• Accessibility
• Email alerts
• RSS feeds
• Contact us

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

---

Chapter 2: What works: a blueprint for a strategy for young disabled people

12.As we have set out in the introduction, and discuss in detail in the chapters following this, young disabled people face considerable challenges in their transition from education to employment. At every stage of their journey they face bureaucratic obstacles, discrimination, and a lack of understanding as they navigate a world that is designed for non-disabled people. Nonetheless, throughout the inquiry we heard, read, and saw for ourselves clear examples of excellent practice. In this chapter, we will stress the importance of listening to and working with individual disabled people and, through a series of case studies, explore what works. Our aim is for these examples to serve as a foundation for a revitalised strategy for supporting young disabled people not only to make the transition from education to employment successfully, but to flourish as they do so.

Working in partnership with disabled people

13.Before we examine what works, however, we need to address a critical issue in the development of policy affecting all disabled people, and especially young disabled people: co-production, or giving as much weight to the lived experiences of disabled people as to the professionals who work with them, particularly in policy-making. As a party to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), the Government has committed to upholding its principles, including closely consulting disabled people, including disabled children, when making policy and drafting legislation that concerns them, and ensuring that disabled children are able to express their views to the same extent as their non-disabled counterparts.17

14.Dr Marie Caslin and Ellie Curran, respectively an academic and a disabled student who submitted joint written evidence to the Committee, stated that “it is essential that … we listen to the voices of young disabled people to ensure we have a more inclusive society”.18 Scott Richardson Read, Policy and Development Worker for the Association for Real Change (ARC) Scotland, argued that “the people who are experiencing bias will tell you what the solutions are … if you give them the space”.19 This was also raised in discussions between the Committee and young disabled people, with a nonverbal participant stating:

“The Government needs to listen to people like me. Just because I do not speak does not mean I cannot make a contribution to society. Autistic people like me feel as if we have no value to the workplace and it is hard for us to make a meaningful contribution unless we are heard.”20

15.Despite these strong arguments in favour of co-production, Scott Richardson Read told us that it is “massively undervalued and misunderstood.”21 Bethany Bale, policy and campaigns officer at Disability Rights UK, a disabled people’s organisation, stated that “there is always a lack of co-production with disabled people” and that government programmes “are not in line with or aware of the reality of the barriers that disabled people face”.22

16.It is vital that services supporting young disabled people are co-produced with those young people, and with disabled people who have already experienced the transition out of education—regardless of whether they have been able to move into work.

Case studies

17.The examples that we encountered of effective, high-quality support for young disabled people spanned the entire journey from education to work—with localised schemes addressing problems seen nationally. While no single programme or scheme would address all of the many barriers that young disabled people face during this transition, making these initiatives more widely available, or implementing them nationally, could make a significant difference for young disabled people aspiring to enter, and succeed in, the workplace.

Vocational Profiling: a tailored, individualised approach to careers advice

18.We turn first to the start of the transition, examining the critical role that schools play, and particularly the role of suitable, tailored careers advice. We heard that careers advice for young disabled people is often generic and limited, frequently failing to take into account the additional challenges a young disabled person may face in the workplace, or to consider their ambitions and aspirations for their future careers.23

19.One way in which this advice can be greatly enhanced is through vocational profiling, a key component of the Supported Employment model for enabling disadvantaged people to access and remain in employment.24 This is where a young person works with a specialist, such as a job coach, to identify their experiences, skills, aspirations, and job preferences, alongside their learning needs. This process results in the development of a profile, which is used to match the young person with an appropriate job or career, and to inform the young person about their career options.

20.We heard how this approach was being used in Essex.25 Suzanne Davis, the SEND Strategy Lead for Preparing for Adulthood at Essex County Council, told us this approach is “fundamental in supporting people to build their strengths and to give them the skillsets they need, and for employers to understand what works for them.”26 She also stated that it enabled those supporting young disabled people to ensure they accessed work placements that related to their strengths.27

21.Laura Davis, Chief Executive of the British Association for Supported Employment and Inclusive Trading CIC (BASE), told us that the vocational profiling approach had also been seen to work in Kent “where they have embedded vocational profiling into mainstream schools.”28 She added that:

“good-quality vocational profiling by qualified staff who have job-coaching support which wraps around it is achieving some positive outcomes for young people through a mixture of different employment routes, whether internships, apprenticeships or straight into work.”29

22.Vocational profiling provides an effective way to identify the aspirations and development needs of young disabled people at an early stage and may enable schools and colleges to put the right careers support in place.

23.The Government should make vocational profiling a standard part of careers information, advice and guidance for young disabled people in schools. The Government should have developed a clear plan, with a full timeline for implementing this, by September 2025, taking into account the training that careers advisers and leaders will need.

ThinkForward: supporting young disabled people throughout school and into work

24.We heard that there is a lack of continuity in the careers advice and support young disabled people receive, with careers advisers changing at different stages of the transition from education to work, and information about aspirations and advice not being retained or passed on when the young person moves school or college.30

25.Some organisations are trying to tackle this problem: ThinkForward is “a charity that works to empower young people in the UK through long-term coaching … [equipping them] with the skills and experience they need to move into work or further education after they finish school”.31 It provides “ready-for-work” programmes targeted at young people who face additional barriers, such as children growing up in poverty, those at risk of exclusion, and those with learning disabilities and autism. The charity works with young people from the age of 16 until they are in secure paid employment or reach 25. Half of the young people on ThinkForward programmes have special educational needs “but do not necessarily have an EHCP”.32

26.Through vocational profiling, one-to-one coaching, trips to workplaces, business mentoring, and work experience, ThinkForward encourages young people to develop their aspirations and work-related skills and gain insight into different careers and roles. Business mentoring and coaching provide the young people with further advice and support on their journey into work. According to the charity, 46 per cent of young disabled people with learning disabilities and autism who completed ThinkForward’s programme “have been gainfully employed”.33 This compares with the background employment rate for this group of 4.8 per cent.34 The charity calculates the social return on investment in the programme at “£1.75 for every £1 invested. At a cost of £1.4m it has delivered almost £4.5m of value.”35

27.Continuous, joined up support for young disabled people, starting in school and continuing until they have secured secure employment, bridges the gap between education and work. It empowers young disabled people both to enter the workplace and to thrive once in employment and, through this, provides concrete value for money.

28.The Government should work with local authorities to improve the availability of ‘ready to work’ programmes such as that provided by ThinkForward, to support young people from school until they are settled in work. A plan and timeline for the rollout of such programmes nationally should be developed once the plan for embedding vocational profiling in the school careers advice system has been completed, and should be published no later than the end of the first quarter of 2026.

Supported internships: placements that lead to jobs for those furthest from work

29.We heard that, for a range of reasons, including logistical challenges,36 discrimination37 and a lack of will and support among schools and employers,38 many young disabled people struggle to access relevant work experience or placements.39 This prevents them from gaining knowledge and insight about possible careers or the world of work. Supported internships are programmes in which a young disabled person with an EHCP can access a work-based study programme focused on a work placement. Throughout the programme, a trained job coach supports both the young disabled person and the employer to ensure that the young person’s needs are satisfied.

30.During our inquiry, the Committee visited Whipps Cross, a hospital that hosts supported internships for young disabled people, working with the organisation DFN Project SEARCH. At Whipps Cross, interns undergo several placements in different parts of the hospital, gaining a range of experience in the workplace and learning and using different skills. The hospital staff and young disabled people we spoke to during our visit were overwhelmingly positive about the internship, with hospital leaders claiming that the scheme had benefited the hospital, boosting staff retention, making current employees more likely to disclose that they had disabilities, improved internal communication, and boosted productivity.40

31.We heard that 68 hospitals host supported internships, and that NHS supported internships often end with the NHS employer offering the interns full time, permanent contracts.41 More generally, high quality supported internships such as those delivered by DFN Project SEARCH result in 60-70 per cent of interns moving into employment.42

32.The previous Government committed to doubling the number of supported internships to 5,000 by March 2025,43 and to explore changing the eligibility criteria of supported internships.44

33.Supported internships are an effective way to support people furthest from the job market to gain experience of the workplace and enter the workforce. They also provide effective support for employers to address cultural and practical barriers to employing disabled people.

34.The Government should honour the commitment of the previous Government to double the number of supported internships and should take steps to ensure that as many young disabled people as possible are eligible for them.

35.The Government should take steps to increase the number of supported internships, and should introduce ambitious, time-bound rolling targets for this. Building on the success of supported internships in NHS Trusts, the campaign should include targeted work to increase public sector uptake of supported internships.

The COMPASS Tool in Scotland: Joined up, accessible information

36.Throughout the inquiry we heard that young disabled people and their families can struggle to access information about the support they can and should receive.45

37.In Scotland, the charity ARC Scotland has developed COMPASS, “a new online tool for disabled young people, their parents and carers, and the professionals who support them with the transition to young adult life”. It provides a “one-stop source of personalised information and guidance tailored to each young person’s needs and interests.”46 This helps young disabled people and their families to find out what support they should receive, and explains when this support should kick in, taking full account of the young person’s circumstances and where they are on their journey into adulthood.47 It also includes an anonymous feedback mechanism, gathering information on which services need improvement. There are three versions of the tool: one for young disabled people, one for parents and carers, and one for professionals and practitioners working with young people.48

38.Scott Richardson-Read told the Committee that more than 1,100 people were using the tool 6 months after its launch in June 2023, and an interim report evaluating the tool highlighted multiple areas where the tool had provided information to parents and carers about learning opportunities and skills development services.49

39.The previous Government’s Disability Action Plan, published in February 2024, included a commitment to develop an information hub aimed at people with a disabled person in their family in England.50 However the hub was not launched before the 2024 general election.

40.A single information hub that delivers tailored information to young disabled people and their parents or carers would help them navigate the transition from education to work, identify appropriate support, and understand their specific rights and entitlements.

41.Drawing on the experience of Scotland, the Government should develop an information hub modelled on ARC Scotland’s COMPASS tool for people in England. This should be developed through consultation and in partnership with disabled people and launched within 12 months of the date of this report.

Individualised Placement and Support: national employment programmes providing tailored, targeted support

42.We heard that the employment support young disabled people can access through national programmes—such as from their Work Coach in a jobcentre or through school careers services—may be “very generic”.51 It frequently fails to take into account either the needs of the individual or needs related to specific conditions,52 and is delivered by people who have not been trained to support disabled people.53

43.Individualised Placement and Support (IPS), by contrast, is “an evidence based model of supported employment”54 offering intensive, tailored support for people to access work. This includes working with employers and employees to help them remain in employment, and links health and employment support by placing employment specialists in health teams.55

44.The IPS programme for people with severe mental illness is expected to support 55,000 people to access work every year.56 As part of the Universal Support programme—a broader government programme—IPS in Primary Care is in the process of being made available nationally. This is aimed at disabled people, including both those who are out of work and those who are in work but facing challenges linked to their disability. It has been rolled out in “42 top local authority areas and … in two areas in Wales” and will reach 25,000 people.57

45.The Individualised Placement and Support model is a proven, effective way to support disabled people to access and remain in work. It is vital that momentum on rolling out IPS is maintained.

46.The Government should continue the rollout of IPS in Primary Care, setting ambitious targets both for nationwide availability of the scheme and for the number of people the scheme will support every year. The Government should publish detailed statistics on the progress of the scheme at least annually. We ask the Government to set out their policy in this area at the earliest possible opportunity.

---

• A-Z index
• Glossary
• Contact us
• Freedom of Information
• Jobs
• Using this website
• Copyright