Cumberland Council and Westmorland and Furness Council and working in Partnership with Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership and local Colleges to broaden the opportunities for our young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) to access Supported internships and paid permanent employment.

The Department for Education has funded this programme. Both Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness are working also with, NDTi, DFN Project Search and BASE. This programme is designed to support more young people with additional needs to have greater choice and control over opportunities that prepare them for adult life and enable them to gain long-term meaningful employment. Currently, only 5.1% of people with special educational needs and disabilities gain permanent paid employment in the UK, compared to 80% of their peers.

A Supported Internship is an employer-based educational programme for young people with an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP). The primary aim of a Supported Internship is to provide young people with EHCPs with the experience and skills they need to help them gain employment.

A Supported Internship lasts for up to a year and consists of one or more work placements with one or more employers. As an Intern you will gain valuable experience in the workplace and will be supported by a job coach to help you learn the job role. You will also learn about employability and job search skills in preparation for applying for jobs.

The Supported Internship is unpaid but can and does lead to employment. See the case studies below. At the end of the placement, if there is a vacancy and you meet the criteria, you will be supported to apply.

Practical careers and supported internships

The way we use people's information i covered by law. This law is called the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)

A children's disability register is a voluntary, confidential list maintained by local authorities. The register helps to plan and improve services for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

If you disagree with a decision your local authority has made about a child or young person’s education, health and care (EHC) needs or plan, you can make an appeal to have that decision changed.

An EHCP Annual Review ensures that the EHCP is still relevant. It should help your child progress towards their goals. The Annual Review is a chance to look at the plan closely. You can propose any changes you want to the plan. This includes changes to the support provided or the outcomes.

The final Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) sets out the rights of a child or young person with Specia Educational Needs (SEN).  The draft plan may go through many changes.

Once the local authority has consulted with parents and/or the young person about their draft EHCP, the local authority must finalise it. 

For some children and young people with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) the support that a nursery, school or college can provide is not enough to help them. These children and young people may need support through an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

Special Educational Needs (SEN) Support is the extra help educational settings (schools, early years, or post-16 providers) use to meet the needs of children or young people with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEN).  It will help them to learn and make progress in their learning alongside other children of the same age.

The support expected to be available to children and young people with SEND is set out in the Ordinarily Available Guidance.