Further and higher education

When you get to year 9, your annual review meeting will cover new things to help you start getting ready for independence.

This can include:

• what you’d like to do after you leave school
• what sort of job you want to do
• what you can do to stay healthy
• where do you want to live
• the sorts of things you would like to do with your friends

Your teachers will write down your ideas and dreams for what you would like to do in the future. They will help you meet these goals, and the plan they write will say how your school will help you to do this.

During this review, your teachers will talk to you about what you want to do after the age of 16. This will include the sort of job you want to do when you leave school.

You will be helped to think about which courses you can do to meet your goals. Some school sixth forms may not be able to give you the courses you need to meet your goals.

You can talk about this with your teachers. They will help you find schools or colleges that can offer you the right courses. You should also go to open days at local colleges. These can help you decide what you want to do after you leave school.

This review is special. At the end of the school year, you can go into further education if you want to. You can choose to:

• Join a mainstream school in sixth form to study A-Levels.
• Join a special school to develop your work skills.
• Go to college to try another type of course such as a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ), or an Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network (ASDAN) course that can help you to get the qualifications you need to get a job.
• Take a supported internship, which is a course that has work experience as well as classwork, and where you get help from a job coach.
• Leave school and get an apprenticeship, which is like a supported internship but you are employed and earn a wage.

You can also try a mixture of working and education.

If you want to stay in school or go to college, your teachers will help you make a plan to do this. Whether you go to sixth form or college depends on what you want to study, and what you want to do after you leave education.

The school or college you will go to next will be named in your EHC Plan. Usually, this will be the school or college you have chosen. If you do not want to go to the school or college named in your EHC Plan, contact Bucks SENDIAS Service for help, using their clickable contact form.

If your school offers work experience, you should do some before the end of the school year. This will help you when you apply for college or a job.

If you don’t want to stay in school or college, your teachers will give you advice on getting a job or training.

Your teachers will talk to you about the skills you need as an adult, and how they can help you learn these skills.

If you are taking A levels or a similar course and you want to stay in education, you should start to think about which college or university you want to go to next. Your teachers will help you to apply.

If you don’t want to stay in school or college, your teachers will give you advice on getting a job, work experience or training.

Your annual review meeting is important this year. You will talk about if you want to go to college or university.

If you want to apply to college or university, your school will help you do this. There are many qualifications you can think about, including:

• National Vocational Qualification (NVQ)
• Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network (ASDAN)

These qualifications can help you to get a job. Your teachers will explain your choices and help you make a decision.

If you don’t want to stay in school or college, your teachers will give you advice on getting a job, work experience or training.

During this annual review meeting, your teachers will talk about any university or college courses you can take to help you meet your goals for the future. They will also talk about other things that are important as you move from being a teenager to an adult, such as:

• work and training
• independent living
• money and benefits

If you are going to university, your EHC Plan will come to an end. If you ask Buckinghamshire Council to share the information in your EHC Plan with the university, they have to do so.

If a college or university offers you a place on a course starting in September or October, they will write to you in July before the course begins. This letter will ask you to enrol in August. 'Enrol' means 'put your name down'.

You may also be asked to take a basic and key skills builder test, which looks at your skills in English and maths. This is to make sure you are put on the right course and get any extra help you need to learn.

If you don’t want to stay in school or college, your teachers will give you advice on getting a job, work experience or training.