Rhys Evans is a few weeks into his studies at the Communication Specialist College in Doncaster.

The 16-year-old, who has autism and learning difficulties, is settling in well, according to his mother, Jackie. “I feel he is quite happy there,” she says. “He gets a lot of support and he gets picked up in a taxi. There are a lot of strangers, but he has settled a bit more now.”

While any parent would be relieved that the tricky transition from school to college had gone smoothly, the Evans family has had it tougher than most.

Obtaining a place at the specialist college - which offers day and residential provision for learners with hearing impairment, autism, learning disabilities and other communications needs - proved to be a battle. This involved Evans taking the local authority to mediation, and appearing in front of a panel to make her son’s case, after he was initially allocated a place at a local general FE college, and then another in new post-16 provision at a local school.

Neither of these options would have been appropriate for Rhys, his mother believes - he lasted only half a day on his first visit to the FE college. “He doesn’t like people or big crowds,” she explains.

“I wanted him to go to [the specialist] college. I tried to get my son’s head around going to college for a year. We had to go to mediation and attend a big meeting. I felt like they didn’t really know my son. It was really stressful for Rhys and it was stressful for me. We didn’t know until the last minute where he was going.”

Diverging trends

Like many parents whose children have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), Evans felt a specialist institution experienced in dealing with those needs would be the best option. But securing a place at one of these institutions - which, in some cases, take students from across the country - is becoming increasingly difficult.

One of the main reasons is that the decision about what provision to fund for an individual rests with a local authority. Specialist colleges feel they are missing out on students, who are instead encouraged to attend local provision that is often set up by the authority itself.

Area reviews have led to a consolidation of the further education sector, with struggling providers encouraged to merge to form more financially stable, resilient institutions. As a result, FE commissioner Richard Atkins has predicted that more than 63 mergers will have taken place by the end of March.

However, the opposite has happened among specialist post-16 institutions: the number of providers approved for funding has rocketed by more than two-thirds over the past five years, from 59 in 2013-14 to an estimated 100 this September.

This year alone, 18 new providers entered the market, according to Natspec, the membership association for organisations that offer specialist FE and training for students with learning difficulties or disabilities.

Sector leaders fear that these new centres are often being created without reference to existing provision, and are frequently very small. With many attached to schools, they can also lack the necessary focus on vocational training in an adult environment.

Under the Children and Families Act 2014, local authorities have a statutory responsibility for funding 0 to 25 education for young people with SEND. According to government guidance, local authorities “should use their high-needs budget to provide the most appropriate support package for an individual with SEND in a range of settings, taking account of parental and student choice, while avoiding perverse incentives to overidentify high-needs pupils and students”.

However, according to Natspec, a growing number of families are reporting that they are being denied a real choice of post-16 or post-19 education, contrary to government guidance. “There are examples of students and families being told they will not be funded for vocational or independence living programmes at existing specialist colleges, and that they must attend new provision instead,” explains chief executive Clare Howard.

“The impact on the specialist post-16 sector is that it is becoming fragmented, with a larger number of very small providers, risking inefficiencies, poorer use of resources and diluting much-needed specialisms - while the opposite is happening in general FE colleges with larger, merged institutions.”

Establishing new providers isn’t inherently a problem, Howard believes, provided they are being created in response to a clearly identified need, and a full supply-and-demand analysis, including consultation with existing colleges in the vicinity. But this is by no means the norm.

Another issue is that providers are being created as an extension of existing schools, meaning they are simply included in whole-school inspections, rather than assessed as free-standing entities for adult learners.

Cost saving is ‘deplorable’

The main concern for Paul Grainger, an academic at the UCL Institute of Education (IoE) who focuses on post-compulsory education, is that small, post-16 centres attached to schools probably won’t have the resources necessary to support students with diverse needs.

“A small centre is very unlikely to have the right support for [every individual],” explains Grainger, co-director for the IoE’s Centre for Post-14 Education and Work. “The whole point about having special needs is that they are special. You really need a range of providers to make sure you have the right one. If this is about cost saving, then it is deplorable.”

But couldn’t keeping young people in a school environment that they are familiar with be beneficial?

Sometimes, Grainger concedes - especially in cases where strong bonds with members of staff have developed. But coping with the transition to a different provider is often an important stepping stone for young people preparing to enter the world of work, he adds.

This is a view shared by Liz Maudslay, senior policy manager at the Association of Colleges. “We believe that schools are not the best setting for those over 18,” she says. “Many colleges across the country do fantastic work in helping students with SEND. These colleges would be the best place to host post-16 provision. For that, they need adequate funding and resourcing.”

One of the specialist providers to have felt the impact of increased competition for post-16 students is the Communication Specialist College - the institution that Evans fought so hard for her son to attend.

Assistant principal Stacey Betts explains that the college offers a range of vocational courses from entry level to level 2 - in subjects from catering and motor vehicles to hair and beauty. Learners also study personal and social development.

All students are aged 16 or over and need to have an education, health and care plan (EHCP) in place. This was introduced by the 2014 act for children and young people aged up to 25 who need more assistance than is available through SEND support. An EHCP identifies an individual’s educational, health and social needs, and sets out the additional support required to meet them.

“This year has been quite a difficult year,” Betts says, adding that student numbers are down from 94 last year to 85 - in no small part because of increased competition.

The proliferation of providers for a limited pool of students could even put the very future of the specialist post-16 college at risk, she fears: “If you don’t support us, we will no longer be here.”

‘A raw deal’

Betts cites the example of a dozen prospective students who applied from Doncaster, where they attended a local school specialising in supporting autistic learners. “We met them all and know we could meet their needs,” she explains.

In June, with only weeks to go until the beginning of the new term, the students were told their current school was setting up a bespoke sixth-form programme for them. Those not in favour of this were instead offered places at a different local school, instead of at the college they had already said they wanted to attend.

“Some parents just gave up the fight and said that it was too hard [to press for a place at the college],” says Sharon Rhodes, admissions and assessment manager. “Five went to mediation and won, and they are with us now. It takes a very strong parent to say in late June and early July, [they will] take the local authority to appeal.”

Eight more young people from nearby Rotherham who had sought a place at the college were swayed by the opening of a new specialist sixth-form centre set up by the local authority, but Rhodes has her doubts about how well a small centre can support a wide range of needs in a diverse cohort. “Those young people are not similar,” she says. “I would not [even] have put them into the same group at this college.”

Students who are persuaded to attend small providers are “getting a raw deal”, Betts agrees. “They are not getting the same choice as other young people. They are being put in a room with a teacher who can teach them employability skills. How can they have considered the needs of those young people when their needs are very diverse? We are a vocational college, and we are giving them all those skills. Our outcomes are really good. We get those young people into work.”

But not everyone agrees that specialist colleges are the best solution for all young people. During 2017-18, Doncaster Council completed a strategic review of its special school provision, following consultation with parents, carers, children and young people.

Damian Allen, the authority’s director of people, says the results made it clear that expanding the number of places in post-16 specialist schools in its locality should be a priority. The post-16 students involved “would benefit from more time in a school setting”, he adds.

Rotherham Council, too, took the view that creating new specialist provision in the borough would help to ensure there was a “range of options for young people that promote aspiration and develop skills needed in adulthood”.

Jon Stonehouse, strategic director for children and young people’s services, says: “When an opportunity to develop a new post-19 provision became available, we were keen for this to go ahead to expand the options available for young people with learning disabilities in the borough, helping them to increase their independence and prepare for adulthood.”

The young people concerned were given the choice between Rotherham’s new provision and the specialist college, he adds. “As a local authority, we have a duty to propose all resources available to students and their families for them to make informed decisions about which provision they use. Ultimately this is their choice.”

Striking a balance

So how can a balance between the need for innovation and protecting existing specialist colleges be struck? To address this, Natspec is working with the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) on a revised due diligence process for the approval of specialist post-16 provision.

“We have asked for new questions to be added to the application form, asking for evidence of strategic supply-and-demand analysis and consultation with existing specialist colleges and other FE providers,” Howard says. “We would also like to see an audit of other post-19 provision that has not gone through the ESFA approval process, to establish how many organisations have not been subject to inspection by Ofsted.”

The Department for Education, for its part, insists that it has robust checks in place for new providers. “Any specialist post-16 institution applying for departmental funds must prove they have strong financial health, and must be inspected by a department adviser who will check their curriculum, staffing and ability to keep learners safe,” a spokesperson says.

While the DfE insists that the growth of the specialist post-16 sector will not have a direct impact on overall funding for institutions, it concedes that funding is determined on the basis of the number of students each one enrols. With more institutions competing for those young people, the tension in the system is only going to increase.

Julia Belgutay is an FE reporter for Tes. She tweets @JBelgutay

‘Responding innovatively to meet the needs of young people’

Orchard Hill College and Academy Trust incorporates a total of 12 special schools and a college across London, Surrey and Sussex. Its provision spans nursery schools up to sixth form and post-19.

Orchard Hill College principal Dr Caroline Allen says the organisation is unique in that it is “fully representative of all designations of SEND”.

“There is significant demand for high-quality places for young people with SEND, and it is important that the sector responds innovatively to meet the needs of young people and their families,” she adds.

Students need to have a personalised curriculum that fosters creativity, innovation and independence, she says. Employer and community links are also vital to support young people moving into employment.

“Any new provision, regardless of whether it is in a school or college setting, needs to be properly planned and of high quality to ensure it provides this personalised learning experience and support,” Allen argues.

Provision also needs to take into account preparation for adulthood and provide opportunities for students to experience learning environments appropriate for young adults.

“Post-19 provision in particular should be provided within a setting reflective of the adult status of the student as well as providing the additional support each student needs to progress in their life,” Allen says.

“Students with SEND need a tailored approach that takes into account their own pace of learning and unique abilities, whether this is at school or college.”

How to ease the transition from school to college

• Students should have access to a wide range of study programmes and support at all levels to enable them to achieve good life outcomes.

• Courses should be appropriate to the needs of individual students.

• Post-16 providers should draw on assessments made by students’ previous educational settings when creating personalised plans.

• The families of learners should be involved in discussions and planning to ensure their needs will be met.

• Curriculum staff should be given the opportunity to develop their specialist skills and keep their knowledge of best practice up to date.

Source: National Association of Special Educational Needs