Turbocharging Supported Internships for Young People with SEND

Former minister Alan Milburn, who is leading a government review of youth employment, argues that specialist internships for 16- to 24-year-olds with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) must be “turbocharged” to curb the growing NEET (not in employment, education or training) crisis. Milburn contends that the current system prioritises health and disability benefits over pathways to work and that scaling up the scheme could dramatically increase job placement for this group.

The Guardian

Nearly one million 16- to 24-year-olds in the United Kingdom are classified as NEET, a ten-year high that Milburn describes as a moral and economic crisis. His May report warned that, without urgent action, the NEET population could rise by 25 % to 1.25 million by the early 2030s. A key driver of this trend is the rise in young people diagnosed with neurodevelopmental conditions or mental illness who struggle to transition into work.

The Guardian

Nationally, as few as 5 % of some SEND groups secure permanent employment after school. Supported internships, which combine on-site work experience with job coaching, have shown markedly higher success rates. An official Department for Education evaluation published this year found that 48 % of participants secured paid work, while providers of the scheme report success rates as high as 70 %. England currently hosts only about 4,500 supported internships.

The Guardian

Milburn’s final recommendations, expected in the autumn, call for expanding the internship model despite capacity shortages that limit local access. He acknowledges uncertainty about financing the expansion and notes concerns that additional funding could be diverted from disability benefits. Milburn emphasizes that a young person receiving a health or disability benefit faces a roughly 50 % chance of remaining out of work for the next 15 years.

The Guardian

If the review’s proposals are adopted, primary and secondary schools would be tasked with early identification of at-risk students, and employers such as the NHS, Asda and Amazon could broaden participation. Proponents argue that a scaled-up internship system would provide the opportunities and support needed to move more young people with SEND into sustainable employment, thereby addressing both the immediate youth jobs crisis and its longer-term economic implications.

The Guardian