The UK’s FE and skills landscape

Further Education (FE) & skills providers train and educate 2.5 million learners every year in the UK, providing young people with the vital, transferrable workplace skills that keep the country ticking. Their importance can’t be understated: last year’s Ofsted Annual Report rightly calls skills training the ‘engine of the economy’ – but what happens when the pathways in and out of FE are subject to access issues?

The report highlights that young people with SEN need support to take advantage of good opportunities that will help them find meaningful qualifications and long-term employment. But the transition from a school environment to a post-16 destination is a critical juncture where many learners feel that they’re leaving the safety of education, and moving into the unfamiliar environments of higher study, training and work. Pre-established in-school supports may need to be re-arranged as reasonable adjustments, else may have to change in form as demand changes from academic to practical – and that’s if learners find they have an accessible pathway into FE to begin with.

But reading pens are the simplest, most versatile and most effective way to improve access to FE and have a proven track record in ensuring that SEN learners can thrive when they get there. Here’s how:

First, we need to talk about SEN students’ participation in FE.

Learners with special educational needs are extremely underrepresented in FE. In 2022, just 18% of young people with disabilities and learning disabilities participated in FE or skills training schemesacross both mainstream FE settings and SEN specialist FE colleges. 

There are several influencing factors: some learners with SEN struggle to meet FE entry requirements, especially those without support. Others prefer to enter the workforce directly, avoiding further time spent in learning settings that they may have found restrictive, inaccessible or even embarrassing.

Additionally, mental health challenges like anxiety and low self-esteem can affect their readiness for further study and resilience to re-enter learning. We know that SEN learners are at the heart of the student mental health epidemic – anxiety affects 55% of children and young people with SEN compared to 34% of children and young people without.  

💡↪️ So, there are clearly access issues when it comes to SEN and FE, many of which revolve around opening the door and keeping it open: grades, how learners feel in the classroom, and how equipped they are to deal with challenges.

...We’ll come back to those points later.

Learning on the edge of NEET status

We’re unlikely to get far through an exploration of young people, SEN and access to FE without discussing NEET status. NEET status is the term that the government uses to describe learners who are Not in Employment, Education or Training.

Young people with special educational needs are 25% less likely to be in sustained employment than their peers at the age of 27 than their peers, and they’re more likely to become long-term NEET.

Literacy is the foundational element of access to FE

Even when learners choose more practical or vocational pathways, there’s still a strong expectation of literacy. Many of these courses still have set reading materials and written examinations, and most require a high degree of digital confidence – apprenticeship coordinators, line managers, and skills trainers need learners to be able to take in information in a functional way.

So when literacy skills don’t measure up, access to FE and success in FE becomes limited.

As students leave compulsory education, many will leave behind the reading and learning supports that they’ve been using in school, and transition into FE alongside the need to renew those support systems or re-access them in the form of reasonable adjustments. That gets complicated when the in-school reading support they’ve been using up to this point comes in the form of a human reader, or learning support assistants – the practical elements of most vocational courses make them difficult environments for these support systems to function in, and the recurring salary requirement can be prohibitive. 

💡↪️So we have another strand of access issues to consider: logistics, and cost.

But stronger SEN readers can struggle with access to FE too…

There is another subset of learners to consider here: those who have mild undiagnosed or unsupported reading needs like dyslexia, who haven’t been accessing support in school. The step up into reading-heavy FE courses like A-Levels may have meant that reading requirements get more intense and texts more complex, and a previous ability to piece things together and manage may begin to come up short.

Accessing support technologies for the first time in late teens can be an emotional transitional time for students, as many can find the ‘sudden’ need for reading support embarrassing. Starting an FE course is often marked by moving to a new institution, with new peer groups and new social relationships to navigate, and many older learners feel that reading support that comes in the form of a human reader or necessitating constant laptop use makes them very visible to their classmates.

This is one of the most prevalent reasons why older learners abandon reading support: it feels like it ‘spotlights’ them, and draws attention to their challenges, even if without it, their access to FE becomes compromised. 

💡↪️And that fact gives us a third consideration when it comes to facilitating access to FE: discretion. Because if students find themselves refusing to use the support they’ve been allocated, then the end results are the same as not having had access to it in the first place.

So break down the barrier, and boost access to FE with reading support that goes the distance!

We categorised the core student challenges that impact access to FE into three main groups: grades, how they feel in the classroom, and how equipped they are to deal with challenges. If we broaden the net, another two major factors become visible: cost and human reader logistics, and the issue of visibility and the need for discretion.

Support that covers all of those bases is difficult to find. But that’s why C-Pen Reader 3 is so special: it’s been created by the reading pen experts at C-Pen using the feedback of real educators, who work with learners with accessibility needs every day. It’s a text-to-speech reading pen designed for the challenges that come with studying with SEN, whether that’s confidence, comprehension, or just the need for discretion – and it’s being used all over the world to support learners of all ages in achieving their academic goals.

How does C-Pen Reader 3 boost access to FE?

It’s genuinely as simple as scan, listen, and understand.

✅ Improve grades and reading skills!

When students study for their GCSEs with dependable reading support, comprehension becomes easier, confidence soars, skills develop faster, and understanding gets a boost.

✅ Help students stay calm and confident

Built-in tools like practice mode, scan-to-file functionality and customisable playback help C-Pen Reader 3 create a strong, flexible safety net for learners who encounter a task that triggers anxiety or low belief in their capabilities.

✅ Reassure them they’re up to the challenge

The transition from school to FE can feel daunting, and there can be an intense step up in expectation. With the pen in their hand, students know they can tackle whatever lands on their desk (and their ability to self-support frees up educator bandwidth, too).

✅ Keep things cost-effective and easy to organise

Reading needs diagnoses are at a high, and so are support costs— it’s becoming more difficult for colleges to fund enough support professionals. But Reader 3 is portable, rechargeable, and comes in at a fraction (usually well under 5%) of a single salary cost!

✅ Give them the option to be discreet

Reader 3 has a USB-C headphone jack, to make use as discreet as possible if learners don’t want to go public about their reading needs yet.

Improving access to FE is vital if learners with special educational needs are to access meaningful, fulfilling working futures. All too often we see people who learn and think differently fall into NEET status when they have incredible academic, creative and practical capabilities, and all they’re lacking is the confidence and support to open the door.

But with C-Pen Reader 3, we can change all that for the better, and create a post-16 landscape where everybody has the ability and the self-belief to succeed.

💡↪️ You can find out more about C-Pen Reader 3

at its home at Scanning Pens.  

Or claim your FREE educator trial today!

And we’re a chatty bunch. If you want to speak to one of our reading support experts about supporting the reading needs in your Trust, school or classroom, we’re always happy to explore in-depth solutions for your setting!

📧 Drop us a line: ukinfo@scanningpens.com 

☎️ Give us a call: +44 (0) 207 976 4910