Evaluation of the ‘Finished at School Programme’ for Ambitious about Autism, 2013-2015 : interim report

Ambitious about Autism (www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk) is a national charity for children and young people with autism. It provides services, raises awareness and understanding, and campaigns for change. Its vision is, ‘to make the ordinary possible for children and young people with autism’ and its mission is, ‘to help them to learn, thrive and achieve’. Ambitious about Autism, with its partners, nasen and the Association of Colleges, was commissioned by the Department for Education (DfE) to run the ‘Finished at School programme’ from April 2013 until March 2015. The programme plan involved four college hubs, each working with three partner secondary schools, supporting around 110 young people with autism to make a successful transition to post-school education. The aim of the programme is to prepare the general further education sector for the new responsibilities enshrined in the Children and Families Act, 2014. The programme also builds on Ambitious about Autism’s campaign, ‘Finished at School’, for more and better post-school educational options for young people with autism. The context of the campaign is that only about one in four young people with autism continue their education beyond school1 . This interim report provides an early indication of how the project has developed to early March 2014. A final report will be produced in spring 2015