You think IEP stands for Individual Empty promises? You wait until you get to theSection 139A

[jandymaccomesback]

My DS ha a Statement at school and left at16 because his school had an A level only VIth form and he is not academically able.
When a child leaves school the Statement ends, and a Section 139A assessment is carried out. Iam now discovering that if thecollege choose not to followthe recommendations there is little you can do, as the 139A doesn't have the legalweight of the Statement.
IPSEA advise parents to hang on to the Statement as long as possible,by keeping the child in school. Now I know why. Just wantedto warn anyone with a child nearing 16.

Were you not told that the statement would come to an end if your DS didn't attend a school, as opposed to a stand alone VIth form college or college?

S139a's aren't worth the paper they are written on, as with IEP's it very much depends on the college and whether they deem the child worthy of helping.

Yes I did know there would be no Statement once he left school, but he couldn't stay on at his own school because he couldn't do A levels (not academic enough) and he didn't want to go to another school with a different curriculum so opted for College.
You are right S139A is worthless and now I know. He has AS, went to a brilliant school and now I am finding College know nothing (and I mean nothing) about ASD. All I was doing was flagging up the issue so if people have a choice they keep their children in school rather than College.
I am sure there are clued up Colleges, but ours isn't.
LeonieDelt compulsory education currently ends at 16 but that is set to change. There are apprenticeships,college and employment post 16 but most young people seem to stay in education until 18. Some schools offer BTec, NVQ etc, but DS' didn't.

Sorry you are having to deal with this, jandy. Have you sought advice on getting the college to follow the recommendations? I would have thought they would have to make reasonable adjustments by equality law, even if there isn't the legal protection of a statement? Can you consider any other local colleges to see if they are more supportive?

Leonie If you are at the earlier stages of education (eg choosing a primary or secondary school), SOS SEN recommends looking at schools which go up to age 19 to make it easier to continue the statement post-16. If you have to transfer at 16, LAs will push children with SEN into FE colleges, exactly because they know they won't have to continue funding a statement.

D's SN school does off-site m/s college placements post-16 to allow a wider choice of subjects, but the students are still enrolled at the school. Staff from the school go into the college to support the student and liaise with the college staff.

DS wanted to goto this College because it is in the town where he went to school and he flet it was familiar. This one is 15 miles from home, the others are even further because this is a rural area.
I am sure you are right about disability law, and I will look it up. Have actually started to make waves at College and have written to the Principal about a couple of issues, but of course it is half term so nothing is happening.

For anyone whose dc is in the current year 9 or below, the statutory leaving age will be 18 not 16 which presumably means statements will have to maintained until then. Not that that helps your ds, Jandy - I hope you can get the college to support his needs.