What preparing for adulthood means

You become an adult when you turn 18.

Preparing for adulthood means planning for your future as an adult.

When to start planning

It’s never too early to think about what you want to do in adult life. You can start planning when you start secondary school, but you can think about it earlier than this too.

If you have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), your annual reviews from Year 9 onwards should focus on preparing you for adulthood. You can talk about it at earlier annual reviews too.

What to think about

Preparing for adulthood involves 4 main areas:

Education and work

Your next steps after Year 11, such as college, training and getting a job.

Find out more about:

• Education options once you are 16 and over
• Work, training and volunteering

Independent living

Thinking about where you want to live, and what support or skills you might need to help you be independent.

Find out more about:

• Housing options
• Help to travel on your own
• Moving to adult social care

Community and social activities

How you want to spend your free time, and how to find activities or groups you enjoy.

Browse clubs on the Local Offer Directory.

Staying healthy and well

Looking after your physical and mental health, and knowing who can help.

Find out more about:

• Help to stay healthy and well
• Moving from children's health services to adult health services

Get help or ask a question

If you need help to find information, use the online SEND Local Offer contact form

More information

For young people

Read our Preparing for adulthood easy read guide for young people (PDF document).

For parents and carers

Read our Preparing for adulthood information guide for parents and carers (PDF document).

For service providers

The National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi) has developed a range of resources and tools to help with preparing for adulthood.