Guide two: transitions
This theme relates to Gatsby Benchmarks seven and eight. These state that all pupils should understand the full range of learning opportunities that are available to them. These include academic and vocational routes, as well as learning in schools, colleges, universities and the workplace. The benchmarks also highlight the importance of advice and guidance, recommending that every pupil have opportunities for guidance interviews with a careers adviser, who could be internal (a member of school staff) or external, provided they are trained to the appropriate level and working closely with the setting's SENDCo when needed.
Transition planning is integral to supporting autistic children and young people in education. The reduction of support available in education compared to the workplace can be daunting. Therefore, it’s important to begin supporting autistic children and young people with transition preparation and exposure to the working world throughout their education years.
You can support with transition planning in several ways:
- Include parents and carers while focusing on the aspirations of the young person.
- Write a written and visual plan that includes a profile of interests, skills, strengths and helpful adjustments.
- Develop a clear structure for leaving education that includes keeping as many familiar activities and timings as possible, e.g. waking-up time in the morning.
- Have timelines for job-searching or registering with agencies and organisations that offer specialist support.
- Develop a transition pack and timetable:
- A transition pack may consist of the following: one page profile/medical support plans/PBS plan/communication passport/risk assessments/employment report.
- Use the phase transfer annual review of the young person’s EHC plan in the final year of education and make sure it includes employability planning and whatever appropriate support they may need.
Having access to high-quality careers education, information, advice and guidance, alongside discussions with professionals who understand their needs, are all crucial to autistic young people’s success as they consider the next stage of their academic or employment journey. Good careers guidance as part of your careers programme is also key to social mobility.
On this page, you will find information on the following:
- Personal guidance for autistic young people
- Participation from autistic young people
- Positive career outcomes
- Introduction to tools and structures for independence
- Careers events
- Download our resources.
Personal guidance to autistic young people
We have a statutory duty to give impartial advice and guidance whilst autistic young people are in school and college. This could be done through one-to-one sessions or through workshops, either through your own qualified careers adviser or an external organisation.
Careers advisors often need to meet with an autistic young person a few times to build rapport, which is fundamental to effective careers advice sessions. The following video includes further top tips that careers advisers or other similar staff can use when speaking and/or giving advice and guidance to autistic young people.
The following tips will help you with your planning and delivery of advice and guidance sessions:
- Be aware of sensory differences and adjust where practical.
- Use someone's name first to get their attention so they know you are addressing them directly.
- Provide meaningful visual information and follow up with written information for better processing and understanding.
- Sketching and drawing is not patronising. Autistic people are often visual learners.
- Give advance warning of any changes or cancellations of meetings.
- Reduce unpredictability by sharing a meeting agenda, a one-page profile if you haven't met them before, and information about the environment you're planning to host the meeting in.
- Do not assume that the person knows what you intend to do – explain what will happen and why.
- Speak and write in clear literal sentences.
- To build rapport, get them to tell or show you what they are interested in.
- Allow more time for the young person to process information or instructions.
- A useful tool to remember is pausing, as needed, for five seconds.
We also deliver a training course, ‘Understanding autism for careers professionals’, which may help to deepen your practice.
Our Employ Autism programme offers paid work experience opportunities for autistic jobseekers. As part of the Employ Autism offer, our Employment Coaches often meet with eligible candidates and complete careers action plans. We have shared some templates that may be of use to you in your setting and practice.
Download template: careers action plan
Download template: visual action plan
Some autistic young people may engage better with a vocational profile prior to a careers action plan. We explain a vocational profile and a template in guide one.
Participation from autistic young people
It’s important that your young people are included in the annual review process, e.g. through structured questioning about future and careers. This should be adapted to your young person’s communication style.
If your autistic young person has an EHC plan, they will be attending annual review meetings. We have created an employability-focused annual review help guide that you and colleagues such as a SENCO can use to help prompt outcomes.
Download guide: annual review help guide
Positive career outcomes
There are many positive career outcomes and pathways for autistic young people. You should understand these and what is most appropriate for your autistic young person.
In understanding these pathways, it’s important to consider the following: eligibility requirements and additional costs or funds. A simple internal spreadsheet will help you to research and collate local opportunities, and your local offer website will support you in this exploration. For example:
- pathway
- description
- local options
- upcoming events
- is an Educational Health Care (EHC) plan needed?
- opportunities for autistic young people e.g. Access to Work available/ Disability Allowance available.
Your role as an educational professional is help liaise with any desired pathway, whether that be employment or a university. You can use other tools found across the Careers Education Framework to support you with this, including our top tips for employers guide can be directly shared with employers with whom your autistic young people may be having interviews. In addition, you can find interview preparation prompts for your autistic young person in our transition to employment toolkit.
If the autistic young person you are supporting is moving onto higher education, get in touch with the university of Disabled Students Office for additional support.
Download guide: top tips for interviews
Download template: transition to employment toolkit
We have worked with the Careers and Enterprise Company to look at these pathways and eligibility, and created a poster that you can use during conversations. You’ll find a version to print and a digital version with hyperlinks.
Download learning resource: pathway posters
Introduction to tools and structures for independence
You should encourage young people to set up structures at home for independence. For example:
- home timetables
- digital task setting/reminders
- email address set up.
Careers events
You should think about attending or hosting a careers event.
- What are the local events to you?
- Do these meet the needs of your cohort?
- Would it be beneficial to set up your own event? Perhaps collaborate with a similar setting nearby and share the workload of contacting employers and education providers.
Your local Careers Hub and Enterprise Coordinator will be able to signpost you to local services and events. The local authority’s local offer webpage may also be a good source of local information and activities specifically for autistic young people.
Download our resources
Guide: annual review help guide (employability focused)
Guide: top tips for interviews
Template: transition to employment toolkit
Learning resource: pathways posters
Template: careers action plan (template and visual)
Have you explored all four themes in this guide? Use the self-audit and glossary document to track your CEF journey.