A vocational profile is a person-centred approach to finding out what a young person wants to do. It provides an opportunity to understand what a person is interested in and to explore why. 

Buckinghamshire Council requires a completed vocational profile to be submitted with the annual review paperwork for young people with SEND in Year 9 and beyond.

A vocational profile is a form of assessment to understand an individual’s:

• experience
• skills
• abilities
• interests
• aspirations and needs about employment.

The aim is to understand the young person in depth. This helps to find the best possible job match or work experience placement. It provides a picture of the ideal conditions needed in a workplace for the student to be successful.

It is helpful to start working on a vocational profile from year 9. This is so that any information collected informs future choices and includes:

• subjects
• work experience
• weekend or holiday job options

The Vocational Profiles should feed into an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan, if the young person has one.

If there are existing student-centred planning documents, it will be important to ensure that any vocational profile used is complementary to them. It should not be duplicating information.

The compiling of the vocational profile can be a part of the normal curriculum or tutorial time. It should be agreed with the young person.

The profile needs to be kept up to date as the student experiences the world of work.

Templates for Vocational Profiles can be found on the NDTI website.