It’s National Supported Internship Day!
March 27, 2023
Today is National Supported Internship Day!
Do you know what a Supported Internship is?
Click the image for an accessible guide to supported internships
According to Supported internships – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk), supported internships “are a structured, work-based study programme for 16 to 24-year-olds with SEND, who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan. The core aim of a supported internship study programme is a substantial work placement, facilitated by the support of an expert job coach”
We know that employment rates for people with a learning disability, learning difficulty and/or autistic people are extremely low, with only 4.8% of people in England in paid employment. However Supported Internships can make a vast difference to someone’s employment pathway. Our delivery partner Sixteen has “sustained a 75% employment rate across 5 local supported internship programmes and supported 215 interns into paid work over the past 10 years”. Decade of Impact – Sixteen (sixteencoop.co.uk)
Currently a national programme funded by the Department for Education, to increase the number of interns and ultimately boost the numbers of young people in paid employment, is in full flow. Internships Work , in collaboration with the National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi), British Association for Supported Employment (BASE) and DFN Project SEARCH is working towards doubling the number of supported internships in England to 4500 per year by March 2025.
At WE Work for Everyone, we are lucky to work alongside our delivery partners who continue to support young people through supported internships and into sustainable paid work.
Photo shows graduates of the Sixteen Supported Internship ‘Into Catering’ in 2022.
Find out more about the wonderful work Sixteen Co-operative does Our Work – Sixteen (sixteencoop.co.uk)
