’ to find out about the college, meet staff and ask questions
• Access to lots of helpful virtual tours and videos on our college website
• Support with completing the application form and applying to college
• Help with finance and funding
• Support during induction days to help settle in
• A designated person will be a point of contact for any concerns.
• The student support team will work with lecturers and staff to make sure they are aware of and understand your support needs before and whilst in college. Your IDP will be shared with all your tutors.

All Colleges should be committed to providing an environment that promotes equality and inclusion for all students enabling learners to  succeed on their chosen course. They must comply with the duties in the Equality Act 2010 and make every effort to identify and remove barriers to disabled students learning.

A young person is disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if they have a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. This is a low test to meet, as ‘substantial’ means more than minor or trivial, and ‘long term’ means lasting or likely to last more than one year. Not all young people with ALN will be disabled under this definition, but many will be.

Schools, colleges and LAs have legal duties to prevent discrimination, whether directly or indirectly. They must ensure that they do not treat young people with disabilities less favourably than others. They also have a duty to make reasonable adjustments – to change what they do or were proposing to do – to ensure that a disabled young person is not disadvantaged.

Colleges have a duty to use their best endeavours to ensure that disabled students get the support they need.  If this isn’t happening, you should talk to the college straight away.  The law reflects the importance of listening to young people and their families and supporting them so that they can be fully informed and involved in decisions.  Young people are also entitled to the support of an Independent Advocate.  If you have concerns do contact the SNAP Cymru for support most issues can be resolved without recourse to complaints or ddiscrimination claims.

Any person (whether they have ALN or not) can apply to attend an FE college at any age.  If the college has a suitable course for which the young person has the necessary entry requirements and the potential to achieve, then they are likely to be offered a place.  It is important to note here that all colleges offer a wide range of support for learners.  A useful guide to what a young person might expect is provided within the ALN Pathfinder.   If the YP has ALN they should have an IDP developed for them. FE colleges also have responsibilities under the Equaliies Act to provide goods and services and to make reasonable adjustments to support disabled learners.

As long as the college has a suitable course for which the young person has the entry requirements and potential to achieve, they will normally be offered a place on the course.  Colleges are required to ‘enrol with integrity’ so they will not normally offer a place on a course unless there is a clear purpose for the young person.  In most cases this would either be to enable achievement of academic qualifications for eventual entry to higher education, or to prepare someone for work. Most colleges also offer discrete life skills programmes that focus on the ‘Four Pillars’ of Community, Independent Living, Health & Wellbeing and employment.  These normally run for up to two years.

You should ask to meet with the college ALN department to discuss your daughters needs and the availability of learning support.

Under the ALN Act 2018 an the ALN Code a child will become a young person once they reach the end of compulsory school age (i.e. the last Friday of June in the year the child turns 16).

This law says that parental rights in relation to the young person’s ALN education will automatically pass to the young person themselves once they reach 16.  This means that local authorities and colleges must normally engage directly with the young person rather than their parents.

Whilst , parents and carers would usually continue to be involved in discussions, the final decision regarding consent to having an IDP prepared and maintained rests with the young person.

If the college or the LA has sought the young person consent , and it wasn’t given, then the requirement on the College or Local Authority to decide whether a young person has ALN and to develop an IDP will cease to apply at that point.

The Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act says that children and young people who do not have the capacity to understand:

• information or documents that must be given to them in relation to their ALN; or
• what it means to use the rights provided to them under the ALN system

do not have capacity for the purposes of the Act.

The definition for young people, and parents of children ‘lacking capacity’ in the additional learning needs (ALN) system has the same meaning as ‘lacking capacity’ in the Mental Capacity Act 2005. It means a person who lacks the capacity to make a particular decision or take a particular action for themselves at the time the decision or action needs to be taken.

A person does not have capacity to make a particular decision if they are unable to:

(a) understand the information relevant to the decision,

(b) retain that information,

(c) use or weigh up that information as part of the process of making the decision, or

(d) communicate their decision (whether by talking, using sign language or any other means).

The assessment of capacity is decision-specific: someone who may lack capacity to make a decision in one area of their life may have capacity in another aspect of their life. If a young person lacks the capacity to make a relevant decision, the parent or carer will generally be the decision maker or an Independent advocate can be provided.

The Education Tribunal Wales has leaflets and further information on capacity https://educationtribunal.gov.wales/capacity and the leaflet Young people or Parents who lack

When a young person with ALN expresses a desire to attend a specialist further education (FE) college, this triggers a careful and detailed process. The local authority (LA) is legally responsible for carrying out a robust assessment to determine whether that provision is appropriate and necessary.

The first duty of the local authority is to examine if the young person’s ALN can be met in a mainstream FE setting (such as a local college). This includes:

• Reviewing the support services, specialist teaching, and accessibility available at local FE institutions.
• Considering whether adjustments or reasonable accommodations could be made to meet the learner’s needs within a mainstream setting.
• Consulting with the FE college to determine whether they could deliver the educational and support components of the young person’s Individual Development Plan (IDP).

Key point: Specialist provision is only considered when mainstream options have been fully explored and found unsuitable.

Assess the Appropriateness and Availability of Specialist Provision

If mainstream colleges are unable to meet the learner’s needs, the local authority then examines potential specialist colleges. This involves:

• Matching the learner’s specific ALN to the curriculum, therapeutic services, learning environment, and staffing levels of the specialist college.
• Considering the type of specialist provision required—e.g.:
• Support for profound and multiple learning difficulties.
• Therapeutic support (e.g. speech and language, occupational therapy).
• Residential placement due to distance or care needs.
• Confirming the availability of places and admissions criteria at the specialist setting.
• Evaluating cost and whether the placement represents an efficient use of public funds, compared to other viable options.
• Ensuring the college can implement and support the goals of the learner’s IDP.

Supporting Information Typically Required for Assessment:

• Updated IDP with outcomes and identified support needs.
• Educational psychologist reports.
• Health and therapy assessments (e.g. CAMHS, OT, SLT).
• School reports or transition reviews.
• Young person’s personal statement or views (often supported by Careers Wales).
• Input from parents/carers and school ALNCOs.

Outcome of the Assessment

After considering all the above, the local authority will decide whether to:

• Approve a specialist placement and name the college in the young person’s IDP.
• Recommend a mainstream option with additional support.
• Offer a blended approach (e.g. part-time specialist provision or outreach services).

If the young person or their family disagrees, they can request a review or appeal to the Education Tribunal for Wales.

If a young person has not already enrolled at a college, the ALNCo will need to decide whether it is ‘reasonable’ for the college to assess and/or meet their additional learning provision needs.

The college can decide to refer the learner to the LA and request that they make the necessary arrangements to ensure appropriate support is provided.  This may not happen very often as most colleges have a lot of experience in supporting young people.  However, where there is a high level of support required, a college may decide to refer an IDP decision to the LA .

The ALN Code makes it clear that appropriate support should be put in place for a learner while an IDP is being prepared.  Colleges already have a duty under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments to ensure young people are able to make progress in their education and training.

A college must refer a young person to the local authority when it believes the young person has ALN and:

1. The ALN is beyond what the college can reasonably provide for using its own resources and support arrangements; and
2. The young person is likely to need an IDP maintained by the local authority, due to the complexity or intensity of their needs.

Typical Scenarios When This Might Happen:

Needs Exceed the College’s Capacity

• The college has tried its internal ALN support (e.g. learning support assistants, study skills, mentoring) but the learner’s progress is limited.
• The learner may need therapies, specialist equipment, or multi-agency input that the college cannot provide.

Specialist or Residential Provision May Be Needed

• If the learner might require a specialist placement, including residential colleges or highly specialised support.
• In such cases, the local authority must assess whether this provision is necessary and whether to name it in the IDP.

Health or Social Care Involvement

• The young person’s needs span education, health, and care, and the college cannot coordinate this effectively alone.

Transition from School to College Was Incomplete or Inappropriate

• If a learner arrives at college without an IDP, or with one that doesn’t reflect their current needs.The college can refer to the local authority to re-assess and possibly take over the IDP.

• the FEI decides that the young person no longer has ALN and that decision is not successfully challenged.
• the young person no longer consents to the IDP being maintained.
• the young person ceases to be an enrolled student at the FEI
• the young person becomes dual registered and a local authority is responsible for the young person. In such cases the duty to maintain the IDP transfers to the local authority.
• the local authority decides to take over responsibility for the IDP.
• A local authority in England starts to maintain an EHC plan for the young person. (This would only be in cases where the young person is in the area of a local authority in England)
• the young person becomes subject to a detention order
• the young person attains the age of 25, in which case the duty to maintain the IDP will cease at the end of the academic year in which the person attains that age.

The rules regarding providing free or subsidised transport to schools and colleges in Wales are set out in the Learner Travel (Wales) Measure 2008.

There is no statutory duty on a local authority to provide free transport to a young person with a learning difficulty in post-16 further education or training.  However, section 2(4) of the Measure requires local authorities to assess the travel needs of all learners in their areas, up to the age of 19, having particular regard to “the needs of learners with learning difficulties”.

This means that local authorities have discretion regarding whether they provide transport for learners aged 16-19, so you will need to contact your local authority to find out what their policy is.   If a learner is disabled the college and LA will need to consider this.