DS(15) with Autism & EHCP - looking for apprenticeship instead of college for post-16?

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DS has just started Y11, in a SEN pathway in a mainstream secondary. He won’t be suitable to stay there for sixth form as not v academic and not doing enough GCSEs, A-Levels not right for him.

I know that the standard route from that pathway is college of some sort, there is one locally plus one further away that is a pita to get to.
I know the requirement to stay in education until 18 but it feels pointless to me to spend 2 yrs doing some p-t stuff in college that won’t really help him.

I’ve started looking into apprenticeships and found some that don’t demand certain GCSEs (starting now so obvs not suitable for him but at least they exist).
Has anyone else done this/tried this with their DC?

I know that what would suit him is fewer changes in his life, so one transition now into work would be great.

A job with a uniform so no clothing decisions, set hours, set routine jobs to do through the day, no public interaction. We can work on independent transport/travel (he currently walks to school but I think he could manage a train journey, maybe a bus or two).

Some I saw today include warehouse roles, gardening companies.
(Other non suitable ones were hairdressing, customer service & catering)

I just think this could be the answer. Any advice gratefully received!

You could look at a supported internship or apprenticeship. Or an EOTAS package which includes supported work experience (which would hopefully lead to employment when DS is older).

Thanks @OvertakenByLego , that’s given me more things to research and maybe ask about at the annual review in 2 weeks. Not sure EOTAS would apply as the LA would say there are suitable educational establishments, I just think it’s a waste of time.
I will keep looking….

LAs say a lot of things that aren’t accurate, they aren’t always right. If you don’t agree it is appropriate for provision to take place in the educational establishments you can appeal.

Watching with interest, have similar thoughts about my DS (15) in his GCSE year.

So today was Ds’s annual review, we went through his EHCP as usual.
Then talked about college plans.

The Senco (who I like) & a random lady from the council on teams both were v keen on the college Pathways course for 2 years then look at supported internships.

That is probably what we will end up doing as it’s conventional but, I still think it’s a waste of time.

He’s been in the best provision locally for his needs for 5 years, and is currently working at a
GCSE 1 in science
Fail Btec Hospitality
Pass Btec IT
Entry Level 1 Maths
Entry Level 2 English
no grade currently for Art, music & PE (not sure he’s even doing any kind of qualification in these 3)

So there’s not really a point IMO of spending another 2 years doing more of the same.
More English and Maths, some ‘adult life skills’ with 6 weekly sessions in different job sectors to try them out.

I already know the style of job that will suit him.

Re life skills: He can wash and dress himself, cater for himself (limited admittedly but catering isn’t going well anyway!), travel locally independently although I have plans to extend this beyond walking somewhere. What more are they going to teach him? We will work on independent living if that ever becomes appropriate- not anytime soon.

The SI can start at 16 but the SENCO was worried there could be no job offered at the end, well that is a risk I agree but any job DS starts in could get fed up with him and want him out.

I will chat to the SI lady based at the college and see what she says.

At least I found out the college course is a 5 day a week thing not just 2 days which is what I’d expected, so that’s a positive.

I felt like I was being super negative all the time and down on DS but I feel I’m being realistic.

If you want a supported internship or apprenticeship and the LA don’t agree you can appeal. However, going to college doesn’t have to be more of the same. The EHCP can last until 25, or 26 in some cases. There’s no rush to finish education and move into a job. There is so much more to PfA provision than you list. Have a look at this checklist here to give you some ideas. If you don’t think that particular college course is right and there isn’t any other appropriate provision think about EOTAS.

Thanks particularly for that checklist, will be interesting to go through it with DS and see what we can work towards.

I’m probably being overly negative about college, we will go to the open eve next week and try to be more open minded.
I had in mind a very part time token effort at education but if it’s full time 5 days a week and has useful content I can probably come round. I accept I need to find out more.

It’s not that I want to rush him into work, just to have him settled and content, he really dislikes school - although he behaves perfectly and does everything the teachers ask of him - I don’t want to force more years of it on him.

College is very different to school. Some DC who don’t like school thrive at college. Conversely some who thrive fall apart at college. Is there only one viable college option? If not, look at all the colleges. They can vary in what they offer and the feel/atmosphere of them.

Hi I have read with interest the above comments
My daughter is very similar including the young man's above GCSES.
We are in Hampshire
We had a EHCp plan that was not met .
My daughter is a level one maths didn't cope v well
Thinking part time and looking at voluntary work

@Mum2girlsx for future reference, if the provision detailed, specified and quantified in F isn’t provided, it is enforceable, via judicial review if necessary. However, if the wording is vague and woolly, it isn’t enforceable and you should request an early review in order to tighten the wording up.

Thank you will look again at her plan 🙂

Google your local councils local offer and see what's available under learning and skills if you don't find anything suitable at the mainstream college.
As there are sen colleges around who do training courses with functional skills 1 day a week.
Dd last year did food course this year creative crafts. Her college also does Horticulture and animal care courses.
Hopefully there will be a course or training scheme available.
Dd started on an assisted internship, but didn't come to anything and they couldn't find another internship, dd got more and more anxious as the weeks and months went by.
Glad I found her a placement in sen college, she thrives on stability.

Sorry not been back to update.

We went along to another open eve at the college that was meant to be totally SEN focused.

DS2’s level was only a small part of that though so it still wasn’t entirely relevant but we had another look around anyway and asked a few more questions.

I’ve decided to just roll with it for now and have applied for the one year course of Pathways that mostly follows on from what he does at school. (Plan A + the second year being supported internship).

I did ask about those kids that don’t like cooking as it’s sold as such a ‘fun’ thing and that flummoxed the person showing us round but she did say they don’t absolutely have to and would be included in other ways like shopping for ingredients. Shopping is something that he needs to do more of so I can’t complain about that.

Plan B is that they introduce a 2 year version of the supported internship, with more a ‘dabbling’ approach to workplaces in year one, with short placements instead of one long one, then do the long one in year 2.

I’m happy enough with the decision for now and we’ll just see how it goes. Will update here if anything changes.

I'm watching this for my DD with autism & EHCP, I will have a read through as just found it, I hope things work out for everyone...glad I've found this and not the only one going through this