Independent Living
Course code: X0004
07/09/2026
Is this course right for me?
The Independent Living course enables students to develop core skills to prepare them for an independent active life.
To achieve this the following objectives will ensure the student will thrive:
- Developing employability and independence
- Developing motivation and resilience
- Developing problem solving and self-regulation skills
- Developing confidence skills to enable opportunity to access enrichment and community activities.
This course is over three stages, foundation, stage one, and stage two.
Foundation is aimed at those who are new to the College and are moving from their previous educational environment. Our students on this pathway will be demonstrating independence with support and developing their skills and knowledge. These can include identifying people who can help, places of safety, making choices and purchasing items in a shop. Through demonstrating progression through their skills, knowledge, and behaviours, along with meeting their Educational Health Care Plan targets can move on to stage one and stage two.
Stage One is where the student will build on their learning and continue to progress to learn about being safe and engaging in community activities, including identifying safe places to go with friends, visiting different places within the community and planning places to go using familiar routes. Building on new skills, they will develop an understanding in meeting new people and accepting their help, take part in enterprising activities along with being able to identify health and safety within their environment and how to reduce these. These new skills will support their individual learning needs to work to meet their EHCP targets.
Stage Two will develop and continue from the previous stages, they will further enhance those new skills by learning about making choices and learning to say no to things they will not like but explaining why, develop their independent living skills through cooking and cleaning. Whilst also learning further communication methods to develop their social skills, along with understanding environmental issues and taking part in community activities.
These different stages enable the student to learn to be more independent, this can be through undertaking tasks with minimal support, learning to be more independent within their home environment, and developing their confidence when outside in different environments
Course details
Entry Requirements:
To access this course students are required to have achieved an Entry Level 1 qualification.
What will I learn?
The course covers the following areas:
- Developing employability and independence
- Developing motivation and resilience
- Developing problem solving and self-regulation skills
- Community skills
- Enrichment activities
- Maths, English and digital ICT
- Social and community action
Students will be expected to play an active role in their study programme, working closely with their tutor to make choices about their learning and to work towards personalised outcomes which will enable them to progress. For some learners these choices can involve parents/carers and other professionals working with the student.
What skills will I gain?
Throughout the course the student will:
- Develop essential employability and independence skills
- Develop and awareness of health, safety and hygiene in employment and the home
- Learn about healthy eating, costs and budgeting, food handling and storage, equipment safety
- Develop independent living skills
- Develop skills in decision making, communication, organisation, shopping, travel and using money
- Develop communication and independence skills through taking part in a community skills projects
How will I be assessed?
At the start of the programme students will have an initial assessment to review their starting points, aspirations and personal goals, and will be assessed on an ongoing basis against their baselines.
Tutors will agree targets with the student to enable them to work towards meeting any Educational, Health Care Plan outcomes that they might have. They will be assessed against a Recognising and Recording Progress and Achievement (RARPA) framework and, along with parents/carers where appropriate, will meet with their tutor on a termly basis to review progress towards personal outcomes, and to look forward to advancing towards the next steps.
Some students will take part in English and Maths assessments which will enhance their ability to progress academically – these will only be considered when appropriate for each individual learner.
What can I do next?
Students who have shown academic progress can move on to another Futures programme.
Future careers
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