Post-16 Support for Disabled & Neurodivergent Young People
What happens after 16 for young people with SEND?
Often, nothing. The cliff-edge drop in support after 16 leaves many isolated, anxious, and without options. Post-16 education is rarely inclusive, job training is minimal, and transitions to adulthood are unsupported. Families are left scrambling to fill the gaps... if they can.
Why does everything fall apart after 16?
Because much of the existing SEND framework is built around school-age provision. Once education ends, many services disappear and there's no legal obligation for councils to provide adequate alternatives. This leaves thousands of young people in limbo, with families scrambling to find suitable college placements, job training, or day services.
Isn’t there a legal duty to support them?
There is, but it’s limited and often poorly enforced. EHCPs (Education, Health and Care Plans) can extend up to age 25, but many are cut short early. Social care assessments are inconsistent, and adult mental health or employment support isn’t tailored to neurodivergent needs. Many fall through the cracks.
What are the consequences of this drop-off?
Mental health crises, isolation, stalled development, and financial stress for families. Young people who once had structure and support are suddenly left without purpose or direction. This can have devastating long-term effects not just for them, but for everyone else.
Because when we are failed by the system, the cost ripples out: local economies suffer, government budgets strain, and taxpayers foot the bill through increased benefits and crisis services.
What are families supposed to do?
Many families are forced to self-fund therapies, day programs, or private mentoring (if they can afford to!). Others reduce work hours or leave employment altogether to care full-time, often with no financial recognition or backup. In reality, the responsibility shifts from the state to the family overnight.
Parents become full-time case managers, advocates, and carers, all while their young person’s needs grow more complex. Charities try to fill the gap but they’re overstretched, underfunded, and never meant to replace a national system. There’s no safety net... Just families in free fall, hoping someone, somewhere, might catch them.
Quick Stats
✦ Only 22% of autistic adults are in any kind of paid employment and just 16% work full-time. This gap isn’t about ability; it’s about opportunity, inaccessible systems, and a world not prepared or inclined to help. Source: National Autistic Society (NAS), 2022
✦ Less than 50% of disabled young people transitioning to adulthood receive support through adult social care services. Source: National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi), 2023
✦ Over 60% of EHCPs are ceased by the age of 19, often without adequate transition plans in place. Source: Ambitious About Autism, 2023
What YOU can do to call for change:
Write Your MP
When children are failed by the system, the cost ripples out: local economies suffer, government budgets strain, and taxpayers foot the bill through increased benefits and crisis services.
If MPs don’t hear from constituents, they assume the system is working.
Writing to your MP puts post-16 SEND failure on their radar and reminds them these young people don’t disappear after school ends. Your voice helps drive debate, funding, and future reform. One letter definitely won’t fix it. But a thousand will be hard to ignore. Here's a template to get you started.
Support organisations leading the fight for post-16 inclusion
Groups like Ambitious About Autism, NDTi (National Development Team for Inclusion), and Contact are doing the work our systems should be doing: researching the gaps, supporting families, lobbying for change, and creating pathways to education, work, and independence. These organisations are pushing for real reform, not just awareness days. Whether you donate, share their work, or use their resources- your support helps amplify the pressure for long-overdue systemic change.
Use your voice (or your art)
Every story shared chips away at the silence. Speak out about your experience, tag your local council or MP, and shine a light on what’s being ignored. When enough of us raise our voices, the system can’t pretend we don’t exist. Visibility is power. Your truth could be the push someone else needs to act.
Why this matters to NotFine.Art
We created NotFine.Art because too many of us are left to fall through the cracks; unheard, unseen, unsupported. But your story matters. If you’ve been failed by the post-16 system, let your art speak. Express it. Share it. You’re not alone. Your voice is part of the fight for change.