Supporting Young People with a PDA Profile

If your child has a PDA profile, you’ll already know that standard education approaches tend to make things worse, not better. Demands, rigid routines, and performance pressure push anxiety through the roof. What can look like defiance or refusal is almost always a stress response.

SEMCAS has worked extensively with young people with a PDA profile. Our tutors understand it properly, not just on paper. They know how to build trust slowly, how to hold sessions lightly, and how to create the conditions where a young person can actually start to engage — on their terms, in their time.

How we work with PDA learners

Every package we put together is different, because every young person is different. In general though, our approach is built around a few things that really matter when working with PDA:

• Using indirect, collaborative language rather than instructions or demands
• Following the young person’s interests rather than pushing a set curriculum
• Prioritising regulation and safety before anything academic
• Keeping faces consistent — the same tutor, the same routine, no unexpected changes
• No sanctions, no pressure, no performance expectations

Our tutors have worked with young people who haven’t engaged with education in years. Building that trust takes time and the right person — and finding the right person is something we take seriously.

What we offer

We put together fully managed, bespoke education packages for young people with a PDA profile, delivered at home or in the community. That might be a few hours of carefully matched tuition a week, a Personal Assistant who really understands them, or a full package covering everything.

If you already have an EOTAS or YOTAS package, or an EHCP in place, we can work alongside you and your local authority to shape or deliver the provision that’s written into it.

Get in touch

We’re always happy to have an initial chat. No pressure, no obligation.