Research has found that one in three people living with vision impairment did not gain employment despite having qualifications in line with the general population.
A study was published by the Vision Impairment Centre for Teaching and Research at the University of Birmingham and the Thomas Pocklington Trust.
It tracked 82 people over 11 years from age 14 to 25 to improve understanding around why this group was at risk of becoming not in education, employment or training (Neet).
At the end of the study 66% of the remaining participants were in some form of employment, 17% remained Neet, including seven young people who by the age of 25 had never experienced paid employment.
Many achieved average or above average GCSE qualifications but then faced barriers when entering further education, higher education and the employment market.
Rachel Hewett from the University of Birmingham, said: ‘Many young people found adjustments were not put in place in time and they had a lack of access to specialist support.
‘Careers guidance often focused on keeping the young person in education, with limited support for transitioning into employment. This led to some of the participants ‘churning’ in the system.’
Barriers included accessing the application process for UCAS and Disabled Students’ Allowance, virtual learning environments and institutions not making adjustments for these students.
This resulted in people withdrawing from their courses, repeating modules or entire academic years, or leaving with a qualification that did not reflect their ability.
Tara Chattaway, head of education at the Thomas Pocklington trust, said: ‘It is evident that young people with vision impairment are not getting the support at transition periods in their lives. The lack of support, accessibility and inclusion can impact on the quality of education the young person receives and on then on their employment opportunities.
‘We are calling on Government to bridge this gap and to ensure that the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill and their response to the impending Send review truly supports the aspirations and learning needs of vision impaired students.’