Supported Internships: Information for Employers

A supported internship is a structured study programme based primarily with an employer. They enable young people aged 16-24 with an Education Health and Care plan (EHCP) to achieve sustainable paid employment by equipping them with the skills they need for work through learning in the workplace.

The extended work placements for supported internships are unpaid, because participating in the internship is part of the young person's programme of study at their school or college and they last for a minimum of six months.

Supported internships should be personalised to the needs of the young person and be flexible so that they meet the needs of the young person and the employer. The job coach will work with you to arrange the induction and settling in period and provide as much support as is needed throughout this time.

As the young person becomes more confident and able, the job coach will gradually withdraw their support, but the employer will still be able to contact them at any time if any issues arise.

Supported Interns need to work 14 - 16 hours per week for approximately eleven months running from September to June. Matching the right young person into the right job role with the right employer is critical to the success of a supported internship, but the young person's Job Coach will work with you to ensure a good match is found. We often find that roles develop over time as the young person's skills develop and the employer gets to know what they can do.

Just as with other employees, the employer will need to provide line management and supervision of the intern, although again, support will also be provided by the job coach, especially at first.

Absolutely nothing! 

The internship is, as many are, unpaid, and the funding for the Job Coach is provided by the Department for Education and/or Access To Work.

We hope that you will want to hire your intern on a permanent basis at the end of the year, but there is no obligation to do so.

A job coach is an individual who is employed to help people with disabilities learn, accommodate and perform their work duties. In addition to working on skills related to performing specific tasks, a job coach also helps with interpersonal skills necessary in the workplace. The role is to support young people to enable them to learn from work placements and to make a positive progression into paid employment.

Effective job coaching means being creative and flexible so that the person being supported gets just the right amount of support to learn the job well. Job coaches are able to recognise when and how to provide support, and when to increase, decrease or remove it.

The job coach liaises directly between the education provider, employer, young person and family. They should hold a level 3 certificate in supported employment and be trained in systematic instruction (TSI). They can provide support including visual aids, disability awareness training and job carving as a recruitment tool, working with young people with SEND to support them into your workplace.

Employers may need to make some adjustments for an individual with a learning disability. The adjustments rarely cost anything and can actually benefit the whole workplace.

Examples of reasonable adjustments could include:

• Waiving the standard recruitment process and using supported working interviews or work trials instead.
• A working interview or work trial. The candidate should be supported in the working interview by a trained job coach. The employer should enter the arrangement with the understanding that if the candidate completes the working interview successfully, they will be offered the job.
• Making interviews as short and informal as possible and supporting candidates appropriately during the interview. Preferably, any interview should be a formality after a successful working interview.
• Make changes to standard procedures, e.g., filing systems can be colour coded; information documents could be put into easy read; operating processes could be issued in the form of photographs; and health and safety procedures could be explained through a tour of the building.
• Support from a job coach is a reasonable adjustment and Access to Work can finance the costs of such support. Access to Work is available for support during the pre-employment period, not only when someone has started a job. Contact your Access to Work team locally to find out more.
• Natural workplace supports are always a good idea. Employers are encouraged to look at natural support they could provide via a workplace buddy or mentor. Again, experience tells us that this is often a very rewarding experience for a workplace colleague.