Year 9 specialist school or college
Specialist school or colleges give young people the option to gain skills to help in adult life. You can learn general, life and employability skills. You can also take part in vocational subjects.
As well as the skills to help you in later life, you may be able to complete GCSE courses available at your mainstream school.
Find a specialist education setting
Life skills
Life skills can help you with day to day tasks to help you to live independently. For example, this includes housekeeping and banking.
Employability skills
Employability skills help you to develop skills that you will need to have a job in the future.
The skills you develop can help you to adapt to a work environment. You can learn communication skills and how to work with different people.
General skills
General skills help you to focus on building life skills for your future. These skills are taught in subjects such as English and maths.
Vocational subjects
Advice and support
Chris, who works for CXK (an organisation dedicated to transforming the lives of young adults across Kent), has created a short video with lots of useful tips to let you know the differences between specialist schools and colleges.
Annual reviews
If you have an education, health and care (EHC) plan, you will have an annual review at least once a year. Your current education setting will ask you about what you want to do in the future.
To help you to answer this question, support will be available to you via an independent careers advisor. They will discuss with you your dreams and what life you may want to lead in the future.
If you are not sure what's available, you should speak to your education setting to find out more. You can also visit the CXK website to help you think about your future.