School-to-Work Transition of Young People with Special Needs. Results Form the German BA/Bibb Applicant Survey

This contribution aims to examine the transitions of young people with special needs after leaving general school in Germany. The focus lies on special schools for young people who are classified as more or less severely disabled in their educational, development and learning opportunities (e.g. due to a learning or mental/cognitive disability, a sensory and/or physical disability; ger.: Förderschulen).

To what extent do School-to-work transitions of young people with special needs differ from those without disabilities? Can the majority of them choose a suitable profession they really like? To what extent is support or career orientation taken up? How satisfied are young people with specail needs with their job situation? What impact does the overall-situation in the German training market has on the training opportunities of young people in need of support?

The analysis is based on empirical data of the BA/BIBB-Applicants survey.[1] The BA/BIBB Applicant Survey is a representative, extrapolated written-postal random sample survey of young people who were registered as training place applicants with the Vocational Guidance Service of the Federal Employment Agency. BIBB conducts the survey jointly with the BA on the instructions of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

The survey consists of a standard programme of questions that is repeated in each survey in order to answer central education policy questions and to be able to identify developments. In addition to the standard questions, a current education policy topic is addressed in each survey.

[1] https://metadaten.bibb.de/en/group/dataset/40 (21.08.2024).