School to college transition for learners with SEND

Moving from school to college is one of the biggest changes a young person with SEND will face. The building is larger, the timetable looser, the staff new, and the adults who knew them well are gone. Support that worked at school can disappear for weeks while paperwork catches up. This guide gives colleges and schools a practical timeline, the legal deadlines that matter, and a checklist for the first six weeks.

It explains duties and good practice, not legal advice.

Why does school to college transition go wrong for learners with SEND?

Transition usually fails in predictable places:

• Late decisions. The EHC plan is not amended in time, so the college does not know it is named.
• Lost information. The school’s knowledge of what helps never reaches tutors.
• Support starts late. Agreed support is not in place on day one, and the learner disengages in the first fortnight.
• The learner is not asked. Plans are written about the young person, and their own view of what helps is missing.
• Learners on SEN support fall through the gap. Without an EHC plan, there is no statutory process to carry information forward.

Each of these can be prevented with a clear timeline and a named person responsible at each end.

What are the legal deadlines for EHC plan transfers?

For a young person with an EHC plan moving from secondary school to a post-16 institution, regulation 18 of the SEND Regulations 2014 requires the local authority to review and, where necessary, amend the plan before 31 March in the calendar year of transfer. The amended plan must name the post-16 institution, or type of institution, the young person will attend.

Where a young person moves from one post-16 institution to another at any other time, the plan must be reviewed and amended at least five months before the transfer.

Before naming a college, the local authority must consult it (section 39, Children and Families Act 2014). The young person can ask for a particular college to be named, and the local authority must name it unless it is unsuitable for the young person or would be incompatible with the efficient education of others or the efficient use of resources. The college named must admit the young person.

What does a good transition timeline look like?

This timeline works for most learners with EHC plans. Adapt it for learners on SEN support.

DfE’s 2026 SEND reform proposals for post-16 suggest transition planning should start at least 12 months ahead. These are proposals, not law, but they reflect existing good practice.

What information should move from school to college?

Share what the college needs to support the learner well from day one, not the whole file. A useful transition summary covers:

1. The young person’s own words: what they are good at, what they find hard, what helps, what does not.
2. Current support that works, with specific detail (for example “sits near the door”, “needs instructions written down”).
3. Communication preferences and who to contact.
4. Triggers and early signs of anxiety or distress, and what helps.
5. Exam access arrangements in place at school, with the evidence that supported them.
6. Health needs relevant to college, such as medication, seizure plans or fatigue.
7. Safeguarding information, passed through the designated safeguarding lead route, not in the general summary.
8. Attendance patterns and what affected them.

The transition information summary template is designed for this.

How do you share it lawfully?

Information about SEN, disability and health is usually special category data under UK GDPR, as the ICO’s special category data guidance explains. Schools and colleges need a lawful basis and a special category condition to share it, and should tell the young person what is being shared, with whom and why. In practice:

• Ask the young person what they want shared, and involve them in writing the summary.
• Share only what is relevant to support at college.
• Use secure transfer, not personal email.
• Record what was shared and when.

See special category data in education for more detail.

What about learners on SEN support without an EHC plan?

They need the same care with less structure. Learners on SEN support make up the largest group of learners with SEND moving to college, and there is no statutory deadline to protect them. Good practice:

• Schools identify learners on SEN support who have applied to each college and, with their agreement, share a summary.
• The college asks every applicant what helps them learn, at application and again at enrolment, in more than one format.
• The college offers a transition meeting to any learner who says they had support at school.
• Support starts from what worked at school, then is reviewed early.

How should exam access arrangements be handled?

Start early. Arrangements in place at school do not transfer automatically. JCQ’s guidance on access arrangements when a candidate changes centre says the new centre must submit a new online application, and must not rely solely on previous applications. A previous assessment form can sometimes be reused if it is complete and compliant and the arrangement is still the learner’s normal way of working, but moving from level 2 to level 3 qualifications can require new or additional forms. Ask the school for its evidence of need and normal way of working, and plan any assessments the college needs to carry out. See exam access arrangements.

What should happen in the first six weeks at college?

The first half term decides whether a learner settles. A simple checklist:

• Week 1: Meet the learner. Confirm what helps, in their words. Introduce a named contact.
• Week 1: Brief every tutor and support worker who will work with the learner, including cover staff.
• Weeks 1–2: Check that agreed support is happening in every session. A short delivery log makes gaps visible.
• Weeks 2–3: Check in with the learner informally. Is anything harder than expected?
• Weeks 4–6: Hold a first review. Keep, change or stop each piece of support based on what the learner says and what you have seen.
• Throughout: Watch for early warning signs: falling attendance, missed work, withdrawal from social spaces.

Fictional example: Noah, 16, moves from a mainstream secondary school to a general FE college to study IT. He has an EHC plan for autism and anxiety. His transition summary says he struggles with unexpected changes and needs a quiet space at lunch. On day three, a room change is announced by tannoy, and Noah goes home. Because the college is checking delivery daily in the first fortnight, his learning support assistant notices the same afternoon, calls him, and agrees that room changes will be texted to him in advance. Noah is back the next day. The adjustment is added to his plan and reviewed at week six.

What should schools do to make transition work?

Schools hold most of the knowledge that makes a good start possible. Practical steps for SENCOs and year 11 teams:

• Start conversations about post-16 options from year 9 reviews, and support visits to more than one setting.
• Help the young person describe, in their own words, what helps them learn. This is the most useful information a college can receive.
• Agree with the young person what will be shared, and send a concise summary rather than a full file.
• Pass exam access arrangements evidence in a form the college can use.
• Tell colleges early about learners on SEN support who have applied, with their agreement.
• Keep a named contact available into the autumn term, so the college can ask what worked.

Colleges can help by telling local schools exactly what they need and when, and by sharing a simple transition summary format. A separate school edition of Inclusion Studio is planned for later; the pilot starts with colleges and apprenticeship providers.

What is the college’s role before the young person arrives?

Colleges can do a great deal before September:

• respond to local authority consultations promptly and specifically
• run taster days, small-group visits and summer transition sessions
• meet the young person and, if they wish, their family, before enrolment
• agree top-up funding in writing before the start date (see high needs funding in FE)
• draft the support plan with the young person
• check the physical environment and timetable
• arrange assistive technology and access to rooms in advance

How does transition link to preparing for adulthood?

The move to college is a step towards adult life, not just a change of school. Use the transition to revisit the young person’s aspirations and the four preparing for adulthood outcomes. The course they choose should be a route towards the future they want. For learners who are looked after or care leavers, see care-experienced learners in FE, and check the local offer for what the local authority expects to be available. The preparing for adulthood glossary entry explains the four outcome areas.

How does Inclusion Studio support transition?

Inclusion Studio is learner support software in development for England FE colleges and apprenticeship providers. It is at pre-pilot stage with a clickable prototype using fictional learners. It is designed to capture what a learner says helps in their own words through learner voice, turn incoming information into a support plan the learner has seen, store documents in private storage released only to authorised people, and make missed support visible through delivery tracking. The provider remains responsible for its transition process.