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Think Work First: The transition from education to work for young disabled people Contents

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Think Work First: The transition from education to work for young disabled people

Chapter 1: Introduction

Young disabled people and the transition to work

1.Disability impacts individual lives in many different ways and, for many young disabled people, this can be central to their lives and to their employment outcomes. Some young disabled people require significant support at all times, while others will be able to reach the very top of their profession with little support. Between those extremes, there is an enormous range of experience. Against this background, we could never hope to cover the full range of the challenges and successes encountered by every young disabled person in a report of this nature. Inevitably, therefore, much of our focus has been on where things are not going so well. But we recognise that we do not, and cannot, speak to the experiences of all young disabled people.

2.In particular, during the course of this inquiry, we heard of just how much many employers value their disabled employees, and how important these employees are to business success. Disabled people are as much a part of our society as anyone else, and any of us could become disabled at any time during our lives. Creating the systems for young disabled people to thrive in the workplace, therefore, ultimately benefits all of us. In the context of a skills shortage in the UK, ensuring that we unleash the full potential of all of our young people is vital for the country’s success.

This Inquiry

3.We launched our inquiry on 26 May 2023, with a call for evidence issued in a range of accessible formats. We began hearing oral evidence in November 2023. In addition to the oral and written evidence (listed in Appendix 2), we held a private seminar and ten online engagement events with groups of young disabled people and their families. We are profoundly grateful to all who helped us with this inquiry, in particular those who shared their stories and personal experiences. Their input has been anonymised, summarised and published online.1 We also visited Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone, where we learnt about the supported internship programme for young disabled people with learning disabilities operated through the hospital. A note from that visit is in Appendix 4. For this inquiry we appointed a Specialist Adviser, Professor Charlotte Pearson, Professor for Social Policy at the University of Glasgow. We are grateful to her for sharing her advice and expertise throughout this inquiry.

4.As part of our call for written evidence, we asked whether there were particular groups of disabled people on whom we should focus, such as young people with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).2 We received a variety of responses but, on balance, the evidence leant towards a pan-disability approach, and our report reflects this.

5.There is a range of different terminology used to describe this large group, depending on which service is speaking and what stage the young person has reached. We have used ‘young disabled people’ throughout this report to refer to all young people with disabilities, long-term health conditions and special educational needs.

Box 1: Language used by different bodies

Schools, colleges, and local authority services aimed at young people generally refer to Special Educational Needs (SEN) or Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) when referring to people in education.3 Some schools may, however, use the term ‘additional needs’4 and, in Scotland, the term ‘additional support needs’ is used instead of SEN. In higher education, ‘disability’ is “used to cover all health conditions, including mental health, physical health and learning differences”.5 Employers will usually reference disability or disabled people in accordance with the Equality Act 2010. Section 6 of that Act states that a person has a disability if they have a “physical or mental impairment” that has a “substantial and long-term adverse effect on [their] ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.”6

Key statistics

6.The Labour Force Survey states that there are 10.4 million working aged disabled people7 (aged between 16–64) in England8—approximately a quarter of the total working age population of 35.6 million at the time of the last census in 2021.9 Out of a total of just under 9.1 million pupils in England’s schools,10 1.7m million (19 per cent) receive support relating to special educational needs. Of these, approximately 25 percent—434,354—have an EHCP11 in place.12

The challenge

7.Young disabled people face significant challenges and barriers during the transition from education to employment. As a result, this period of their lives is often difficult, with negative experiences affecting their capacity to secure meaningful employment. This can be seen by the disability employment gap—the difference between the proportion of working age non-disabled people and working age disabled people—which has remained at around 30 per cent over the last decade.13

Figure 1: Employment levels and disability employment gap - April 2013 to December 2023

Source: Office for National Statistics, ‘Labour Market Status of Disabled People’ ( 13 August 2024): https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/labourmarketstatusofdisabledpeoplea08 [accessed 27 September 2024]

8.As a result of the COVID pandemic, the situation for young disabled people has worsened in recent years.14 Leonard Cheshire, an organisation that supports disabled people, reported that, in Autumn 2021, 89 per cent of 18-24 year old disabled people said that their work had been affected by the pandemic, with one in ten losing their jobs.15 In addition to the effect on work, research has also demonstrated the negative impact of the pandemic, and particularly of lockdown restrictions, on the mental health of young disabled people.16

Our report

9.Throughout our inquiry, we received a substantial quantity of evidence regarding education and work-related services for young disabled people, alongside a smaller quantity on the wider services on which young disabled people may rely during the transition into work, such as social care, welfare, health, mental health, and transport services. Reflecting the balance of evidence, our report focuses on education and employment services.

10.Chapter 2 identifies several examples of best practice which, if made more widely available could significantly improve support and outcomes for young disabled people. From there, we attempt to take the reader through the young disabled person’s journey from education to employment. Chapter 3 examines how young disabled people are prepared for the world of work when in education, Chapter 4 investigates the support provided to young disabled people during the transition from education to employment outside of the education system, and Chapters 5, 6 and 7 examine the role of employers and how disabled people’s rights are enforced in the workplace.

11.Although this report sets out a range of interventions that we believe the Government should make, no single recommendation could achieve all of the change that is necessary. Collectively, however, they might remove some of the barriers that young disabled people face and improve their chances of successfully moving into work and thriving in their careers. Where our recommendations relate to devolved matters, they apply primarily to England. Many issues will, however, be of interest to the devolved governments in the constituent nations of the UK.

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