Education after you are 16
When you finish Year 11, you might choose to carry on learning. Most young people with SEND, whether they get SEN Support or have an EHC Plan, go to a college or a school with a sixth form. We call this Post 16 education.
Colleges and sixth forms must make sure you get the help you need. There will always be someone whose job is to support you, just like a SENCo in school.
It is important that you study something that you are interested in. This could be a subject that you have enjoyed in school, something that you might want to do as a job later, or something that you just fancy having a go at.
If you didn’t do very well in your Maths and English at Year 11, you will be expected to try these again, alongside your course.
You can find out about the different courses that colleges and sixth forms offer from their websites, or by visiting them. They often have Open Evenings. These events let you look around and see what the place is like. You can find the dates and times on their websites.
If you have an EHC Plan, you will talk about what you want to do after Year 11 at your Annual Review. You can say which school or college you would like to go to. Your EHC Plan will then be sent to them so they can check they can meet your needs.
This is a list of colleges and schools with sixth forms in our district and the links to their websites.
Wakefield College Wakefield College
Castleford College Castleford College
Pontefract New College New College Pontefract
Minsthorpe Community College Minsthorpe Community College - Post 16
Airedale Academy Sixth Form Overview - Airedale Academy Castleford
Ossett Academy and Sixth Form Welcome To Accord Sixth Form | AccordSixth
Outwood Academy Hemsworth Outwood Academy Hemsworth
St Wilfrid’s Catholic Sixth Form College Sixth Form - St Wilfrids Catholic High School and Sixth Form College
Outwood Grange Academy Outwood Grange Academy
Highfield Special School Post-16 | Highfield School Ossett
Oakfield Park Special School Home | Oakfield Park School
When you were at school, you went every day from Monday to Friday. Post‑16 is a bit different, especially at college. Some days you might be there all day, some days only for part of the day, and some days you might not need to go in at all.
This might leave you with extra free time. If you have an EHC Plan, you can ask the Preparing for Adulthood Team to help you plan what to do during this time.
Our 5 Day Officers can help you with things to do like:
- voluntary work experience, where you try out a job that you think you might like to do
- using buses safely to get to places
- going to activities close to where you live
- building your independence
To find out more you can email the Preparing for Adulthood Team at sendpfa@wakefield.gov.uk .
Young peole with SEND should aim high to do the very best that they can in school, at college, and in the future.
Your EHC Plan will set out the support you need to carry on learning new skills so that you can be ready for adult life. At 19, you may want to carry on learning even more through Further Education (usually a college like Wakefield College or Castleford College) or through Higher Education, usually at university.
Young people who attend university may be able to get a special grant called the Disabled Student's Allowance (DSA) to help you access your studies. You can find out more here: Help if you're a student with a learning difficulty, health problem or disability: Disabled Students' Allowance - GOV.UK