Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made of post-education destinations of deaf young people.

We want all children and young people, no matter what their special education need or disability, to be able to reach their full potential and receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The SEND Code of Practice explicitly states that all children and young people with SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) should be prepared for adulthood, including higher education and employment, and that this preparation should start early.

The latest available data shows that, when compared to all pupils, pupils finishing key stage 4 who have an identified hearing impairment were similarly likely to have a sustained education, employment or apprenticeship destination (both at 94% for the 2016/17 cohort). The majority (88%) stayed in education, 3% went to apprenticeships and 3% had an employment destination. Overall, outcomes for this group of students have remained stable for the last 3 years for which data is available (the 2014/15 to 2016/17 key stage 4 cohorts).

Destination data for learners aged 16 to 18 is published with a SEND/non-SEND breakdown, but data is not broken down by type of need for this age group.

We are currently exploring the possibility of launching a large-scale longitudinal study of children and young people with SEND in England, which would allow us to gather evidence on progress and long-term outcomes for these pupils, including on preparation for adulthood. The initial intensive research activity for this work is currently underway and will provide methodological recommendations on how this work could be progressed.