The Bill, published last week, will require councils to carry out an assessment at some point during the young person's final year at school.
Amanda Allard, head of policy and public affairs at autism charity TreeHouse, welcomed the focus on post-16 education but said the government should introduce sanctions against providers of 16 to 18 education if appropriate opportunities are not made available for young people with special needs.
"In the current education system there are many barriers faced by young people with special educational needs (SEN) and their families in getting support for learning and ensuring that meaningful learning is taking place," she said. "We want to see more information on how young people with SEN will be supported, funded and effectively engaged with post-16 education."
The Bill also requires all secondary schools to give careers information in an impartial manner and to provide careers advice that is in the best interests of pupils.
John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "Effective careers guidance is key to helping young people make the right choices and the recognition of this is welcome. However, if schools and colleges are to have a duty to provide impartial careers advice, they must also have the authority to decide how this is done."
With the education leaving age set to rise to 18, the Bill sets out an explicit duty for the Learning and Skills Council to provide apprenticeships for 16- to 18-year-olds.
Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, agreed with the move to expand apprenticeships but said it was vital that employers provided proper training.
The Bill has been broadly welcomed by teachers' unions, but reservations persist about proposals to sanction, and even criminalise, young people who do not stay on in education or training until the age of 18 as proposed.
- www.cypnow.co.uk/doc.
