Post-16 Transitions: a Longitudinal Study of Young People with ...

and most reported that they had more friends than before, and
had a clearer idea of what they wanted to do in the future. The
case studies also found that some of the most important outcomes
for young people post-16 were in social and personal
development rather than academic and vocational achievement.
Having said this, there remained a small, but not insignificant,
number of young people who had not achieved any additional
outcomes eg qualifications or social development gains, since
completing compulsory schooling. The case studies particularly,
observed young people who had made little or no progress since
Year 11, and who appeared to be rather aimlessly engaged (or
floundering) in their post-16 activity, and heavily reliant on
support workers and parents for social contact and friendship.
10.4 Two key groups
From the survey and the case studies, two groups of young people
stand out:
• The first group relates to young people with largely
uncontested impairments (eg sensory and/or physical
disabilities) that have been identified at (or before) school.
These young people generally have a statement, have attended
a special school (or special provision in a mainstream school)
and had multi-agency intervention related to their
impairment. Essentially, these young people constitute a fairly
well-known population for whom there are clear transition
pathways, although many are experiencing deferred
transitions in post-16 education. The issues for them are
whether the pathways they are on are appropriate, whether
they promote genuine progression and whether the high level
of service co-ordination these young people need (and that
they have experienced pre-16) actually survives the transition
phase.
• The second group of young people are those with less welldefined
or evident impairments eg less severe learning
difficulties, and behavioural, emotional or social development
needs who effectively form part of a broader population of
educational low-attainers. They are most likely to have
attended mainstream schools, are less likely to have had
statements of SEN or well-defined transition pathways, and
the level of statutory support they have received to date
appears to be low. Many have left education and have entered
or are seeking to enter the bottom end of the labour market.
The issue for these people is whether the mainstream ‘systems’
within which they operate, including the education system
and the labour market, are sufficiently powerful to overcome
the (sometimes significant) difficulties that these young people
face. There is considerable evidence already that this may not
be the case.
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