Post-16 Professional Development Programme

Review the latest statistics and figures from the UK Government to discover why the AET Professional Development Programme is needed.

The AET Professional Development Programme, supported by the Department for Education, offers nationally delivered face-to-face or virtual training for professionals working with Autistic children and young people up to the age of 25. 

The training uses a range of teaching methods to form an essential part of your continued professional development:

Post 16 Making Sense of Autism

For everyone involved in the Post-16 sector who would benefit from having an understanding of autism. This includes teaching and support staff, office staff, caterers, transport staff, governors, employers and careers advisers.

Post 16 Good Autism Practice

This module is for practitioners and staff working in a range of Post-16 settings, including General Colleges of Further Education, Independent Specialist Providers, Mainstream and Special Schools with Post-16 provision, Sixth Form Colleges, Work Based Learning Providers and Adult and Community Learning Providers.

Progression Framework

This training module will introduce the Progression Framework and accompanying documents and show you how to use the framework to identify key learning intentions.

Suite of Resources for Leaders

This suite of resources will support leaders or leadership teams to create culture change across their provision. The resources will support leaders to fully embed the 8 principles of good autism practice as outlined in the Good Autism Practice Report.

Topic-Based Modules

The AET have developed a number of topic-based modules...

• Anxiety Module 

This module on autism and anxiety will provide delegates with an understanding of what we mean by anxiety, how it appears in autistic children and young people (CYP), what the key triggers are, and what teaching staff can do to support autistic children and young people.

• Transition to Employment Module

This module looks specifically at the section for employers and provides editable templates such as a One Page Profile and Traveling to the Interview and Workplace. You will learn about the strengths, talents and skillsets of autistic people. The module also covers interview and selection practices and reasonable adjustments that can be beneficial for autistic people seeking employment. 

Post-16 Autism Competency Framework

The framework is presented as a self-evaluation tool that practitioners can use to rate their current practice and understanding against a set of descriptors (knowledge, skills, personal qualities). Feedback should inform practitioners’ professional development plans and content of any future training.

Post-16 Autism Standards

A set of standards from the AET, to enable educational settings to evaluate your practice in addressing the needs of autistic young people.

Progression Framework

A comprehensive interactive assessment tool for autistic children and young people in mainstream and specialist settings. Designed to support staff in identifying learning priorities and measuring progress in areas that fall outside the national curriculum.

Post-16 Good Autism Practice Guidance 

These three linked resources present the evidence for, and define and illustrate, eight principles of good autism practice to help education practitioners understand autism and develop effective provision in educational settings.

Transition to employment toolkit

The resources will help employers to develop their awareness and understanding of autism. They will support the hiring and retaining of talented autistic young people.