Transition meetings
When your child is moving from one stage of their life to another, for example leaving education to start work, it’s called ‘transition’. When your child is 13 or 14, and if they have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan, statement or additional support needs (ASN), their school or local authority may hold a transition plan meeting.
This meeting is the first step to planning and preparing for your child’s future and will help to ensure that they make a successful move into further education, training or employment.
Note: A new system for supporting children and young people with additional learning needs in Wales is being implemented from 1st September 2021. In time, all current support plans (including Statements, IEPs and LSPs) will be replaced with Individual Development Plans (IDPs).
Find out more about the changes in Wales on our page Additional learning needs (ALN) in Wales. We will update the website with more information on the new system in Wales shortly, in the meantime see Written Statement: Additional Learning Needs and Educational Tribunal Act 2018 Implementation.
Transition meetings
Transition meetings are where you, your child and their teacher or careers adviser all sit down together to talk about your child’s plans for the future. Sometimes it’s called an ‘annual review’, and this is because transition planning is required as part of the annual review of statements of special educational needs (SEN), Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans and Coordinated Support Plans (CSPS) from age 13 or 14 onwards.
Not all deaf young people have transition meetings, but they should get the chance to talk to a careers adviser or teacher at school or college about what they want to do in the future.
Please note, in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the rights your child has and the arrangements for transition are different to each other.
Preparing for the transition meeting
You should encourage your child to prepare for their transition meeting so they get more out of it. Ask them to have a think about what they might like to do in the future – if you and your child’s teacher have an idea of what their aspirations are, it makes it easier to support them!
Deaf people do all sorts of jobs, and there are only a small number of jobs they aren’t allowed to do because being able to hear is important for safety reasons. With the right support and skills, most jobs will be open to your child so encourage them to aim high!
It might help to go through some questions together that might come up in the transition meeting, for example:
- What subjects are you best at?
- What options are available to you when you’re 16/18 (college, staying at school, apprenticeships etc.)?
- Are there any jobs you'd like to do in the future? Why would you like to do them?
- Do you know what qualifications you need to do a particular job?
For more helpful information for deaf young people thinking about their future, please see our advice and guidance to help deaf young people understand support at school and the different options for their future.
Questions to ask at the transition meeting
Your child may have questions about planning for their future. You could talk about this together and then encourage them to write some down and bring them to the meeting to ask the teacher or careers adviser. For example:
- What support can I get at local colleges, university or on an apprenticeship (e.g. note-taker or a communication support worker)?
- What support is available to help me find a job?
- What do I need to do when I turn 18 to transfer to adult audiology services?
What to do if your child is unhappy with the support they’ve received during their transition
Sometimes young people receive poor advice and not enough time is spent talking with them about their transition. For example, their options might not be properly explained to them. If your child is unhappy with the support they’ve received they can complain to a teacher they trust or use their school/college’s complaint system.
If you would like to make a complaint on your child’s behalf, see the relevant page for more information: