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Year 9 annual reviews

When your child starts Year 9, they will be encouraged with you and professionals to plan for their future through their annual review.

The annual review will outline the support required for their future and to identify what actions should be taken and by who. Your child's education setting must co-operate to help shape your child's education health and care (EHC) plan and to help define your child's life outcomes after they turn 16.

Who will be invited

The annual review meeting allows you and professionals to help support your child to plan their future. Those who can attend are:

  • your child
  • you (parents or carers)
  • a social worker
  • health professionals supporting your child
  • a member of staff from your child's school and anyone else you or the headteacher feels is appropriate, must be invited to the meeting
  • a representative from the local authority (they must be invited, but they will not be able to attend every annual review meeting).

What will happen

As part of their annual review, a transition plan will be drawn up to support your child, where key topics will be discussed including:

  • community inclusion
  • employment
  • health
  • independent living
  • their aspirations
  • their ambitions
  • adulthood in general.

It must also support them to:

  • undertake work experience in a meaningful setting
  • find a job
  • understand benefits
  • participate and maintain relationships in the community, including support with activities in the community
  • find suitable pathways that lead to outcomes for:
  • prepare for independent living
  • plan continuing health services from children to adult services and helping young people understand which health professional may work with them as adults; ensuring those professionals understand the young person’s needs. This should include, the production of a health action plan and prompts for annual health checks for young people with learning disabilities using the Ready Steady Go tools.

Year 9 annual reviews should be person-centred, where the reviews should consider what is working, what is not working well and what is important to the young person and what is important for the young person as they progress towards adult life.

Any transition planning must be built into your child's revised EHC plan and should result in clear outcomes being agreed that are ambitious and will support and prepare your child for adulthood.

To read more in detail of these topics visit the Preparing for Adulthood website.

Further support

For additional support and advice about how to prepare for adulthood, you can: