Post 16 Laws

The Mental Capacity Act - the young person has the loudest voice

Something we sometimes overlook: The Mental Capacity Act doesn’t just apply to adults.

It takes effect from age 16.

That means from that moment, the young person’s voice takes centre stage - not the parent’s, not ours. Theirs.

Secondary and upper schools are you preparing families for this? Are you telling them about this? And with your year 11s are you applying this?

The shift is real as they move into post-16 education.

Our conversations start to change.

There’s less communication with parents, and more direct dialogue with the learner. Parents often question why there isn’t weekly feedback. Why they don’t know the ins and outs of everything?

It can feel like a massively scary change for families, for staff but it’s the law’s way of saying: their autonomy matters now.

It can be really awkward when supporting learners and adults 16+ when you have to tell their loved ones - we talk to them, even if they don’t feed this back to you. We listen to them, even if it’s not what you would choose for them.

The Act rests on five powerful pillars:

1. Presume capacity – start from the belief that they can.

2. Support decision-making – help them get there, don’t rush the judgement, this could be environmental pressures, other influences from people, sensory impact, facilitate understanding, facilitation of communication in their style

3. Unwise decisions are still decisions – being bold, messy, or different doesn’t mean incapable, wanting to do silly things like we all did - everyone needs to learn their own way and gain life experience.

Real story of me doing an MCA- being afraid of birds but wanting to go to the local chicken shop at lunch time with mates (can they weigh up pros and cons and make a then informed decision?) as there’s lots of birds in the sky and the chicken shop is across the road under that same bird laden sky.

4. Act in best interests – only when they truly can’t decide and cognitively make that decision for themselves you take what you know about them (with relevant others) and make a best interest decision

5. Least restrictive option – protect rights, not control them so best interest decisions HAVE TO follow this and really align with everything we no about the person.

For those of us in education, this means slowing down and listening more.

It means letting young people own their choices, even when those choices make us think ‘what the heck’.

Because capacity isn’t just a legal test.

It’s a statement of ‘its your voice and your choices that matters now.’

In post-16 settings, that’s where true empowerment begins by truly listening to THEM, not their parent/carers, the virtual school or anyone else - THEM, in what ever way they communicate.