A structured Excel-based assessment and planning tool to help professionals identify, prioritise and review young people’s independence learning needs.

When supporting a young person towards greater independence, identifying what they need support with is only part of the process. Practitioners also need to decide what should be prioritised, where to start and how progress will be reviewed over time.

The Learning Pathway Assessment (LPA) has been developed by Social Care Skills to support this process.

The LPA contains 102 structured assessment statements covering key areas of independence and preparation for adulthood, including:

Personal development and personal safety
Communication, confidence and relationships
Cooking, housekeeping and everyday life skills
Budgeting and financial skills
Education, employment and goal setting
Emotional wellbeing and resilience
Health, nutrition and self-care
Digital safety
Community participation
Exploitation and personal safety
Preparing for greater independence

Using a simple 0–3 scoring system, the Excel workbook automatically analyses responses, identifies areas of greater learning need, ranks priorities and generates a suggested individual learning pathway.

What’s included?

The LPA provides:

102 structured assessment statements
Automated scoring and prioritisation
Ranked learning needs
Suggested phased learning pathway
Professional priority and risk considerations
Dedicated Young Person Voice section
Space to agree final priorities using professional judgement
Baseline Assessment
Progress Review
Impact Review
Comparison of results over time
Visual Progress Dashboard and graphics
Comprehensive Guidance for Use

From assessment to purposeful support

The LPA is designed to help practitioners move from:

Assess → Identify Priorities → Agree the Pathway → Deliver Support → Review Progress

The automatically generated pathway is a starting point rather than a final decision. Practitioners should consider the results alongside the young person’s views, professional judgement, existing plans, identified risks and current circumstances.

Flexible review periods

The LPA recommends reviewing progress at approximately three-month intervals, providing an initial Baseline Assessment followed by Progress and Impact Reviews.

However, organisations can choose a different review frequency according to the needs and circumstances of the young person and their own planning and review arrangements.

Use with your existing independence programme

The LPA is a standalone resource. It can be used alongside your organisation’s existing key work, independence, life-skills or preparation-for-adulthood resources.

For organisations wanting a complete set of structured learning resources, the LPA is also mapped to the Supported Learning Independence Programme, Social Care Skills’ wider programme of young-person learning modules, staff guidance, outcomes and review resources designed to support structured independence learning.

Organisations already subscribed to Supported Learning Independence Programme, receive the LPA at no additional cost.

Guidance & Insights – Practical articles from our Blog