The Issues for Young People Post 16 with Additional Needs in College - A Mixed Methods Study

The new Code of Practice (DfE, 2014) requires Educational Psychologists (EPs) to work with young people up to the age of 25. Therefore they would need to work in colleges with young people that have additional needs. This research asks what issues do young people (YP) with additional needs face in college and what support do they need?
A systematic literature review showed that very little research has been done in this area, and most of it has come from the US. From the UK, there was some research around transition from school to college and also transition into adulthood, particularly in terms of medical and health services.
Mixed methods exploratory research was conducted starting with an audit of post 16 YP. Further research was then conducted within a local authority (LA) college, firstly with seventeen adults working and living with YP with additional needs and then with eight YP. Data collection involved questionnaires to parents and staff members asking them about the support they would like from EPs and any issues they believed YP faced in college. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with young people aged 16 to 25 asking them about the issues they experience in college, the support they are given and the support they would like.
The findings presented three main issues in college. These were personal issues, social issues and issues with the college itself. The YP also identified two other issues, future transition and changes in the past and future. They identified a number of support networks already in place, such as families, tutors, friends and themselves. Adults identified support they could be given by EPs such as training and individual work with young people.
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From these findings, support that college staff and EPs could provide was identified. This included training for staff, individual work with students, helping link with families, linking schools and colleges, enabling peer networks of support and educating young people and colleges about the role of the EP.