How to Apply to a Specialist College
How to apply to a specialist college: information for parents and carers, January 2011
Transition planning should begin in Year 9 or 10 at the latest – when your son or daughter is about 14, and you can begin to think about options after school. Your son or daughter should have a Connexions Adviser or Careers Officer, who can give advice and guidance about the choices available.
The procedure for applying to a Specialist College will vary slightly depending on where you live; in particular, the timings might differ, so ask your Connexions adviser or careers officer what should happen where you live. Make sure you know the completion dates for all the steps that are needed, and chase up your adviser if you think it is taking too long. The full process is in the YPLA document linked below:
http://www.ypla.gov.uk/publications/latest/Detail.htm?id=cbde9804-9963-4407-b224-d9ceb1db3dd8
If your son or daughter has a statement of special educational needs, your Connexions adviser or careers officer must produce a Learning Difficulties Assessment (LDA) for them - it might also be called an S139a assessment. This will identify their hopes for the future, their learning and support needs, and the best place to meet these needs. If your son or daughter does not have a statement, but has a new disability, or their disability has become more severe, you can ask for a Learning Difficulty Assessment. The LDA should include your views about what is best and right for your son or daughter.
If you are thinking about further education, it is a good idea to visit the local further education college to see if it can meet your son or daughter’s needs. If not, and you think a specialist college is the best choice, you should arrange to visit one or more specialist colleges. This may take some time, so the sooner you start the better. If your Connexions adviser or careers officer agrees that a specialist college is the best place to meet your son or daughter’s learning and support needs, this must be clearly stated on the LDA. Your son or daughter can then visit the chosen specialist college for a more detailed assessment. The college admissions team can provide help with your application.
The Connexions (or careers) service will then make an application to your Local Authority. If they approve it, they will apply for funding to the Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA) in England, or the Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) in Wales. The YPLA has a budget to pay for specialist college places; this budget will rise slightly in 2011/12. It is important to be clear that the government has allocated funding for this purpose -there is definitely money available to pay for a place at a specialist college.
If you are not happy about any part of the process, you can go to your local authority in the first instance to ask them to reconsider any decision they have made. All local authorities should have an appeals process in place. If the results of this are not satisfactory, you can go to the YPLA. Their process is described in these documents:
YPLA Review Process Publication
YPLA Independent Review Application
Note: this guidance is issued in good faith, in the light of information currently available - Natspec cannot be held responsible for the management of the process or the success of the outcome