My Lords, I speak to Amendment 155 in my name. Clause 38(3) sets out the types of institution that may be named in an education, health and care plan. Ministers have stressed the importance of a joined-up approach and that a system that goes from nought to 25 will improve the lives of children and young people with special educational needs. I was therefore a bit surprised to see that higher education institutions were omitted from the list. That means that if a young person with a special educational need decides that they wish to pursue a university education, they must do so without the support of an education, health and care plan.
Disabled young people and those with special educational needs need all the support they can get to go to university. Disabled graduates are much more likely to get a job than those without a degree. In 2012, 71% of disabled graduates were in employment compared with only 42% of disabled non-graduates. Yet disabled young people are less likely to go on to higher education than their non-disabled peers: in 2009-10, it was 33% of disabled as against 41% of non-disabled young people aged 19.
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Transitional support between school and university takes a variety of forms. Many examples have been given to me but I will instance just three of the more important ones. The first form is comprehensive, impartial and quality-assured careers guidance from at least year 9, to enable young people to make an informed
choice of course and university. Secondly, there is help with accessing financial support and practical help through the application process, because take-up of disabled students allowance and disclosure of disability is not as high as it should be and there is robust evidence that disabled students with that allowance achieve better than those without. Thirdly, there is support to access the full range of adjustments available in higher education, which may well be different from those appropriate at school level but have to be in place at the start of the young person’s course.
The local authority needs to provide a care package away from home at university, as well as in the home area in vacations. Students are still prevented from going to university because their care package is not portable during their studies. Disabled students allowance does not cover care costs, whereas adult social care does. In recent research by Trailblazers, 30% of young disabled people said that they felt limited in choice of university because of concerns about securing their care package, and three-quarters stated that organising care from their local authority was not easy or straightforward.
Any reduction in support compared with current statutory guidance on learning difficulty assessments would mean a loss of rights and protections, which the Minister has rightly said that nobody should experience as a result of the Bill. I therefore believe that this amendment would help enormously in ensuring all the transitional support that disabled young people need to get from school to university and which is clearly so important in enabling them to achieve at university, when going to university is so important in enabling disabled young people to achieve in life. In view of all these things, it would be particularly helpful if higher education institutions were added to the list of institutions covered by this provision and particularly unfortunate if they were not.