Learning Hub
Our Learning Hub is a three-year programme for school leavers with additional support needs.​
Learning Hub
Our Learning Hub is a three-year programme for school leavers with additional support needs.​
Learning Hub
Our Learning Hub is a three-year programme for school leavers with additional support needs.​
Sense Scotland's Learning Hub
What is the Learning Hub?
The Learning Hub is a three-year individualised programme aimed at school leavers, aged 18 – 21, at risk of not entering a positive destination due to their complex additional support needs.
It aims to:
- Support young people to develop skills, meet their long-term goals and gain qualifications
- Promote social inclusion, peer support and friendship development
- Fill an urgent gap in support for young people who might otherwise remain at home with a parent or carer, impacting the family’s finances and wellbeing
- Enable young people to identify suitable services, support and opportunities to meet their long-term needs
The Learning Hub is located at TouchBase Glasgow and will run for 46 weeks of the year, Monday – Friday (9:30am – 3:30pm) with two weeks off at Christmas, two weeks off in July, one week off at Easter, and one week off in October.
The learning elements of the Hub are funded by the Glasgow Community Fund.
Who is the Learning Hub for?
The Learning Hub is for young people aged 18-21 with complex additional support needs who are in the process of leaving school. At the moment, this is exclusive to young people from the Glasgow City Council area.
How will learners be supported?
Learners attending the Learning Hub will be supported by our Learner Support Team, led by our Learner Support Lead. The team is there to ensure all of the learner’s care and support needs are met while in attendance, which might include personal care, medication, communication support, and supporting behaviour or distress.Â
What will the learning look like?
Learners will follow a programme based on their learning style, interests and abilities, as well as what they and their families would like them to achieve while attending the Hub. This will be developed through a person-centred planning assessment process. The Curriculum Delivery Lead and Curriculum Facilitators will then use this process to create individualised learning outcomes for each learner.
The learning outcomes are based on four key areas, which are: Education & Employment, Independent Living, Friends/Relationships & Community, and Health & Wellbeing. These are prominent areas in the learning programme to ensuring our learners are equipped with the skills to take an active lead on their lives.
Lessons are designed based on learners’ individual outcomes, learning styles and sensory requirements, which ensure that targets set by the Curriculum team are achieved. Our aim is to set learners on a path to improving their wellbeing, becoming more self-reliant, gaining the skills and confidence to have an active role in their community, creating friendships, and having the support to access opportunities that are beneficial to them. The programme is planned around the outcomes of each learner as well as calendar seasons, holidays, events, and current affairs, and our lessons coincide with these.
Will the learning be accredited?
Learning at our Learning Hub will be accredited in different ways, depending on the individual and the substance of their learning. Within the Learning Hub, our main accreditation is ASDAN, which is an external qualification designed to suit those with additional support needs. The Learning Hub delivers the Towards Independence course which offers formal recognition for small steps of achievement towards a larger goal. There are more than 70 modules which can be used separately and accumulated to build a record of personal achievement. These can then progress to other qualifications provided by ASDAN such as Employability, Personal Progress, and Personal and Social Development.
Learning may also be structured through an external award like the John Muir Award, or the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.Â
What is the assessment process?
As part of the process to ensure that the Learning Hub is suitable for prospective learners and is able to meet all their educational, physical and health needs, individuals who apply must undergo an entry assessment.
Pre-entry information is collected from relevant stakeholders associated with the applicant. This includes schools, social workers/care managers and other professionals, including health professionals. We also ask that you share some of the current support plans as well as other paperwork that has been collected, such as communication passports and transition plans.
As part of the assessment process, the team will assess the totality of prospectus learners. This might include but is not limited to care and support; health and medical; educational; communication and behaviour support.Â
During the assessment process, we will ask to come along and meet the young person in their school or current setting to allow us to engage with them in a place they are familiar with. We may also ask to attend some of their transition meetings and reviews to hear more about them and understand their transition goals. We will also ask to meet with the people who know any prospective learners the best.Â
The assessment process is designed to ensure that Learning Hub is able to meet learners’ needs, whilst also understanding the level of support a learner might require while attending.
How do placement offers work?
Following our assessment, using this information and our visits to meet the young person, a decision will be made on whether we can meet their needs within the resources available at the Learning Hub. Where possible, an offer will be issued to the applicant and their local authority within 10 days of the completion of the assessment.
Where a place at the Learning Hub has been offered, the applicant, parent/carers and the local authority will be advised of the next steps. All placements at the Learning Hub will be conditional until confirmation of funding having been received.
Successful applicants will participate in a transition process prior to attending the Learning Hub to support what we understand is a period of significant change for the young person. We understand the challenges young people can face during a period of transition, which is why we like to ensure we create a supportive transition for starting. This will include visits to the Learning Hub, and meetings with support and learning staff.
Where, following the assessment process, a placement would not be suitable and no place will be offered, a letter advising this will be sent to the applicant, parent/carers and the local authority. Within this letter, we will explain the reasons why we are unable to offer a place.
How do I apply for the Learning Hub?
If you or someone you support is interested in signing up for our Learning Hub, please complete the form below. Once completed, a member of our Learner Support team will be in contact to arrange the next steps of the assessment process. As part of this process, the team will arrange to visit the young person in their school or current setting, as well as make contact with teachers and school staff.
Places will be offered on a conditional basis, and will be confirmed once individuals have a confirmed care budget in place. In order to get this, individuals should contact their local adult social work team.Â
The Learning Hub can be accessed through Glasgow’s 2026 Flexible Purchasing Framework’s Learning Disability / Sense Scotland / Day Opps (Building Based) category or via Direct Payment.
If you have any questions, please contact learninghub@sensescotland.org.uk.Â
Frequently asked questions
You can find answers to a number of frequently asked questions about our Learning Hub here.Â
