On 18 June 2026 we hosted a meeting to update parents and carers on developments relating to the transition of young people to Post-16 training or education, since the previous meeting in December 2025. We’re grateful to everyone who attended and offered constructive feedback, and have provided a summary of the points covered below.
Summary of discussions at the Post-16 Meeting on 18 June 2026
Following an introduction by Cllr Joel Williams, Chairman of the Council of the Isles of Scilly and Lead Member for Children, officers set out the Council’s ongoing advocacy for additional funding and greater recognition of the specific educational challenges facing families and young people on the Isles of Scilly. This included recent engagement with Ministers and representatives from the Department for Education (DfE), which have ensured that our concerns are being heard at the highest level.
Attendees were also updated on work undertaken to strengthen contingency arrangements for learners when travelling from the mainland, as well as plans to ensure that access to appropriate overnight accommodation, with adult chaperone support, is available to young people when required.
Our mainland-based Post-16 Transition Support Worker, Lucy Humphries attended the meeting in person to talk about her role. She described how she helps to identify host families and explained her ongoing contact with hosts and colleges in support of young people’s pastoral needs. Lucy has established a weekly drop-in for Isles of Scilly students at Truro College and works closely with the pastoral teams at other colleges attended by Isles of Scilly learners.
The islands’ School Nurse, Alannah Walby was also in attendance to provide some insight into her work. She explained her plan to build on the support her team offers to young people on Scilly by attending some drop-in sessions, with Lucy, on the mainland.
Chief Executive and Section 151 Officer, Russell Ashman explained the issues relating to the underspend of the previous year’s budget in detail. The DfE grant is calculated on an individual learner basis and, for 2024/25, it was based on the possibility that 50 learners would be educated on the mainland. However, for various valid reasons, such as families leaving the islands and other changes in individual circumstances, only 43 young people from Scilly actually accessed provision on the mainland in this year. The DfE has specified that the grant allocated for the 7 remaining young people must be returned to the Department. DfE is emphatic that it cannot be spent in any other way – including on any other learner.
An update was provided on the construction of the Family Belonging and Inclusion Hub at Carn Gwaval, which is now underway. The Hub will include space to support Post-16 remote learners and apprentices, strengthening local options for young people who remain on the islands.
Attending parents and carers were also provided the opportunity to ask questions.
Outcomes from the meeting
The Council encourages parents and carers to record all of their costs relating to Post-16 (excluding food) on the Post-16 claim form, to be submitted alongside receipts, even when this amount is higher than the grant allocation. The current grant is a contribution towards costs, rather than full reimbursement, but having clearer evidence of actual family spend will support ongoing discussions with the DfE.
The Post-16 Information Booklet for 2026/27 has been updated to include role and contact details for the Post-16 Transition Worker and further information about how to access the funding which is available for families to visit mainland education and training settings. The updated handbook has been uploaded to the Children’s Policies page of our website. Officers are also in touch with Young People Cornwall to explore the potential for them to offer additional support for our learners.
As attendees emphasised the importance of regular, direct communication with families, in addition to providing up-to-date information on the Council website, officers have committed to sharing key information directly with parents. This will be achieved via Five Islands Academy for students currently enrolled, and via the Council for children not attending school. There are plans for these communications to include an annual reminder about key post-16 planning tasks, such as identifying and registering with a host family, as this process can begin as early as Year 9. The importance of proactive planning is recognised, particularly in the light of two larger cohorts currently in Years 6 and 7 who will require further education in the future.
Parents said they valued of these update meetings and asked that they continue on a more consistent basis alongside other, more frequent, communication. Officers committed to informing parents and carers about post -16 planning as early and as fully as possible and recognised that the larger cohort sizes of the current years 6 and 7 would have to be considered when determining when and how to engage with families.
Next scheduled meeting
The next Post-16 parent/carer update meeting will take place at 5.15pm on Wednesday 12 August at Carn Gwaval Wellbeing Centre, St. Mary’s.