The government’s Preparation for Adulthood Arrangements review (Dec 2024) shines a spotlight on how well (or badly) local systems support young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) as they move from childhood into adult life. The findings reveal persistent gaps and risks, as well as clear opportunities. As an independent assessment provider, AACA is uniquely placed to help bridge these gaps.
Key Findings from the Review
The report highlights several recurring themes across local partnerships that significantly affect how well young people with SEND are prepared for adulthood.
Inconsistent Transition Planning:
Many young people and their families said that planning for adulthood does not begin early enough. Support often drops off when EHC (Education, Health and Care) Plans cease, or services end abruptly around age 18.
Disparities in Access:
Those with full EHC plans tend to get more consistent support; young people with SEN without such plans often miss out. Mainstream schools and colleges frequently provide weaker or more generalised careers education, advice and guidance.
Lack of “All-Age” Health Services:
In many areas, mental health or therapy services end just as someone turns 18, or adult services are not designed to take over smoothly. Young people often wait to access adult health or social services even when their needs are known.
Barriers in Independent Living and Community Inclusion:
Gaps in availability of supported living, independent living skills, aids or equipment, and insufficient community activities limit young people’s ability to live as independently as possible. Rural areas or places with less funding are particularly affected.
Carers, Information & Co-production:
Parents, carers, and young people report that they are not always sufficiently engaged in planning and decision-making. Information-sharing and clarity about what comes next are uneven.
What This Means for Adult Social Care & Assessments
These findings have direct implications for the type of assessments local authorities, health services, and courts require, especially when it comes to transitions, carers, and meeting people’s needs in adult life.
Early, Full-Scoping Needs Assessments
It is increasingly clear that assessments should start well before 18. They must capture health, emotional, educational, social, and independence needs, not just statutory eligibility.
Bridged and Seamless Transitions
Young people with known needs, such as neurodevelopmental conditions, cannot afford the cliff-edge where services end abruptly. Transitions need to be assessed, planned, and implemented in a coordinated way across children’s and adult services.
Carers’ Assessments & Support
Many young people depend heavily on family, kinship or foster carers. The gaps in services affect not just the young person but everyone supporting them. Assessments must include carers: their capacity, their burdens, and what support they need.
Holistic & Independent Evidence
Because of inconsistent service provision, needs around health, employment, independent living or mental health are often under-evidenced in mainstream settings. Independent assessments with multidisciplinary input are essential to ensure these needs are fully documented and argued in commissioning or legal settings.
How AACA Aligns and How We Can Fill the Gaps
We believe in assessments that are person-centred, strengths-based, and anticipate the future as well as the present. Based on the review’s findings, here’s how our services map to what’s needed and how we can help local authorities, health trusts, courts and young people.
Transition Assessments that Begin Early:
We support young people in preparing for adult life by providing assessments that are designed to take effect well before the 18th birthday. Our assessment frameworks consider education, health, and employment aspirations, not just present needs.
Holistic Evaluations of Need:
Whether it’s in neurodevelopmental diagnosis (ADHD / Autism), mental health, or capacity and ability to live independently, our multidisciplinary panel (social workers, psychologists, therapists) ensures a complete picture is drawn.
Supporting Carers and Families:
Our assessments include the perspectives of carers and families, their capacity, the supports they require, and how they can be best enabled to assist without burnout or neglect.
Evidence that Holds Up in Inspection or Court:
With every assessment, we apply a rigorous quality assurance process. We document needs clearly, set out proportionate recommendations, and ensure all evidence is legally cognisable, critical given CQC and Ofsted’s focus on transitions and SEND.
What Local Areas Should Do Next
From what the thematic review reveals, there are several steps that Local Authorities and partner organisations should prioritise, and where independent assessment providers like ourselves can make a difference.
Embed transition planning into EHC plans at age 14+ so young people have clarity much earlier.
Develop joint commissioning between children’s services, adult health, and education for “all-age” services or flexible handover.
Increase timely access to mental health and neurodevelopmental assessment ahead of adulthood, to avoid long waits and service drop-off.
Ensure carers’ assessments are routinely part of planning for young people with SEND.
Invest in supported living, community inclusion, and independent living skills, particularly in underserved areas.
Conclusion
The Preparation for Adulthood review is a wake-up call. For many young people with SEND, turning 18 is often a point at which support ends, rather than evolves. But it doesn’t have to be that way. With well-timed, holistic, and independent assessments, we can help make adulthood a bridge, not a cliff edge.
At AACA, we’re ready to partner with councils, health systems and families to ensure all young people receive the full scope of preparation for adulthood, not just in policy, but in practice.