Preparing for adulthood without a service cliff edge

Step by step

1. Start at Year 9 and keep reviewing

   From Year 9, EHC plan reviews should focus on preparing for adulthood. Start earlier where useful and continue reviewing after every material change. Put the young person's aspirations, communication and decision-making support at the centre.

2. Plan across the four statutory outcome areas

   Set outcomes for education or employment, independent living, friends and community participation, and good health. Add money, transport, relationships, safety and decision-making where they affect those outcomes. Name provision, owner and review date for each action.

3. Give every transition action an owner

   Use one shared tracker showing what must happen, who leads, who funds or commissions, consent or information-sharing needs, deadline and fallback. A meeting without named actions is not a transition plan.

4. Prepare at 16 for benefits and decision-making

   Check DLA-to-PIP arrangements, bank and benefit contact details, appointeeship only where needed, and support for the young person to understand and make decisions. The Mental Capacity Act starts at 16; capacity is decision-specific and support must come first.

5. Build a formal health handover

   Ask each children's team for the adult destination, referral criteria, named lead, joint appointment, medicines, equipment, reasonable adjustments, emergency plan and fallback if no adult service accepts. Transition should include formal transfer and support until the young person is established in adult care.

6. Request social care transition assessment early

   Where adult care and support may be needed, ask children's and adult social care when transition assessment will begin and who owns it. Children's support should not simply stop at 18 while adult needs and arrangements remain unresolved.

7. Ask about continuing care and NHS continuing healthcare

   For young people with complex health needs, ask the current team and ICB about transition from children's continuing care. NHS England says an initial NHS Continuing Healthcare screening should happen at 16 where appropriate, with planning early enough to avoid a funding or care gap.

8. Plan post-16 education and EHC support

   Compare college, supported learning, apprenticeship, supported internship and specialist options early. An EHC plan does not automatically continue to 25; it continues while education or training remains necessary and the legal test is met. Secure the actual provision, not only a destination name.

9. Compare housing before a crisis

   Explore staying at home with support, supported living, Shared Lives, residential care and other local options. Record what support, tenancy or care arrangement, overnight cover, compatibility, accessibility and funding each option would require.

10. Build a route into work

    Use strengths, work experience, vocational profiling and supported-employment options. Ask about Access to Work when a job, apprenticeship, work trial or eligible placement is identified. Do not leave employment planning until education ends.

11. Plan transport and community life

    Check travel training, school or post-16 transport, mobility benefits, companion support, community activities, friendships and safe access. Different transport teams and funding rules may apply after 16, 18 or a change of institution.

12. Write a contingency for services with no adult equivalent

    Ask what happens if the adult service has different criteria, a waiting list or no direct equivalent. Record who monitors risk, who supplies interim support, how equipment and medicines continue, and who makes the final funding decision.

13. Do not accept an unsupported birthday discharge

    Current NHS transition guidance says services and funding should not be withdrawn unilaterally without joint assessment and alternatives. Ask for the decision, risk assessment, receiving service, transfer record and contingency in writing. Escalate early where essential support may stop.

14. Review the whole adulthood plan every year

    Use a short checklist covering education or work, health, care, housing, money, transport, relationships, community, communication and decision-making. Record progress, gaps, changing wishes and the next named action. This guide is information, not legal, clinical or financial advice.