Before transition, pupil voice should tell the receiving team what helps the pupil participate, communicate, feel safe and learn, as well as what they are worried about and what a successful start would look like.
Gather it in a form the pupil can use, check that you have understood it, then turn each useful point into an adjustment, action, owner or review question. A page of views without a response is consultation-shaped stationery.
This guide is for schools in England. It covers ordinary school and phase transitions, not only pupils with an education, health and care plan.
Why pupil voice matters before transition
Section 19 of the Children and Families Act 2014 requires local authorities exercising SEND functions to have regard to the child or young person's views, wishes and feelings, their participation in decisions, and the information and support they need to participate.
The statutory SEND Code of Practice applies those participation principles across England's SEND system. For SEN support, it says schools should plan for transitions, share information with the next setting, and agree with parents and pupils what will be shared.
Pupil voice is therefore more than asking whether someone is excited about September. It is a way to test whether the planned environment, communication and support match the pupil who will actually arrive.
For children starting Reception, the Department for Education's April 2026 transition guidance emphasises relationships with families, year-round partnership between settings and early identification of need. That guidance is Reception-specific, but its practical lesson travels well: do not wait for the first difficult morning to introduce the adults who already hold useful knowledge.
Ask questions that can change the plan
A useful conversation should produce decisions. Choose a small number of prompts that suit the pupil's age, communication and transition, rather than conducting an interview whose main achievement is completing every box.
| Find out | Accessible prompt | Turn the answer into |
|---|---|---|
| Strengths and identity | What should new adults know about you first? | A positive introduction, interests and ways to build trust |
| Communication | How do you show yes, no, help, stop or that you need more time? | Agreed response methods and communication access |
| Participation | When is it easiest or hardest to join in? | Environmental, timetable or teaching adjustments to test |
| Predictability | What do you want to see, practise or know before the first day? | A visit, visual information, route rehearsal or named contact |
| Concerns | What are you worried adults may misunderstand? | A prevention plan and an agreed adult response |
| Success | How will we know the first week is going better than expected? | A pupil-defined sign and a dated check-in |
Make the way you ask part of the adjustment
Spoken questions in a meeting are only one route. Offer drawing, sorting cards, photos, objects, symbols, signing, typing, rating scales, familiar activities or observation followed by a careful check with the pupil.
Use the pupil's established communication system and seek specialist advice where needed. Do not replace a familiar AAC system with a convenient school-made prompt, and do not require speech, eye contact or an immediate answer as proof of a view.
Ask at a suitable time, in a familiar place and with a trusted communication partner if the pupil wants one. Break the conversation into short sessions. A choice between two adult-selected options may show a preference between those options; it does not reveal every possibility the pupil might choose.
Check your interpretation in an accessible way. Record whether the words are the pupil's own, a supported choice, an adult observation or a family report. Those sources can all be valuable, but they are not interchangeable.
Use a four-part pupil voice record
- View: record what the pupil communicated and how it was gathered.
- Meaning:state the team's cautious interpretation and what still needs checking.
- Response: name the adjustment, preparation or conversation that follows.
- Review: set who will check the response with the pupil, and when.
For example, if a pupil indicates that crowded arrival is difficult, the response might be a quieter entry route and a named adult for the first fortnight. The review is not whether the form was filed. It is whether the arrangement helped, according to the pupil and the wider evidence.
The connected-data view: when the first answer is not the whole answer
Consider a fictional composite Year 6 pupil who communicates that the journey to secondary school feels manageable but the start of the school day does not.
Attendance records show several late arrivals on high-traffic mornings. The current pupil passport says the pupil needs extra processing time and finds rapid spoken instructions difficult. A visit note records that the new entrance was busy and that the pupil did not know where to wait.
Together, those records change the professional question from whether the pupil is generally anxious about transition to whether arrival, waiting and first instructions create avoidable barriers.
The schools can test a visual arrival sequence, a clearly identified waiting place and one named adult, then ask the pupil after the first days what helped and what needs changing. The attendance pattern helps target the question; it does not speak on the pupil's behalf.
What pupil voice and connected data cannot prove
One conversation cannot prove that a pupil will settle, that an adjustment will work, or why an attendance or behaviour pattern occurred. Silence does not mean agreement. Distress during one visit does not establish a fixed preference, and a calm visit does not remove the need for preparation.
Views can also change when the pupil receives better information or experiences the new setting. Treat the record as a current account to revisit, not a permanent label.
Pupil participation does not require staff to promise every requested outcome. Explain what can change, what cannot, who decides and why. Safeguarding duties and lawful information sharing still apply where relevant.
Share enough information, through the right route
The Department for Education's school data-sharing guidance was updated on 9 July 2026. It says schools should confirm who needs data, what is needed, why it is needed and how it will be transferred securely.
Agree the useful transition summary with the pupil and family where appropriate, but do not promise that consent is the only possible lawful basis for every transfer. Educational records, safeguarding files and health information may follow different legal and procedural routes.
Keep the practical staff summary concise. Link to controlled records instead of copying sensitive detail into a widely shared document. The related SEND pupil handover guide explains how to make that summary usable without turning it into a second case file.
How Student Radar can support the workflow
In Student Radar, Pupil Passports include structured sections for pupil voice, communication, strengths, support, regulation and important people. Staff can keep the pupil's own perspective beside the practical guidance that receiving adults need.
The AAC Boardoffers a staff-assisted symbol and speech route for communication. It can support participation where it matches the pupil's needs, but it should not displace the pupil's established AAC system or specialist communication plan.
The value is in linking the view to action and later review, not in collecting more words. Student Radar does not decide what a pupil means, whether an adjustment is reasonable, or whether a transition has succeeded.
Seven actions before staff leave
- Choose the decisions that pupil voice can still influence.
- Agree an accessible method, familiar person, place and pace.
- Ask about strengths, communication, barriers, concerns and success.
- Check the interpretation with the pupil wherever possible.
- Turn each material point into an action, owner or adjustment to test.
- Share the minimum useful information through the correct secure route.
- Book an early check-in and ask the pupil what needs to change.
Use the reasonable adjustments and communication and interaction resources to prepare the receiving team. For a connected SEND workflow demonstration, request a focused walkthrough.
Sources and further reading
- Children and Families Act 2014, section 19, UK Parliament, enacted 13 March 2014.
- SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years, Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care, January 2015; publication page updated 12 September 2024.
- SEND guide for schools and alternative provision settings, Department for Education, 1 September 2014.
- Getting children ready for reception, Department for Education, 16 April 2026.
- Data protection in schools: sharing personal data, Department for Education, published 3 February 2023; updated 9 July 2026.