Personal education plans for children looked after: draft guidance for practitioners

We are seeking views on draft new non-statutory guidance for local authorities and schools on initiating, developing and reviewing personal education plans (PEPs). The guidance is intended to provide advice for local authorities on discharging their statutory duty under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 to ensure each child looked after should have a high-quality PEP until they have finished statutory education.

Through Our national mission: high standards and aspirations for all, the Welsh Government wants every child to take part in, enjoy learning and have the best education possible to progress and expand their knowledge, skills and experience. This will support them to become:

• ambitious, capable learners ready to learn throughout their lives
• enterprising, creative contributors ready to play a full part in life and work
• ethical, informed citizens ready to be citizens of Wales and the world
• healthy, confident individuals ready to lead fulfilling lives as valued members of society

The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 places a duty on local authorities to promote the educational achievement of children looked after.

The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 Part 6 Code of Practice (Looked After and Accommodated Children) statutory guidance provides advice on the care and support planning duties of local authorities in relation to care and support plans, including health and education.

The Part 6 care and support plan is a plan for children looked after. It brings together key information from the assessment of the child’s developmental needs and from any other assessments of the child and their family. The Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (Wales) (CPPCR) Regulations 2015 also require the preparation of a health plan, a Personal Education Plan (PEP), and a placement plan for the child. These should all be incorporated into the overall Part 6 care and support plan for the child.

The PEP allows children looked after and those who support them to identify and put in practice the best strategies to help them progress in their education. Working with a range of stakeholders the Welsh Government has produced draft non-statutory guidance intended to support local authorities and schools to make PEPs more meaningful and impactful for children looked after.

The Welsh Government have worked collaboratively with a wide range of professionals to inform the development of the PEP guidance. A PEP Task and Finish Group was established, made up of individuals from local authorities who have a strategic role in promoting the education of care experienced learners. The group met up five times. They shared their expertise around the PEP process and how this can best contribute to supporting the child to progress in learning, thrive in their education setting and achieve best outcomes. The task and finish group were a subgroup of the National Delivery Group (NDG) for the education of care experienced leaners. The NDG comprises external stakeholders from Estyn, Consortia, local authorities and Third Sector who work to promote and support the educational outcomes of care experienced children in Wales. Drafts of the guidance were shared with the NDG and the all-Wales Independent Reviewing Officers group.

The Welsh Government also engaged with learners on what is important to them and what should be included in this guidance. Their views are reflected throughout the guidance. 

This consultation welcomes your views on draft new non-statutory guidance for local authorities and schools on initiating, developing and reviewing personal education plans (PEPs). The aim of the guidance is to support local authorities and schools/settings to make the PEP process more meaningful and impactful for children looked after. It sets the context for local authorities to discharge their statutory duty under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 to ensure each child looked after should have a high-quality PEP until they have finished statutory education.

This feedback phase will end on 01 December 2025, after which all responses will be considered by the Welsh Government. The draft guidance will then be refined and, subject to the Cabinet Secretary for Education’s agreement will be published on the Welsh Government’s website.

The consultation is aimed at all those who have a responsibility for the PEP in their school or local authority or who support or advocate on behalf of children looked after.

This includes but is not limited to, the designated person for children looked after within schools, headteachers, governors, local authority officers with responsibility for children looked after (including Looked-After Children in Education (LACE) Coordinators and Virtual School Heads), Social Services staff, Independent Reviewing Officers, pupil referral units, further and higher education institutions, and staff in organisations whose work helps support children looked after.

We are also keen to hear the views of care experienced children and young people and an easy read version of the guidance has been produced for this purpose.

We are opening this consultation for a period of eight weeks. We believe this timeframe is sufficient for respondents to fully consider the draft guidance and submit their responses.

The draft new non-statutory guidance for local authorities and schools provides advice on: 

• the purpose of the PEP
• content of the PEP
• capturing learner voice
• PEP process and time frames
• initiating, developing and reviewing PEPs
• transition to post 16 education
• cross border arrangements
• roles and responsibilities and further sources of support

We would like your thoughts on the draft content within each section.

Question 1

Do you agree that the advice provided in the PEP guidance will support local authorities, schools and settings to make the PEP process more meaningful and impactful for children looked after?

Question 2

Do you agree that the guidance adequately covers everything needed to support local authorities, schools and settings to make PEPs more meaningful and impactful for children looked after?

Question 3

If you disagreed with the statement in question 2, what else should be captured in the guidance?

Question 4

Do you agree that the guidance provides sufficient advice to local authorities, schools and settings on making the PEP process child-centred?

Question 5

Are there any other sources of support or resources that it might be useful to highlight in the guidance?

Question 6

What, in your opinion, would be the likely effects of the guidance on the Welsh language? We are particularly interested in any likely effects on opportunities to use the Welsh language and on not treating the Welsh language less favourably than English.

Do you think that there are opportunities to promote any positive effects?
Do you think that there are opportunities to mitigate any adverse effects?

Question 7

In your opinion, could the guidance be formulated or changed so as to:

• have positive effects or more positive effects on using the Welsh language and on not treating the Welsh language less favourably than English, or
• mitigate any negative effects on using the Welsh language and on not treating the Welsh language less favourably than English?

Please use the consultation response form to respond to the above questions. 

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Welsh Ministers have statutory powers they will rely on to process this personal data which will enable them to make informed decisions about how they exercise their public functions. The lawful basis for processing information in this data collection exercise is our public task, that is, exercising our official authority to undertake the core role and functions of the Welsh Government. (Art 6(1)(e)).

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In order to show that the consultation was carried out properly, the Welsh Government intends to publish a summary of the responses to this document. We may also publish responses in full. Normally, the name and address (or part of the address) of the person or organisation who sent the response are published with the response. If you do not want your name or address published, please tell us this in writing when you send your response. We will then redact them before publishing.

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Welsh Government
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CF10 3NQ

E-mail: dataprotectionofficer@gov.wales

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