Education and Training

Obtaining a good education can be the key to vastly improving a young person’s chances in life. Young people in care can be particularly disadvantaged educationally. They will often have had their education disrupted as a result of changes of placements and circumstances, and may not have had the opportunity to develop to their full potential. Some young people may have little sense of their abilities and may need encouragement to develop greater self-esteem.

The accommodating authority has a corporate responsibility for promoting the educational achievement of all Looked After Children under section 22 (3A) and 23ZZA of the Children Act 1989 (as amended by section 4 of the Children and Social Work Act 2017). This includes seeking a school or other education setting that is best suited to the young person’s needs. The local authority’s responsibilities as corporate parent apply wherever the young person’s placed. For young persons who are not Looked-After, parents/carers (or others with parental responsibility) are responsible for selecting the education placement unless the young person has capacity to make this decision under the Mental Capacity Act. Please see Mental Capacity Act.

Promoting the education of children with a social worker and children in kinship care arrangements: virtual school head role extension describes how local authorities are expected to comply with their duties to promote the education of Looked-After children.

When commissioning a placement/service, the accommodating authority must establish how the Service will support the young person’s educational needs.

If a Looked After young person from a different local authority area is placed in the Service, the Virtual School Head of that local authority remains responsible for promoting the young person’s educational achievement.

If the young person is an unaccompanied migrant, Looked After by a local authority, they are entitled to the same local authority support as any other Looked After Child: to have a safe and stable placement; to receive the care that they need to thrive; and the support they need to fulfil their educational and other outcomes.

Some unaccompanied young people who have recently arrived in the country may never have had access to education before. Appropriate education for unaccompanied young people may include a period of time in a setting where their full educational needs can be assessed and integrated into their Personal Education Plan (PEP). They may need time to be prepared for and then become used to formal education, and their initial educational outcomes may include cultural orientation and life skills.

Delegation of Authority in regard to education should be recorded in the Placement Plan.

The VSH’s key role is to ensure there are effective systems to:

• Make sure all relevant professionals are aware of the status of the young person and their entitlement to support;
• Maintain a roll of the authority’s school-age Looked After children and young people, together with information about the placements, attendance and educational progress;
• Inform headteachers and Designated Teachers in educational establishments if they have a young person on roll who is Looked After by the VSH's local authority;
• Ensure that social workers, Designated Teachers and schools, and IROs understand their role and responsibilities in initiating, developing, reviewing and updating the young person’s PEP and how they help meet the needs identified in that PEP;
• Ensure up-to-date, effective and high quality PEPs that focus on educational outcomes and that all Looked After Children, wherever they are placed, have such a PEP;
• Avoid drift or delay in providing suitable educational provision, including special educational provision, and unplanned termination of educational arrangements, through proactive multi-agency co-operation. Where this requires negotiation with other authorities this should be completed in a timely manner and with the best interest of the young person as paramount;
• Ensure the educational achievement of young person Looked After by the authority is seen as a priority by everyone who has responsibilities for promoting their welfare;
• Report regularly on the attainment of Looked After young people through the authority's corporate parenting structures.

The accommodating authority must ensure that all young people have access to educational opportunities and a Personal Education Plan (PEP) which promotes their educational achievement. The PEP must be drawn up before the young person becomes Looked After (or within 10 working days in the case of an emergency placement), and be available for the first statutory review meeting and all subsequent LAC Reviews.

If it is a subsequent placement, the young person should already have a PEP, if this is not the case, the registered person should obtain one from the social worker.

PEP’s should:

• Identify developmental and educational needs in relation to skills, knowledge, subject areas and experiences;
• Set short and long-term educational attainment targets agreed in partnership with the young person and the carer where appropriate;
• Include a record of planned actions;
• Include information on how the young person’s progress will be supported and monitored;
• Record details of specific interventions and targeted support that will be used to make sure personal education targets are met;
• Say what will happen, or is already happening, to put in place any additional support which may be required;
• Set out information on what will happen or is already happening to identify and support any mental health needs;
• Set out how a young person’s aspiration and self-confidence is being nurtured, especially in consideration of longer-term goals towards further and higher education, work experience and career plans;
• Include the young person’s views on how they see they have progressed and what support they consider to be most effective;
• Be a record of the young person’s academic achievements and participation in the wider activities;
• Provide information which helps all who are supporting the young person’s educational achievement to understand what works for them;
• Have clear accountability in terms of who within the educational establishment is responsible for making the actions identified in the plan happen.

In addition, the PEP should have:

• An up to date and accurate chronology of education and training history which provides a record of the educational experience and progress in terms of National Curriculum Assessments, including information about educational institutions attended and the reasons for leaving, attendance and conduct record, academic and other achievements, any special educational needs, an indication of the extent to which the young person’s education has been disrupted before entering care or accommodation;
• A clear statement clarifying existing arrangements for education and training, including details of any special educational provision and any other provision to meet the young person’s educational or training needs and promote educational achievement;
• A description of any planned changes to existing arrangements and provision to minimise disruption;
• A description of the young person’s leisure interests;
• A description of the role of the appropriate person and any other person who supports the young person in promoting the young person’s educational achievements and leisure interests;
• A description of how the Pupil Premium is assisting the young person’s progress and applications for bursaries should be discussed as part of PEP Meetings;
• Details of who will take the plan forward, with timescales for action and review are an essential aspect of all PEP planning.

Looked After and Previously Looked After Children and young people are eligible for Pupil Premium Plus (PP+) funding. This is additional funding provided to help improve the attainment of Looked After Children and close the attainment gap between these children and their peers. It is not a personal budget for individuals. The extra funding provided by the PP+ reflects the significant additional barriers faced by Looked After and Previously Looked After Children and young people. The designated teacher has an important role in ensuring the specific needs of Looked After and Previously Looked After Children are understood by the school’s staff and reflected in how the school uses PP+ to support these children.

The PP+ is a key component in ensuring resources are available to support the young person’s Personal Education Plan and the plan should clarify what the support is and how it will be delivered.

The PP+ for Looked After Children and young people is managed by the Virtual School Head (VSH). However the PP+ for Previously Looked After Children is managed by the school.

The PP+ is a key component in ensuring resources are available to support the young person’s Personal Education Plan and the plan should clarify what the support is and how it will be delivered.

Young people living in the Service should be attending school or other educational provision, be learning and making good progress. Staff should be ambitious for young people and support them to attend and to do well in their education.

Young people should be in full-time education whilst they are of compulsory school age, unless their Personal Education Plan states otherwise. The Service must aim to support full time attendance at school unless the relevant plan indicates this is not in their best interests.

The registered person must ensure that each young person has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the learning, and that staff:

• Help each young person to achieve the young person’s education and training targets, as recorded in the relevant plans;
• Support each young person's learning and development, including helping the young person to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the young person to complete independent study;
• Understand the barriers to learning that each young person may face and take appropriate action to help the young person to overcome any such barriers;
• Help each young person to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;
• Promote opportunities for each young person to learn informally;
• Maintain regular contact with each young person’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the accommodating authority to support the young person’s education and training and to maximise the young person’s achievement;
• Raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a young person with the education or training provider and the accommodating authority;
• Help each young person to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment;
• Help each young person to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the young person’s relevant plans.

The registered person must ensure that the necessary support is given to young people to enable them to access their education,  training and/or employment.

Support may include, for example, support by staff to learn how to use public transport confidently and safely, or the use of technology to connect with online learning, and so on.  Staff should support the young person to access resources around career planning, including facilitating conversation with relevant professionals.

Where young people are not participating in education, staff must work closely with the accommodating authority so that the young person is supported and enabled to resume full-time education as soon as possible. In the interim, the young person should be supported to sustain or regain their confidence in education and be engaged in suitable structured activities. If no education place is identified by the accommodating authority, the registered person must challenge them to meet the young person’s needs.

Key Workers should attend all school events that would usually be attended by parents such as open days, school plays etc if the young person requests this.

All young people are required to continue in education or training until their 18th birthday. Young people can choose how to participate. This can be through full time education, an apprenticeship or traineeship, or by combining full-time employment with part-time education or training. Whilst the duty is on the young person themselves, it is important that staff encourage the young person to continue their education or training and support them to develop the skills necessary to succeed in the option they choose. They should also direct them to the financial support that is available through the 16-19 bursary fund and to their local authority young people's services who can advise about the options available. For further information on the 16-19 Bursary Fund, see: Overview of 16 to 19 Bursary Fund. 

Local authorities have a number of responsibilities in relation to education and training for 16-19 year olds, including ensuring that sufficient provision is available to meet their needs and supporting them to participate, including providing arrangements for the provision of transport and/or travelling expenses in accordance with their annual transport policy statement. They are also responsible for identifying young people covered by the duty to participate who are not in education or training. Staff should work with the accommodating authority and local authority in which the setting is located to make sure the young people they are responsible for are getting the support they need to participate. For further information, see Participation of Young People: Education, Employment and Training. 

When accommodating unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in supported accommodation, the accommodating authority and local authority in which the setting is located and the registered person should ensure that young people have access to English language lessons, where needed, as well as other additional support to aid participating and integrating into the community and UK life as per the young person’s relevant plan.

Support with University

Care leavers qualify for extra finance if they chose to go to university and can apply for student finance as an independent student. This means a young person won’t have to provide details of their household income and will be eligible for the maximum living cost/maintenance support, as well as a tuition fee loan. Definitions of care vary across the UK, so it is important staff, Personal Assistants or the young person’s social worker, check with the student finance company whether they qualify.

For further information, see the complete university guide called: Applying to university as a care leaver. 

Progress in education can be measured and evidenced in various ways, including but not limited to: success in academic, vocational and other awards and qualifications; other formal attainment tests that are part of national assessment arrangements; and teachers’ ongoing assessments. Measurements of progress should include qualitative information such as how well the young person is being prepared for their next stage of education, training or employment, and quantitative data where available.

For some young people who have experienced severe trauma, have mental health difficulties or have been excluded or out of education for significant periods, it may be necessary to address and work through their past experiences and present needs before they can positively participate in learning activities and formal education. Staff will play a key role in supporting these young people in line with their Personal Education Plan or EHC plan and recommendations from education and health professionals.

Where young people have special educational needs (SEN), staff need to understand the specialist support they may need to be able to engage positively and achieve in education. Staff must be aware of whether a young person has an EHC plan and the information in it.

The Service must have proactive relationships with appropriate schools and educational support services, and should have processes that enable staff to share their experience and understanding of the young person’s educational needs and progress with other services.

Staff should work in partnership with relevant professionals such as  Virtual School Heads (VSHs) to promote the educational achievement of young people and enabling young people’s access to a suitable range of high-quality education options. Further information on the role of VSHs can be found in Promoting the Education of Looked-after Children and Previously Looked-after Children. 

PEPs should be reviewed by the Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) at Looked After Reviews.

It is however important that staff work co-operatively and that staff liaise on a regular basis with teaching staff or with external schools and educational support services, to ensure that educational programmes are appropriately differentiated.

Staff should have an understanding of how the educational establishment functions, including the processes for admission, the role of designated teachers for Looked-After young person and the role of the Virtual School Head. If a Looked-After young person from a different local authority area is placed the Virtual School Head of that local authority remains responsible for promoting the young person’s educational achievement.

Staff should act as effective advocates for or on behalf of a young person who may be experiencing difficulties with education or training matters including, but not limited to, attainment, admissions, attendance or behaviour, as a good parent would do.

Young people should have access to a computer and the internet to support their education and learning, unless there are specific safeguarding reasons why this would be inappropriate.