Southend Vocational Profile: a new resource to support person-centred planning for young people aged 14 to 25 across education.

We're pleased to introduce the Southend Vocational Profile, a new resource designed to support person-centred planning for young people aged 14 to 25 across education.

This tool enables young people to identify and articulate their aspirations for employment and the future. It is intended to be a working document that follows the young person throughout their journey, rather than being stored within isolated service files.

We encourage all professionals working with young people in this age group to consider using the vocational profile as part of their planning and engagement. It should be:

• shared with the young person to promote ownership and self-advocacy
• stored in accessible shared files to allow multi-agency collaboration
• updated collaboratively over time to avoid duplication and ensure consistency across services

Supporting young people to use the profile

Professionals are encouraged to email the vocational profile PDF directly to the young person (with consent), who can then:

• download it to their phone's home screen for easy access
• share it with professionals, settings, and employers as and when they choose
• update it over time to reflect their evolving goals and experiences

By embedding this tool into our practice, we can better align support around the young person's goals and reduce the administrative burden of repeated assessments.

Young people with an Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan in years 9 to 11, will be supported by Southend Careers Service (formerly Connexions) to complete their vocational profiles during this academic year. However, the Vocational Profile is an amazing tool that can support transition planning for all young people.

If you have any questions or would like support in implementing the vocational profile, please don't hesitate to get in touch. Email us at LocalOffer@southend..gov.uk