In July 2021, the Government set out its vision for autistic children and young people in the National Strategy, and this included the following:

• a special educational needs and disability (SEND) system that enables autistic students to access better and more inclusive support so that they are better able to achieve their potential.
• more teachers and educational staff to understand the specific needs of their autistic students.

With this in mind, this new guide - Improving autism practice in college to support placement sustainability and to avoid escalation of need – intends to address these intentions and improve good autism practice in colleges. Education professionals are encouraged to use this guide to help to minimise exclusion and school removal.

Guide contents:

• Introduction
• What is autism?
• Avoiding escalation of need - Assessing, planning and meeting autistic students’ needs
• Transition from school to college
  • Expectations of colleges to assess need, plan and provide support for young people with special educational needs (SEN)
  • Reasonable adjustments
  • The disadvantages which an autistic student might suffer due to the difficulties they face and the reasonable adjustments that might avoid those disadvantages

• Avoiding escalation of need – alternatives to applying college disciplinary procedures
  • The Public Sector Equality Duty
  • Behaviour
  • Attendance and academic engagement
• Conclusion
• Useful resources