Supported internships

Over the past decade, Hereward College has forged fantastic partnerships with major employers in the West Midlands to create supported internship opportunities for young people with disabilities.

Today we offer a wide range of placements in sectors including automotive, criminal justice, higher education, hospitality, leisure, retail and utilities, with roles including business administration, customer service, housekeeping and manufacturing.

On completion of their 12-month programme many of our interns progress to paid roles, having impressed their host employer. 

Industry partners now view our supported internship programme as a valuable pipeline of talent, particularly in positions where recruitment and retention has been an issue.

How do supported internships work?

Our Hereward Employment Services team is the first point of contact for an employer and provides the crucial link between job seeker and work opportunity. A dedicated job coach works onsite to provide employers with support, advice and guidance. 

The team works to match a young person’s skills and aspirations while understanding an employer’s needs through: 

  • Vocational profiling to get to know the young person with a learning disability

  • Job matching to ensure the right person for the right job

  • In work support for both employee and employer

  • Ongoing training, monitoring and contact. 

Interns are either current Hereward students or sourced from local schools and colleges as ‘direct entry’. Once a placement has been agreed the job coach will: 

  • Spend time learning the tasks and understanding the workplace before introducing the intern 

  • Agree a specific plan of action identifying tasks, performance levels and timescales, which are regularly reviewed 

  • Provide systematic training of the agreed tasks and processes 

  • Collect performance data while the employer retains management of the intern 

  • Gradually fade support so that the intern can perform tasks unassisted 

  • Keep in touch with both employer and intern and be available to support should tasks or workplace change.

Students spend up to 30 hours a week in working in different areas in the workplace to gain valuable experience with the support of an onsite Hereward job coach. 

Interns spend one day a week in college studying for a City & Guilds qualification in Employability Skills and can take maths and English qualifications suitable to their level.

Intern with Job Coach Jordan Brown at the Sports and Wellness Hub, University of Warwick.

Benefits of supported internships to business

Businesses who employ people with learning disabilities through supported internship programmes report numerous benefits, including: 

  • Increased disability confidence, disclosure and disability awareness amongst existing employees

  • Professional and skills development for existing staff in leadership and coaching 

  • Increased employee engagement, attraction and retention 

  • Stronger team and supplier relationships 

  • Harnessing hidden untapped talent and level of skills 

  • Building connections with the local community 

  • Enhanced company reputation as an employer

Amrik Rai, Manufacturing Manager at Evtec Automotive, with a Hereward intern

“We have had 120 students through Hereward. We take this work very seriously and want the best for all these students.
 
“We focus on Supported Internships for 18 to 25-year-olds, a nine-month placement supported by the job coaches, who are an integral part of this success. Then we have a Step In programme which is essentially work experience – generally shorter placements (one to two weeks) which offer a first introduction to the world of work.
 
“The Step Up programme is paid roles bridging the gap from work experience to employability and then we have full time permanent roles.
 
“The students come to us very shy and uncertain and with the support of their valued job coaches and their new peers we watch them flourish in various areas of production. This is a very important aspect of who we are as a company as we know that these students can become a valued asset of this business or have the skills to work somewhere else. 
 
“I can speak from personal experience that disability is never a barrier to work; we have seen better attendance and certainly dedication and loyalty, which are key elements to any successful business.
 
“We have had 11 students being successful in securing paid employment with us since 2021 and 43% of our workforce have some form of disability.”

Jane Billson, Head of HR at Evtec Automotive

Supported Internship Programme 2023-24

100%

Retention Rate

For 34 interns on 12-month employment placements

100%

Pass and Achievement Rate

For 34 interns on 12-month employment placements

40% - 100%

Of Participants Going on To Gain Paid Work (Depending on The Employer)

The national average for adults with a learning disability in employment is 4.8%

“Learners on supported internships participate in a highly ambitious programme. Subsequently, interns become valued employees and progress to permanent roles with the employer at the end of their internship.”

Ofsted report – June 2023

If you are interested in finding about more about our supported internship programmes, contact xxx