Preparing for Adulthood: SEND Transition From 14 to 25

Preparing for adulthood is the part of the SEND system in England meant to get your child ready for life after school. That means four things: work or further study, living as independently as possible, friends and a place in the community, and good health. For any young person with an education, health and care plan (EHCP), the annual review from Year 9 (age 13 to 14) onwards should focus on these, and every review after that should build on the last. An EHCP can continue up to age 25, but only if your young person stays in education or training and still needs it.

Transition to adult services is the other half of the story. Children's health and social care usually stop at 18, adult services work differently, and the handover is where many families feel things slip through the gaps. The short version: start early, ask awkward questions at Year 9, and do not wait for someone to tell you it is time. This guide walks through what happens, when, and what you can do at home now.

What preparing for adulthood actually means

The SEND Code of Practice, the statutory guidance that councils, schools and colleges in England must follow, sets out four preparing for adulthood outcomes. They are often shortened to PfA:

• Employment - paid work, higher education, an apprenticeship, a supported internship or meaningful volunteering. The guidance is clear that paid work should be a real aim for most young people with SEND, not an afterthought.
• Independent living - having choice and control over where and how you live and who supports you. This includes everyday skills like cooking, managing money and getting around.
• Community inclusion - friendships, relationships, hobbies, getting out and being part of local life.
• Good health - being as healthy as possible in adult life, including knowing how to use adult health services.

These are not boxes to tick at 18. They are meant to shape the outcomes, provision and conversations in the EHCP from early teens. If your child's plan still reads like it was written for an eight-year-old when they are fifteen, that is worth raising.

The Year 9 annual review: where it starts

The Year 9 review is the first one that must include a preparing for adulthood focus. In practice, quality varies. Some schools run a genuinely forward-looking meeting. Others run the usual review with a sentence about careers added at the end. You can push for the first kind.

Before the meeting, it helps to think through, ideally with your child:

• What do they enjoy, and what are they good at? Interests are often the best starting point for thinking about work or college.
• What do they want their life to look like at 20? Where would they like to live? Who with?
• What can they do for themselves now, and what do you still do for them without thinking?
• Which health appointments and services are they under, and has anyone mentioned what happens to those at 18?

At the meeting, reasonable questions to ask include:

• Can the outcomes in the plan be rewritten so they link to the four PfA areas?
• Who should be at future reviews? Think careers adviser, social care, health, and anyone from adult services who will be involved later.
• What independent living skills will the school actively teach, and how will progress be measured?
• Is a referral needed now for anything that takes a long time, such as a social care assessment or a health transition plan?

Your child's own views should be at the centre of this, in whatever way they can share them. Pictures, a short video, a one-page profile or a conversation with a trusted adult beforehand all count. If you want a refresher on how the plan itself works, our guide to EHCPs and what an occupational therapy report adds covers the basics.

What you can do at home, starting now

Reviews and assessments matter, but a lot of preparing for adulthood happens in your kitchen. Most parents of children with additional needs do things for them because it is quicker, safer or avoids a battle. That is completely understandable. It also means some young people reach 18 never having been given the chance to try.

Pick one or two areas and break them into small steps:

• Food - start with making a drink or toast, then a simple cold meal, then using the microwave, then the hob with supervision. Shopping for one or two items with a short list is a separate skill worth practising too.
• Personal care - showering with less prompting, choosing clothes for the weather, managing periods or shaving, knowing when clothes need washing.
• Money - paying for something small, checking change, using a bank card, understanding that money runs out.
• Getting around - walking a familiar route, then a bus journey with you, then with you a few seats away, then alone with a phone. Some councils offer travel training for young people with SEND, so ask.
• Health - knowing their own date of birth, address and GP surgery, naming their medicines, booking or attending an appointment with you in the background.
• Time and planning - using a calendar, phone reminders or a visual timetable to manage their own day.

Go slower than feels natural. Expect it to take longer and be messier than doing it yourself. Praise the trying, not just the result. Progress here becomes useful evidence at reviews and in adult assessments, so jot down what they can now do and how much help they still need.

After 16: college, supported internships and other routes

Young people in England must stay in some form of education or training until 18, though this can include an apprenticeship or part-time study alongside work or volunteering. Options for young people with SEND include school sixth forms, general further education colleges, specialist colleges, apprenticeships and supported internships.

Visit colleges in Year 10 and Year 11, not just in the final months. Ask about support for students with EHCPs, how they handle transition days, and what students actually go on to do. The EHCP must be reviewed and amended to name the post-16 placement in good time before the move. For a move from secondary school to a post-16 setting, the deadline is 31 March of the year of transfer. IPSEA explains the current rules in detail if you need to check.

Supported internships

Supported internships are structured study programmes for young people aged 16 to 24 with an EHCP, based mainly with an employer. The young person learns on the job with support from a job coach, alongside some classroom study, with the aim of moving into paid work at the end. They typically last about a year. They are not available everywhere in the same form, so ask your local college and council what exists locally.

When an EHCP ends

An EHCP does not automatically last until 25. It can end if your young person goes to university, moves into paid employment (an apprenticeship does not count), leaves education, or if the council decides the outcomes have been achieved or the plan is no longer needed. A council must follow proper process to cease a plan, and you or your young person can appeal to the SEND Tribunal. If you are told a plan will end, get advice before agreeing to anything.

Decisions, capacity and rights at 16 and 18

This is the part that catches many parents out. Once a young person is over compulsory school age, which in practice means from the end of the school year in which they turn 16, the right to make decisions about their EHCP passes to them, as long as they have the mental capacity to make that decision. If they do not, a parent or other representative can make it on their behalf. That includes asking for an assessment, choosing a college and appealing to the tribunal. You can still support them, and they can ask you to act on their behalf.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 applies from age 16. Its starting point is that everyone has capacity unless it is shown otherwise, that capacity is about a specific decision at a specific time, and that people must be given all practical help to make their own decisions before anyone decides for them. Someone can lack capacity to manage a tenancy but be perfectly able to choose what they wear or which college course appeals.

Where a young person genuinely cannot make a particular decision, it must be made in their best interests, and you should be consulted. But being a parent does not automatically give you legal authority to make decisions for an adult child. A lasting power of attorney can only be made by someone aged 18 or over who has the capacity to make it. If that is not possible, some families apply to the Court of Protection, for example to become a deputy for property and financial affairs. Check GOV.UK for current guidance and consider getting advice before applying.

Doctors and other professionals may also start speaking to your young person directly and asking whether they want you in the room. That can feel like being pushed out. It is usually a sign that services are treating them as an adult, which is the point.

Moving from children's to adult health services

Health transition is often the hardest bit. Your child may be under a paediatrician, a children's community nursing team, CAMHS, or several specialist clinics. Adult services are usually organised by condition, often with different thresholds, and the GP may become more central.

NICE guidance on transition from children's to adults' services says planning should start early, from Year 9 at the latest, and that each young person should have a named worker to help coordinate it. In reality, ask each service your child uses:

• When will my child move to adult services, and to which team?
• Is there a written transition plan, and can we see it?
• Will there be a joint appointment or a chance to meet the adult team first?
• Who do we contact if things go wrong in the handover?

If your young person has a learning disability and is on the GP's learning disability register, they are entitled to an NHS annual health check from age 14. It is worth asking the surgery to add them if they are not already listed. Also be aware that children's continuing care and adult NHS Continuing Healthcare use different criteria, so funding that was in place before 18 may need to be reassessed.

Social care: the Care Act transition assessment

Under the Care Act 2014, councils in England must carry out a transition assessment for a young person who is likely to need care and support after turning 18, where doing it early would be of significant benefit. There is no fixed age. It should happen at the point that helps planning most, which for many young people is well before their 18th birthday. You or your young person can ask for one, and the council should explain in writing if it refuses.

Adult social care uses national eligibility criteria that differ from children's services, so support may change. Parent carers can also ask for an assessment of their own needs as the transition approaches. Our guide to the Care Act needs assessment explains how to prepare, and the detailed notes you have kept about what your young person can and cannot do will be useful here.

Benefits change too. A young person getting Disability Living Allowance will usually be invited to claim Personal Independence Payment around their 16th birthday. Our guide to PIP and occupational therapy evidence covers what assessors look at.

Where an occupational therapist fits

An occupational therapist looks at everyday activities and what gets in the way of doing them. In transition, that is a lot of ground. An occupational therapist can:

• Assess independent living skills in real settings, such as cooking a meal, managing personal care, handling money or planning a journey, and set realistic step-by-step goals.
• Recommend clear, specific outcomes and provision for the preparing for adulthood sections of an EHCP.
• Look at sensory needs, fatigue and organisation in a new setting like college or a workplace, and suggest practical adjustments.
• Advise on equipment and home adaptations, including for a young person moving into supported or independent housing.
• Provide functional evidence for Care Act assessments, PIP or an EHCP review.

A private occupational therapist visiting at home can produce an independent functional assessment report, which some families use alongside NHS or school input.

An occupational therapist is not the person who coordinates transition. That is usually the council's SEND caseworker, the school SENCO and, where involved, a social worker or transition worker. Careers advisers lead on work and college options. Speech and language therapists lead on communication, physiotherapists on mobility, and the GP or consultant on medical care. Community learning disability teams also play a big part for some young people. If your child has new or worsening physical or mental health symptoms, see the GP, call NHS 111, or call 999 in an emergency.

Frequently asked questions

Does an EHCP automatically last until 25?

No. It can continue up to 25 if the young person stays in education or training and still needs the support. It usually ends if they go to university, start paid work or leave education, and you can appeal a decision to cease it.

Can I still make decisions for my child after they turn 16 or 18?

From 16, the Mental Capacity Act applies and decisions about the EHCP pass to your young person after compulsory school age. You can support them, but you do not automatically gain legal authority for an adult child. Look at lasting power of attorney or Court of Protection guidance on GOV.UK if this applies.

When should the Care Act transition assessment happen?

There is no set age. It should happen when it will be of most benefit for planning, which is often in the mid-teens. Ask your council's adult social care team or the social worker involved, and put the request in writing.

What if my child does not want to talk about the future?

That is common. Start with today: what they enjoy, what bothers them, what they would like to be able to do. Visual tools, short conversations and a trusted adult outside the family often work better than a formal sit-down.

Is it different in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland?

Yes. Wales uses individual development plans under its additional learning needs system, Scotland has its own additional support for learning framework, and Northern Ireland has its own SEN system, so check the rules where you live.

Can a private occupational therapist's report be used in an EHCP review?

Yes, you can submit it as evidence and ask for it to be considered. The council does not have to accept every recommendation, but specific, well-evidenced reports tend to carry weight.

Next steps

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