Preparing for Adulthood

An EHC plan can be maintained from birth up to age 25. It does not end automatically at 16, 18 or 19. A council cannot cease a plan simply because the young person has reached one of those ages — reaching an age is not, by itself, a lawful reason. A plan continues until the council lawfully decides to cease it, or the young person reaches 25.

A council may only cease a plan if (a) it is no longer responsible for the young person, or (b) it decides the plan is no longer necessary — for example, the special educational provision is no longer required.

A council cannot cease a plan: simply because the young person turned 16, 18 or 19; merely because the young person is not capable of achieving qualifications; or — for a young person aged 18 or over who has stopped attending their setting — without first reviewing and establishing that they do not wish to return, or that returning would not be appropriate.

Before ceasing a plan, the council must tell you it is considering this and consult you and the setting. The plan stays in place during the time allowed to appeal, and during any appeal.

From Year 9 — the school year your child turns 14 — every annual review of the EHC plan must have an explicit "preparing for adulthood" focus. This is a legal duty, not just good practice.

The four areas the review and the plan must address:

When a young person reaches the end of compulsory school age — the last Friday in June in the school year they turn 16 — the rights under the Children and Families Act 2014 transfer from the parent to the young person themselves. From then it is the young person, not the parent, who has the legal right to make decisions about their EHCP, request assessments, express a school preference, and appeal to the SEND Tribunal.

Most young people are happy for parents to stay closely involved, and that is encouraged — but the legal decision-maker becomes the young person.

Mental capacity: This is subject to the young person having the mental capacity to make the decision in question. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 applies from age 16, and the starting assumption is that the young person has capacity. Where a young person lacks capacity for a particular decision, that decision is made on their behalf by an "alternative person" — usually a court-appointed representative if there is one, otherwise the parent.

A young person with an EHCP can continue in education after 16, and the plan names their setting in Section I. The main options:

• School sixth form — sixth-form provision attached to a mainstream or special school.
• Sixth form college — standalone college focused mainly on academic study.
• Further education (FE) college — a wide range of academic and vocational courses.
• Specialist post-16 institution — colleges designed specifically for young people with SEND, often focused on independence and life skills.
• Supported internship — a work-based study programme specifically for 16 to 24-year-olds who have an EHC plan. Most of the time is spent with an employer, supported by a job coach. Supported interns are not normally paid, because they are still in education; the aim is progression into paid work.
• Apprenticeship — a genuine paid job combining work with training. A young person can keep their EHC plan during an apprenticeship.

Note: the national "traineeships" programme ended in 2023, so older guidance describing traineeships as a national route is out of date.

If your child receives, or is likely to need, social care, the council must carry out a transition assessment under the Care Act 2014 before they turn 18 — where it would be of "significant benefit" to assess and plan ahead. You, or your child, can also request one.

A key protection — no gap in provision: if the transition assessment has not been completed by the time your child turns 18, the council cannot simply stop the children's social care support. It must continue until the adult assessment is carried out and concluded. The aim is that there is no gap between children's and adults' services.

An EHC plan ends when the council lawfully ceases it, or at the latest at the end of the academic year in which the young person turns 25. When it ends, the education-law framework stops applying — but your child's needs do not disappear, and other systems take over:

• Adult social care — where an adult appears to have care needs, the council must assess them, and must meet needs that meet the national eligibility criteria. Social care support from the EHCP often continues as Care Act provision.
• Supported living, day services, personal assistants and direct payments — funded by adult social care depending on assessed eligible needs.
• Access to Work, adult disability benefits, and NHS Continuing Healthcare — separate systems, each with their own route.

As your child grows up, they move from children's (paediatric) health services to adult health services. Unlike education, there is no single document that transfers — health transition needs to be actively planned. It should start early, alongside the Year 9 preparing-for-adulthood process, be gradual rather than a sudden handover, and ideally have a named worker supporting the young person through it. The recognised good-practice standard is NICE guideline NG43.

This surprises many families. Post-16 transport is not the same as the free home-to-school transport for under-16s. There is no automatic free transport for 16 to 18-year-olds — councils publish a "transport policy statement" each year setting out what help they offer, and post-16 transport is often charged for or means-tested. For 19 to 25-year-olds with an EHC plan, the council must provide transport free of charge only where it judges transport to be "necessary". Do not assume transport will be free simply because your child has an EHCP.