First stage of research supported by Prior's Court into transitions out of school for autistic young people published

Research designed to investigate what makes a successful transition out of school for autistic young people, being supported by Prior’s Court staff and families, has been published. 

“Transition Out of School for Autistic Young People: An Umbrella Review” has been published in the Review of Educational Research with the research led by Norah Richards, who has worked with Prior’s Court previously. 

Read the paper 

Prior’s Court is one of a number of schools supporting the research - six of our young people past and present are directly involved – which is being led by Norah under the Centre for Research in Autism and Education based University College London. 

This paper is based on Norah’s literature review of existing reviews and primary studies and is the first part of her PhD work. 

The key recommendation drawn from the literature review is planning with not for autistic young people and ensure that research, practice and policy are aligned around outcomes that actually matter to them. 

Other key findings noted are: 

• Early, individualised planning matters – especially when it is collaborative and sustained over time
• Autistic young people are too often excluded from decision‑making about their own futures
• Poor coordination and uneven access remain major structural barriers during transitions
• Research rarely considers long‑term outcomes, unintended negative effects of support or interventions, or what “successful” transitions really mean
• Young people with learning disabilities and those with intersecting identities are largely invisible in the evidence base 

Norah is currently undertaking direct research with young people, their families and staff, which she is planning to come to the end of later this summer. 

Ruth Over, Autism Practice and Development Lead who sits on the Prior’s Court Research Board, said: “From our perspective, the finding around “young people with learning disabilities being more or less invisible in the evidence base” is of particular note. This is often the case across research around autism – young people like those at Prior’s Court are excluded and so do not gain meaningful benefit from any research around best practice. 

“We’re hugely grateful to Norah and the team for their commitment to including young people like those at Prior’s Court in their research– and to the families we support and our staff members for their involvement in this important research project. 

“We look forward to seeing the outcomes of the next stage of the research on this very important topic.”