Working with young people aged 16-25: part 1

More than a decade ago, in a special issue of Educational and Child Psychology titled ‘Post-school’ psychological services’, guest editors MacKay and Hellier (2009) described their excitement at presenting papers focused on a ‘new field of practice’ (p.5). Within this issue, it was very much the case of Scotland leading the way, with seven of the eight papers detailing practice which had arisen from the provision of funding for Scottish post-school psychological services. Issues raised included: the knowledge and experience gaps educational psychologists (EPs) might experience in working with the older age group; supporting student at post-school transition; the important of effective information gathering and sharing; supporting vulnerable students; and interfacing with post-school providers and adult services. Fast forward to 2020, and the context has changed markedly, following assent of the United Kingdom Children and Families Act in 2014 and the subsequent code of practice (Department for Education and Department of Health, 2015), which extended statutory protection for young people up to the age of 25 via education, health and care plans. Atkinson et al. (2015, p.159) described the need for EPs to incorporate working with young people up to the age of 25 as ‘one of the most significant developments the profession has ever experienced’, highlighting the challenges for a profession potentially unfamiliar with working within post-16 contexts. Atkinson et al. (2015) proposed a competency framework based on using Delphi technique approaches with an EP expert reference group, encompassing six areas of practice: context, legislation, assessment, intervention and outcomes, development and transition. Although perhaps one area which the study overlooked was student voice (Kennedy, 2015). Recent research (Giles & Rowley, 2019) has brought this area to life, using participatory research through production and evaluation of a film made by young people to inform EPs about how EPs might work effectively with them.