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Information about Wiltshire-based services and education to support young adults with SEND to work and learn
Most of this information is relevant to those with SEND needs without an EHCP. If you do have an Education, Health and Care Plan (known as an EHCP) this will be reviewed annually. The plan may be ceased if your outcomes have been met, you no longer require support or you decide to move onto higher education.
From your year 9 review, you will be supported to think about your options after age 16, which could include education or employment after the age of 18. This will be discussed with you at your annual review, and you will be supported to think about what, you may like to do.
In preparation for adulthood, it is expected that the majority of young people beyond the age of 16 will travel independently to their place of education. There will be a small number of learners who, after travel training, are not able to travel independently. A subsidised travel scheme is available for these learners continuing in full-time education (either school or college). For more information visit:
For young people with an EHCP who are considering moving on to university study, more details can be found by visiting the government information pages.
Wiltshire has a wide variety of ways to engage with further learning opportunities or get ready for a range of workplaces. Please visit the sections below to explore the options available:
Family and Community Learning
Growing a lifelong love of learning with communities in Wiltshire.
Courses are funded by the Education and Skills Funding Agency. Courses are no cost to you if you:
are 19+ and have been a resident in UK/EU for 3+years (refugees* / asylum seekers / have right to remain status are exempt from the 3-year residency requirement)
have educational needs or care for someone with SEND
you either have less than 5 GCSEs grades A-C, are in receipt of benefits, a military family, or you may have other issues that joining a course could help you with
You might be stuck in a rut or going through a difficult time? We want to hear from people who are unsure about if they can join, and we are always happy to talk things through so please get in touch: Contact Work Wiltshire (workwiltshire.co.uk) (opens new window).
* If you are a refugee, we will need evidence of your immigration permission. This would include the biometric residence permit (BRP) and in some cases an accompanying letter from the Home Office. We are also able to support Asylum Seekers
Multiply is a new £559 million programme set up by the Department for Education (DfE) to help transform the lives of adults across the UK, by improving their functional numeracy skills through free personal tutoring, digital training, and flexible courses.
Wiltshire Council has been awarded £2.1 million of government funding to give adult learners a chance to develop the numeracy skills to be more confident at home and work. It will run over a three-year period, from 2022 to 2025.
Our work experience programme is officially open so whatever career you are interested in, we will do our very best to find a suitable placement for you.
At Wiltshire Council we recognise that high quality work placements provide individuals with the opportunity to learn new skills, build contacts and experience what it is like working in a real job.
Our aim is to help you make informed choices about your career and give you the chance to make a real contribution to helping our communities.
During your placement we will also help you develop the soft skills, attitudes and behaviours expected in the workplace.
Supported internships are individualised study programmes which are delivered by Wiltshire College and Fairfield College, with support from Wiltshire College job coaches. They help young people gain practical experience and work skills to give them a realistic chance of getting paid employment.
A traineeship is a skills development programme that includes a work placement. It can last from 6 weeks up to 1 year, though most Traineeships last for less than 6 months.
When you start to look for work you might consider looking first at the kind of job and employer you want to work for. When you have a list of places you think might be a good match for your skills you can always email or deliver your CV for their consideration, even if they don't have a job on offer currently you might be at the top of the list when they do.
There are many places jobs are advertised to the public when they are available:
Wiltshire Council also has a job listings site and is one of the larger employers across the County. To find out what jobs are available visit: Wiltshire Jobs (opens new window)
Travel information for employment
In preparation for adulthood, it is expected that the majority of young people beyond the age of 16 will travel independently to their place of work. There will be a small number who, after travel training, require further assistance. A travel scheme called Access To Work is available, for more information on this you can visit the government website: Access to work (opens new window)
Help, and more information
The following section has a range of people you can talk to who you can discuss your personal needs with.
Wiltshire Employment Support Team
The Wiltshire Employment Support Team (WEST) assists young people into finding and sustaining varying levels of paid employment with local employers. This ranges from job coaching to advice about financial support.
The Community Connecting team assist people to find out more about their local community. They provide a time-limited service; with the aim of working with the customer so they are able to find, take part in their chosen community activity and to do this independently.
These are a few examples of the things Community Connecting can help with access to:
finding voluntary work
socialising
further Education; including College courses and other training opportunities
using their community facilities to do things that they enjoy
The programme offers a holistic service that provides personalised support to people with significant barriers & challenges to help them build their independence and move towards education & employment outcomes.
A personalised needs analysis, circles of support map and holistic support action plan will be developed with each participant. They will then be offered a range of one-to-one and group activities based on their individual needs as they progress through support.
In addition, Building Bridges will also offer:
access to self-confidence building courses
volunteering and work experience activities
debt and benefit advice
travel training
one to one counselling, anxiety, and mental health support
support in gaining skills and qualifications
Participants will be supported to develop their CVs, job search skills and interview skills and have access to support for up to three months to help them sustain their education and employment outcomes.
Find out more about applications and referrals by visiting their section on the Social Care page.
Jobcentre Plus is a claims support service for people who receive benefits like Employment Support Allowance, Income Support, Universal Credit or Jobseekers allowance.
Advocacy services are designed to give you impartial support in a range of situations. This may be to help formalise a child or young persons voice in a discussion or decision making process. They are also a key aspect of mediation and legal proceedings when required.
Our OPAL resource is a web-based resource, with supporting development network, which defines what provision education settings should ordinarily make available for children and young people.
Young people with long-term or complex special educational needs will need specialist support. This is the kind of support provided for young people who meet the statutory threshold. These are the young people who have an Education, Health and Care plan. This type of support is completely person-centred, which means it will vary depending on an individual's needs. A separate section on EHCP explains how this works.
The following services all support learners to access the education they need. This may be by providing training to supporting professionals or parent/carers, they also cover a wide range of specialisms in equipment and holistic practices.
A personal budget is the money Wiltshire Council allocates to an individual to meet their assessed support needs.
An outcome based assessment will be carried out to establish an approximate figure for how much the council would need to spend to meet an individual's needs.
A personal SEN budget is a sum of money made available to an educational setting by a local council, above and beyond the basic funding settings receive for all children and young people (top up funding), to allow them to meet a child or young person's educational need. This budget will be used to support a child or young person to achieve pre-agreed educational outcomes. The need for a personal budget is considered as part of the statutory assessment. If you have questions about this you can talk to your lead worker if you have one, or Contacting the Wiltshire SEND team.
As of September 2023 there are currently 60 children/young people with Personal Budgets. These range in value, the largest valued at £80581.
Applications are typically accepted if the Personal Budgets will directly support the outcomes of a learner's Education, Health & Care Plan (EHCP).
You can read the policy information and further guidance on personal budgets in the document library.
Access to work
Access to Work can help you get or stay in work if you have a physical or mental health condition or disability.
The support you get will depend on your needs. Through Access to Work, you can apply for:
a grant to help pay for practical support with your work
support with managing your mental health at work
money to pay for communication support at job interview
For schools, parents, and other commissioners of alternative provision
Alternative provision (AP) refers to something in which a learner participates: As part of their regular timetable, away from the site of the school and not led by school staff or by parents.
AP can be 'Commissioned' by schools/ parents/ carers and learners who have been given a budget to manage their educational needs.
Commissioners refers to: Schools or parents of a learner and/or learner, who has been granted a personal budget to meet the outcomes detailed in the learner's EHCP Note. While schools can commission alternative provision for any learner at risk of exclusion or to reengage learners in their education, only those parents/learners who have a personal budget can commission Alternative Provision.
Each educational establishment will have a strategy to support SEN learners and may use their budget in different ways, if they access AP it will be to choose available provision best suited to the individuals needs where possible. For learners with an EHCP there may be additional budget allocated to allow for specific support dependent on reviewing the learners needs. This can be discussed in annual reviews or during initial evaluations. EHCPs always include a section for the voice of parent/carers and the individual to suggest support they feel might benefit them, these suggestions are taken seriously and included with discussions around the plan.
Wiltshire Council has a directory which can be found via Right Choice of providers which have had a level of quality assurance vetting, this helps commissioners get a head start but does not replace the commissioner responsibilities (information can be found in the AP guide). The directory is not definitive, if you have links with a provider that you might like to work with and they are not listed on the Wiltshire Approved Alternative Provision directory, please ask the provider to contact alternativeprovision@wiltshire.gov.uk (opens new window) for further details.
Sensory needs can be difficulties with any sense, it is most commonly difficulties with vision or hearing. However, especially among children and young people with autistic spectrum disorders, it can also include challenges with sense of touch or reaction to strong smells or noise levels
Social, emotional and mental health needs relates to how children and young people respond to situations and environments they find themselves in and how they form and maintain relationships
Cognitive and learning needs relates to how a child or young person understands, processes and retains information and therefore, how they are able, or struggle, to learn. For example those with dyslexia
Communication and interaction needs relates to how a child or young person expresses themselves and communicates with those around them. It is most commonly associated with challenges speaking, but can also include children and young people who struggle to express or understand their emotions or to make it clear how they feel
Physical and medical needs are those associated with a child's or young person's body or health. This is most commonly associated with challenges in movement or independent personal care. However, it may include a range of illnesses, or bodily difficulties that affect a child or young person in a setting
Wiltshire Youth Justice Service works with children and young people, their families, victims and the wider community to prevent and reduce offending. The service is made up of multi-disciplined professionals who work together to provide support for young people involved in, or at risk of contact with the criminal justice system. Wiltshire YJS includes social workers, youth justice officers, young people's support workers, a speech and language therapist, specialist school nurse, police, parenting worker, substance misuse worker and education workers. We work closely with other services such as education to support holistic planning with a child first, offender second approach.
Important documents, guidance and information for professionals and service users, for example Support Plan templates or SEND strategies for Wiltshire.
