Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to expand supported internships to further education students on individual support plans.

The department is consulting on proposals to reform the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system, and you can access the consultation here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/send-strategy-division/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-firs/. We are considering the impact of the proposed reforms on specific programmes including supported internships.

We are already piloting supported internships for young people with SEND who do not have education, health and care plans. We have seen positive outcomes from the pilot and have recently announced that we are investing £9 million to continue this for a further year. The pilot is being evaluated and this learning will inform future policy development.

Supported Internships remain a proven pathway to employment for young people furthest from the labour market, with thousands of high-quality opportunities now available across the country with a range of employers, following significant investment.