Resources and Sign Posting for College, University or Work
Our lived experience, advice and Appeer's offer for Post 16
At Appeer we support autistic girls and women by providing them with access to a peer group from ages 7-35 years. Once you are 16 you can join our Monthly Teen Group for 16-18 year olds and/or apply to take part in our Teens Exploring Work Programme. You can still join in our Minecraft and our Ad Hoc Activities until you are 18 or 19 years old. Once you are 18/19 years old you can join our Young Women's Support Group which meets monthly. Click the images below to find out more about each Group.
Starting work and support while you are at work.
Surrey Care Trust run a number of programmes which may help you when you are 16+
"Steps2Work Wellbeing" is a comprehensive mental health and wellbeing scheme catering to individuals of employment age (16+) who may face barriers to accessing employment, education, volunteering, or training.
Surrey Care Trust's Steps2Work programme is a unique service designed to help people living with a variety of struggles that affect their ability to find and keep in employment.
Based in their Woking, Reigate, and Stanwell hubs the teams of experienced staff and trained volunteers can help you build the confidence and skills needed to take up employment opportunities.
Surrey Care Trust offers a free service for 16 to 25 year-olds.
If you or someone you know needs counselling, please call or text 07885 969 774.
Multiply is a new government-funded programme to help people 19 years or over and who don’t have maths GCSE at grade C (or equivalent) to gain free numeracy support to build confidence with numbers and even gain a qualification.
Surrey Care Trust help to deliver Multiply opportunities to young adults or parents at their Stanwell Family Centre, and through their Steps 2 Work training courses for people struggling with employment
ASM partner with, and empower, neurodivergent people in employment, and in finding work. They work with neurodivergent adults, employers, organisations and charities, offering a strengths-based, holistic approach when working together. They offer a range of services for both individuals and employers, including 1:1 services, training and consultancy, and group events.
Surrey Local Offer website has pages which give information about moving from school to college or further training, as well as information about colleges and other post-16 education providers in Surrey. The Preparing for Adulthood booklet also has useful information about education and training options for young people with additional needs.
Surrey Choices provide a range of support services which are dedicated to improving the independence, confidence and life skills of disabled people, autistic people and those with other support needs, what ever their age, in the local community. This includes supported internships.
E|D|G|E, we bridge the gap between aspirations and achievements for individuals with disabilities, focusing on career growth. They offer help with life skills, work tasters, work experience and supported employment.
Colleges and 6th Forms
Here are some links to local colleges and 6th forms. Appeer do not recommend one over another, however, we have heard from parents and carers that Farnham College is small and nurturing and Woking College is good for SEND. If you know you like the routine of a school day then perhaps a school 6th form would work better for you. This list is, of course, just a small selection of what is available but we hope it will give you an idea of what is on offer. We have included both state and private school 6th forms which we have heard from our community are inclusive. (Some private schools will take EHCP funding as payment for fees but you will need to contact your LA case officer to enquire if this is possible).
Remember if you don't have GCSE's and/or have been out of school for most of your secondary years this is not a barrier to going on to post-16 college. Many colleges offer what is known as Level 2 courses which are the equivalent of GCSE level which you can take post-16 for one year to gain enough grades to go on to Level 3 "A" Level, BTEC or CTEC courses. Doing a year of Level 2 courses is a good way to consolidate your learning and also get used to college life in a less pressurised way. Many 6th form colleges also offer higher education course (university level) so if you know that transition is difficult for you it might be practical to select a college where you can do level 2, 3 and a higher education degree all in one place.
Natspec is a membership association for organisations which offer specialist provision for students with learning difficulties and disabilities. Take a look here if you think you need specialist Post-16 arrangements.
University
Click the image above to find out more about the Disabled Student Allowance or DSA
