Learner support software for specialist post-16 institutions

Specialist post-16 institutions educate young people with learning difficulties and disabilities, many with complex needs. Most learners have EHC plans, and the setting works closely with local authorities, families and health or care professionals. This page explains the framework, how the support journey relates, and honestly where the pilot starts.

What framework applies to specialist post-16 institutions?

Section 41 of the Children and Families Act 2014 lets the Secretary of State approve certain independent institutions so they can be named in an EHC plan. That includes a special post-16 institution that is not part of the further education sector or a 16 to 19 Academy. Once an institution is named in an EHC plan, section 43 requires an institution in the relevant category to admit the learner. The SEND code of practice 0 to 25 sets out how EHC plans, reviews and preparation for adulthood work. The Equality Act 2010 still applies, including reasonable adjustments. See the glossary entry on specialist post-16 institutions and our guide to EHCPs in further education. This page is general information, not legal advice. Institutions should rely on their own legal and local authority contacts for statutory questions.

What would specialist post-16 institution software need to support?

Support is more intensive, more multi-professional and more tightly tied to outcomes. Typical features include:

• EHC plan outcomes that need to be turned into daily practice.
• Annual reviews with the local authority, families and professionals. See EHCP annual reviews post-16.
• A focus on preparing for adulthood: employment, independent living, community and health. See preparing for adulthood outcomes.
• Therapies, personal care and communication support that sit alongside teaching.
• Careful boundaries between education records and health, care or safeguarding records. See safeguarding boundaries.
• Learner voice that may need alternative formats, trusted adults or communication aids. See person-centred support planning.

How does Understand, Agree, Deliver, Review relate?

The four steps map naturally onto good practice in this setting.

See support plans, delivery tracking and reviews.

Who would use it?

Heads of learning support or curriculum, key workers and teachers, therapists contributing information, quality leads, and learners with the support they need. Families and local authority contacts are important to the process, but sharing with external parties needs separate design, consent and permission decisions. Inclusion Studio’s access is enforced on the server by organisation, relationship and field. Nothing about external sharing should be assumed beyond what the permissions and roles page describes.

Where does the pilot start?

The pilot starts with FE colleges and apprenticeship providers in England. Specialist post-16 institutions are relevant and may take part later, but their needs, such as richer communication support, health and care boundaries, and multi-agency sharing, would need separate validation with real users. We do not promise dates or features. Inclusion Studio is pre-pilot: the production application is in development with synthetic data, with no customers or certifications. Because specialist settings hold highly sensitive records, real data would only be used after data protection impact assessment and security review. See special category data, the pilot page and the roadmap.

What might a fictional example look like?

This is a fictional example, not a real learner. A learner has an EHC plan outcome about travelling independently to a work placement. The key worker records what the learner says helps, using symbols and a trusted adult’s support. The plan breaks the outcome into steps that the learner has seen, with a named person for each. Support delivered each week is recorded, including a week where the placement transport fell through and the step was recovered the next week. Before the annual review, the team can see what happened and what the learner said, rather than relying on memory. The review itself, and decisions about the EHC plan, remain with the people responsible for them.

How does Inclusion Studio support this process?

It aims to keep a clear, learner-centred record of what was agreed and what was delivered, and a consistent review routine. It does not make clinical judgements, diagnose, decide placements or replace the statutory annual review. If you work in a specialist institution and want to discuss it, contact us. For the nearest pilot setting, see FE colleges or return to the solutions overview.