Every July, thousands of young people finish school and celebrate the beginning of their summer holidays. For many families, it’s an exciting milestone filled with hope, memories and anticipation for what comes next.
But for many young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), September doesn’t bring a clear destination. Instead, it can bring uncertainty.
Some will have college places that never quite materialise. Others will discover that the support they relied on at school has disappeared. Some families will spend the summer chasing professionals, trying to understand transport arrangements, funding or whether a placement is actually suitable.
For a significant number of young people, the result is becoming NEET – Not in Education, Employment or Training.
This isn’t inevitable. Most of the time, it is preventable.
NEET is rarely about motivation
One of the biggest misconceptions is that young people become NEET because they lack ambition.
In my experience working across post-16 education, mediation and transition planning, the opposite is often true.
Most young people want the same things as everyone else.
- They want friends.
- They want independence.
- They want meaningful work.
- They want to feel successful.
When those aspirations aren’t realised, it is usually because systems have failed to prepare them – not because they lacked potential.
The summer holidays shouldn’t be a pause on preparation
Preparation for adulthood is often viewed as something that starts in Year 11. The law says otherwise.
The SEND Code of Practice is clear that planning for adulthood should begin from Year 9 onwards, focusing on four key areas:
- Employment
- Independent living
- Good health
- Community inclusion
These conversations should become more focused every year, so that by the time a young person finishes school, everyone involved should know:
- Where they are going next
- What support they need
- What their long-term aspirations are
- Who is responsible for helping them achieve those goals?
If you know this you’re ready to enjoy the summer and prep for September, or are you still trying to muddle through planning for September?
We need to stop planning placements and start planning lives
Too often, discussions centre on finding ‘a college place’. A college place is not an outcome. It is simply one step along a much bigger journey.
Instead, professionals should be asking:
- What career interests this young person?
- What are their strengths?
- What skills do they already have?
- What experiences do they need before adulthood?
- What barriers can we remove now?
When we begin with the destination rather than the placement, decisions become much more meaningful.
Employment should always be a considered outcome
One of the most common barriers I see is low expectation. Sometimes employment is quietly removed from conversations because professionals assume it isn’t realistic.
Research tells us something very different.
With the right support, many young people with SEND can and do achieve paid employment.
Supported Internships, apprenticeships, traineeships where available, vocational learning, supported employment and personalised pathways all offer opportunities that may not have been considered a decade ago.
Employment isn’t simply about earning money. It provides:
- Confidence
- Purpose
- Routine
- Friendships
- Independence
- Better long-term health outcomes
Every young person deserves the opportunity to explore what meaningful work could look like for them.
September success starts long before September
Preventing young people becoming NEET doesn’t happen in August.
It starts years earlier.
It starts with ambitious annual reviews.
It starts with meaningful Preparing for Adulthood outcomes.
It starts with employers opening their doors.
It starts with schools believing employment is possible.
It starts with colleges working collaboratively.
It starts with local authorities commissioning pathways that genuinely lead somewhere.
Above all, it starts with believing that every young person has something valuable to contribute.
A different conversation
Instead of asking,
‘What college are they going to?’
Perhaps we should be asking,
‘What kind of adult do you want to become – and what do we need to do together to help you get there?”
When we shift the conversation from provision to possibility, we stop preparing young people to leave education. We start preparing them for life.
And that is how we reduce the number of young people who become NEET, not through luck, but through ambition, collaboration and early planning.
At Future Ready SEND, we believe every young person deserves a future built on opportunity, not limitation. By working together families, schools, colleges, employers and local authorities we can create pathways that lead to independence, inclusion and meaningful lives beyond the classroom.
References and Further Reading
- Department for Education (2015, updated periodically). Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years. Sections 8 and 9 (Preparing for Adulthood).
- Department for Education (2024). National statistics: Young people not in education, employment or training (NEET).
- Department for Work and Pensions. Improving employment outcomes for disabled people.
- BASE. Supported Employment Quality Framework (SEQF) and evidence on supported employment.
- National Development Team for Inclusion. Preparing for Adulthood Programme resources and evidence.
