Supported Internships
Supported Internships are a structured study programme based primarily at an employer.
The aim of Supported Internships is to provide opportunities for young people to achieve sustained, paid employment by equipping them with the skills they need for work, primarily through learning in the workplace.
Supported internships are for young people aged 16-24 with an EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan). You can find further information here.
Please see below for local Supported Internship opportunities.
The programme is designed to support neurodivergent young people develop employability skills in a work setting and progress onto employment. This is done through specialised and bespoke internship placements delivered in partnership with local employers, including The Young Vic, Guy's and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, and Hilton London Bankside.
As part of the programme, interns also have access to Job Coaches at the College who support them in understanding work culture, developing interpersonal skills, and building on their confidence. The coaches also work with the employers to help them understand how to best work with young people with hidden disabilities, identify their strengths and challenges, and make reasonable adjustments to enable the interns to complete their placements successfully.
Contact
Email: info@southwark.ac.uk
Tel: 020 3757 4000
Click here to visit the Southwark College Supported Learning web page
Our Supported Internship is designed to allow young adults with learning difficulties the opportunity to gain work and life skills. We create a safe and supported environment in which our young people can develop their potential. With support from Industry professionals and a job coach, our learners develop their work skills and benefit from emotional and practical support.
The programme works with an 80/20 split between vocational experience and academics – the emphasis being on practical working skills. Throughout the year, benchmarks for success tailored to each individual are recorded and added to the learner’s CV’s. If at the end of the year they feel they are ready, learners are fully prepared and equip to enter the world of work, but if not, they have still developed their potential and CV to assist them in the future – not to mention the many life skills, such as independent travel and personal finance management, they will have gained.
We currently work with Sofitel Hotel in St James and run our own Coffee shop locally, aptly named Boscoffee. Learners enter their teams in September and incrementally take on more responsibility with the support of other team members and their Job Coach as the year progresses. The aim is that support from the job coach will decrease as the learner becomes more confident and skilled in each area of their work and more integrated into the working team without additional support.
Click here to watch a YouTube video of the Boscoffee Manager and current students
Contact
Email: info@bosco.ac.uk
Tel: 020 72320440
If you are autistic, aged between 18-25, have an Education Health and Care Plan and would like to work, The Autism Project may be able to help you reach your goals.
The Autism Project is a full-time course that runs for 2 years; learners attend up to 5 days a week depending on the learner needs. The aim of the programme is to help young autistic adults (18-25) prepare for employment by offering work experience placements in a supportive environment with one of our partner employers. Our main partner employers include Guy’s & St. Thomas’s Hospitals and the Whittington Health.
Training provided
City & Guilds Functional Skills in English & Maths if required and a RAPRA curriculum that allows us to focus on individual skill development, careers preparation that incorporates that Gatsby Benchmark and supported real-life work placements.
Contact
Email: tap@caretradeuk.org
Tel: 020 3375 6288
Address: Care Trade, The Clarence Centre, 6 St George’s Circus, SE1 6FE
Health Education England, Project Choice is a specialist College providing tailored educational support, and a supported internship course for young adults aged 16-24 with learning disabilities/ difficulties and/ or Autism.
Project Choice partner with NHS healthcare settings, local organisations and private businesses to create supported work environments that provide real work experience for our Learners.
Support is tailored to each Learner, based on their skills and interests. The College is supported by the NHS as part of the ongoing commitment to improving employment outcomes for vulnerable groups. The learning day is based in Borough.
Download further information here. (pdf, 836kb)
Student experiences
Click here to hear about the experiences of interns at Project Choice on YouTube
Contact
Click here for details of Project Choice London locations
For more information on the programme, please email project.choice@hee.nhs.uk
Click here to visit the Project Choice - Supported Internships web page
Mencap has developed two options for young people with an EHCP who aspire to work. Based on an assessment carried out by Mencap, learners will either take a 1 year or 2-year programme, recognising that some people may need more support than others.
Eligibility:
- Aged 16-24
- Have an EHCP
- Have a learning disability, learning difficulty or autism
- Aspire to work and able to complete 300 hours of work experience
Further Information
Download details of Mencap's Supported Internships and outcomes here (pdf, 1013kb)
Download details of Mencap's Pre-Internship study programme here (pdf, 608kb)
Student experiences
- Click here to read John-Jo’s story about his experiences whilst completing the Mencap Supported Internship programme
- Click here to hear about Patrick’s story on YouTube
Contact
For further information, please email Tito.Gbadamosi497@mencap.org.uk
Telephone: 07813 723165
Address: 80 Holloway Road, London N7 8JG
Click here to visit Mencap's Supported Internship web page
Click here for details of Mencap Bromley's Supported Internship programme
WKC have a programme of Supported Internships for learners with learning difficulties.
Supported Internships are the perfect stepping stone for learners to transition into the world of work.
Click the following link to find out more information about the Supported Internship programme with WKC.
Contact
Please email aklima.bilkis@westking.ac.uk -Supported Internship Co-ordinator, for any further information.
Westminster Kingsway College
King’s Cross Centre
211 Gray’s Inn Road
WC1X 8RA
Tel: 020 7963 4181
Lewisham Supported Internships are run in partnership with Lewisham Council, Phoenix Housing and The 3 Cs. Supported Internships aim to give young people with an EHC Plan a supportive and motivating route into paid employment and/or an apprenticeship. Students receive support from a coach job to produce an effective CV and acquire excellent interview skills. Students spend some time in class practising team work, communication skills and work related tasks.
Supported Internships include: Brockley restaurant (catering), Phoenix Housing (range of placements: office, catering, caretaking services) and our newest directly with Lewisham Council (placements include gyms, parks and offices).
Contact
Telephone: 020 3757 3000 or email info@lewisham.ac.uk or use Live Chat.
Click here to visit Lewisham College's Supported Learning web page
The Building Hope Academy Construction based Programme for young people age 16-18yrs up to 24yrs with EHCP.
The main aim of the programme is to support young people with a successful transition to independence and employment within the construction industry.
The programme will take participants through a journey of professional and personal development. On completion the learner will achieve and have the skills and knowledge in the areas of:
- Up to Level 2 City and Guilds Construction Skill – Painting and Decorating, Plastering and Tiling
- Health and Safety Awareness & CSCS Card
- First Aid Training
- Employability skills
- Work experience
- Functional Skills in Math and English or GCSE
- Leadership skills for personal and professional development
- Employment support into jobs, apprenticeships and further education and training opportunities.
Contact
If you are interested or you work with someone who would benefit from this, please complete the attached referral form and send to Buildinghopeacademy@barnardos.org.uk.
Address: The Triangle, 2 Coxwell Road, Crystal Palace, London, SE19 3BG
Telephone: 07784239106
Click on the link below for further information
Building Hope Academy Leaflet (pdf, 519kb)
Building Hope Academy Leaflet The Triangle (pdf, 519kb)
Building Hope Academy Referral Form (docx, 73kb)
Shaw Trust provide Supported Internships for young people aged 16-24 with an EHCP. The programme lasts for 1 year and offers three different placements (1 each term). We support young people to gain paid employment at the end of the programme. We have a 70% success rate of getting the young people into work.
We run alongside a school year (September-July). We offer functional skills as well as job placements in high street retailers as well as TfL.
We offer continuous training to the young person preparing them for work as well as resilience training and looking after themselves.
The intern's day is usually from 9am - 3.30pm - however some sites may vary these hours slightly
Locations
We have Supported Internships in Bexley, Harrow, Havering, Heathrow, Hillingdon, Redbridge, TfL (Newham), Wandsworth, West London (HS2), Reading, York and Wakefield. We are open to anyone who is able to travel to one of these sites.
Contact
We can be contacted directly at supportedinternships@shaw-trust.org.uk. We ask that all young people applying have a current EHCP.
Telephone: 0751 749 9953
Postal address: Harrow Youth Stop, 21 The Building, 21 Pinner Road, Harrow, Middlesex, HA1 4ES
Further information
Please click here to access our website.
Download our flyer here (pdf, 9mb) and our brochure here (pdf, 5mb).
Orchard Hill offer WorkStart courses which is a package of employment courses from Orchard Hill College. WorkStart gives you the opportunity to gain work experience and qualifications. Our Job Coaches will work with you one-to-one to get you on track to achieving your ambitions.
We offer the following courses:
- Pathway to Employment
- Preparation for Employment
- Short Courses
Supported Internships – we offer the below courses with our partners:
- DFN Project Search Supported Internship Achieving for Children, Kingston
- DFN Project Search Supported Internship; Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals
- DFN Project Search Supported Internship; The Hillingdon Hospitals
- DFN Project Search Supported Internship with London Borough of Hillingdon
- DFN Project Search Supported Internship with London Borough of Lambeth
- DFN Project Search Supported Internship with NHS England
Our WorkStart website is workstart.me.uk