Written evidence from the Edge Foundation (DEG0117)

The Edge Foundation is an independent, politically impartial education charity where we strive to make education relevant to the twenty-first century. Ultimately, we want to support all young people to develop the transferable skills needed to succeed in the labour market of the future and believe that a vibrant, coherent and relevant education system can support social equity and enable all young people to fulfil their potential.

However, pupils with special education needs or disabilities (SEND) can often face extra barriers in their education including inaccessible resources and lack of support. These barriers can also continue beyond education with many struggling to move into training, and meaningful employment.

At Edge, we believe that our education system can do much more to support disabled people into work and that employers should be made more aware of the good practices in inclusive recruitment. We have responded to specific questions in the call for evidence, using the example from St Martin’s school and Horizons Sixth form which are educational institutions in Derby, East Midlands supporting SEND pupils.[1] We also use the example of Project SEARCH at Royal Derby Hospital which is a programme of supported internships for young people with disabilities. We use these examples to particularly highlight the experience of young people with SEND and examples of good practice.  

What is the economic impact of low employment and high economic inactivity rates for disabled people? Are some disabled people (for example, young disabled people or people with different health conditions) more at risk of unemployment or economic activity than others?

The recent Covid-19 pandemic has had severe repercussions for young people, and has disrupted their education as well as leading to a lack or loss of jobs and training opportunities. This means the job market will be even more precarious for young people, but when considering those with additional needs, the opportunities to gain meaningful employment will likely be even more challenging. Additionally, people with disabilities who are in employment are more likely to be in part-time positions and in elementary roles compared to their peers without a disability and may therefore be in jobs that offer lower levels of security in addition to lower incomes (BASE, 2019) [2].

There is also a risk that young people with additional needs face further barriers receiving information, advice and guidance on careers support (Youth Employment UK, 2020).[3] For example, for students who were currently in or had attended college or sixth form, 73% of those with additional needs highlighted that they “did not receive” visits to career shows compared to 60% of those without additional needs. There is a danger that this lack of advice and support leads to a further lack in confidence among young people, with the data highlighting that 23% of those with additional needs were “not very confident” about moving into meaningful employment.

Assistance available to help people into work

First hand encounters with employers and the development of employability and transferrable skills are key to supporting SEND students into the workplace.  This is relevant to people of all ages, but for young people, exposure to the working world can play a particularly important role as it links learning to real life examples. On the other hand, this also assists employers in understanding how to provide meaningful opportunities for SEND employees, and helps them understand both the practical work-place adjustments needed and the breadth of skills that SEND employees can offer.  

St Martin’s school forges partnerships with a wide range of external partners (including local employers and community partners) to reduce the barriers faced by students in the job market and ensure their pupils have a broad set of information and experience to guide their choices. The school make efforts to ensure that students are prepared for real-life situations by organising trips to different education providers and employers, and organising careers enterprise days so that students have a real understanding of different working and learning environments. Employers are also invited to visit the school, enabling pupils to have face-to-face interaction, and they are invited to collaborate on real life cross-curriculum projects for pupils to work on during their lessons. For example, working with Rolls-Royce, the school developed a ‘Mission to Mars’ challenge, using programmable LEGO robots to create a range of useful products to adapt to life in the Mars polar regions. Working flexibly with the school, Rolls Royce adapted some of their usual school outreach programmes to make them accessible to pupils with SEND. While beneficial to the school, this also makes employers aware of the importance of flexibility and being able to adapt programmes with SEND students in mind. 

At Horizon’s sixth form, students are also supported through the transition from school to the workplace by exposing them to different encounters with different employers and the wider community. Without this, the jump to independent living can sometimes be too big. One example included students working with a local building company to develop city allotments. Students gained experience of the planning and design processes and they also delivered this assignment. These meaningful projects might take them out of their comfort zone and present them with another learning environment, helping them to develop their confidence, independence and personal skills in addition to useful transferable skills. 

Most importantly, these activities are carefully planned, designed and fine-tuned to suit SEND pupils interests, aspirations and needs. Consequently, students become better at making connections to the world of work, due to their increased exposure to employers. Through these activities they are exposed to a range of jobs opportunities for the future and made aware of a range of career destinations. 

What international evidence is there on “what works” in supporting disabled people into, and in work, and how applicable is this to the UK?

Project SEARCH founded in the US, is now an international programme of supported internships preparing young people with significant disabilities for success in competitive employment.[4] Royal Derby Hospital has introduced Project SEARCH where the one year programme allows young people with SEND to experience three 10-week placements across with different teams in multiple different roles such as hospital departments, the canteen, car parking, administration, patient caring and pathology. They are also supported by tutors and a tailored self-development programme[5].

Importantly, there is structured support for the young people which combines practical learning with lessons. While they work 10am-3pm every day, they also take part in on-site ‘classroom’ sessions with an hour every morning before shifts to learn about issues like workplace conduct, health and safety and refining their skills. Similarly at the end of the day, interns return to the ‘classroom’ to spend an hour reflecting on their day. They are encouraged to identify and reflect on what they have achieved in their roles and personal development and to pinpoint areas for improvement.

Students are also formally assessed on their development with their tutors meeting with managers and parents during each rotation, to assess individual performance and identify where extra support might be needed. Tutors continue to hold high expectations for the students, encouraging them to continually push their own boundaries and develop themselves.

Importantly, while real work experience helps students develop specific technical and work-ready skills, the extra wrap-around support enables students to identify areas for their own personal development (such as independence, self-management, and communication skills) - which are important for any job in the future. This has also had positive implications for employers as the partnership raises awareness of the needs of SEND individuals; seeing the adaptations made to support the interns has filtered across the wider organisation, with better support provided for staff regardless of whether or not they have SEND. 

It is also evident that by opening up placements to SEND young people, they also offered a valuable contribution to the business, making hospital staff aware of the mutual benefits of working with SEND employees and better integrating staff support into the working life, whether they have special education needs or not. 

Where should lead responsibility for improving disabled peoples’ employment rates sit (for example, DWP; Business, Energy and Industry Strategy; Health and Social Care)?

Work must be done to help employers understand the benefit that diversity brings to an organisation. While St Martin’s offers an example of meaningful employer engagement, there is still evidence that  concern that employers lack understanding and experience of SEND students or employees, and may not yet understand the skills that SEND employees can contribute to the business (i.e their ability for strong attention to detail, and strong work ethic). Unaware of what adjustments (physical and other) are required to accommodate individuals with SEND (Open University, 2019)[6],  this may be a reason for the limited supply of work experience offers made to SEND students. While SEND schools work hard to include meaningful employer engagement into the school experience, and there is evidence that employers are increasingly keen to attend the school and provide activities, there is still more that must be done to encourage employers to offer meaningful employment opportunities to SEND students.

Employers need to be encouraged as a key local partner, and while this responsibility should sit with BEIS and DWP, there is also an important role for the education system to support students into meaningful employment, so we believe DfE should also be actively involved in supporting students through this transition. The DfE can support students more by increasing the resources and funding available to senior leadership and teaching staff at all educational institutions supporting SEND students specifically. These institutions will be better able to design a specific curriculum and improve careers programmes to better prepare their SEND students for employment. It is vital for local employers to be included in this process.

How can DWP better support employers to take on and retain disabled employees, and to help them progress in work? What would you hope to see in the Government’s National Strategy for Disabled People?

It is vital for DWP to work closely with the DfE to develop better wrap-around support for disabled employees. As per the example above from Project SEARCH, a combination of structured classroom, personal development support, mentoring, reflective sessions and a strong support network encourages individuals to develop both technical skills in the workplace, but also transferable and personal skills such as confidence, self-management and communication, enabling them to thrive in future jobs. This can be particularly beneficial to young people, supporting their transition from education into work and later moving between jobs.

Not all employers are yet aware of the benefits a diverse workforce can bring and/or they do not feel they have the knowledge to recruit and support these employees. So we would also like to see  DWP and DfE collaborating more with BEIS to work closely with community actors, in particular with businesses, to ensure they offer supported work opportunities which take into account the needs of SEND employees. As part of this, local employers should be encouraged to collaborate with education providers to provide career talks, meaningful work experience and to co-produce engaging curriculum projects.

Not only would this provide SEND students with meaningful opportunities for work experience, but this would also expose employers more to the needs, skills and abilities of people with SEND. This will allow for them to better provide for them as employees and feel more comfortable offering internship opportunities or sustained employment to people with additional needs.

This echoes with a recent report from the Open University which highlights a similar message for apprenticeships. It found that while one in three employers said that hiring apprentices or graduates with a disability is an important priority for them, many reported challenges in knowing where to turn for information and advice, how to seek any additional funding or resources required, or indeed securing the internal resource required to better support apprentices with declared disabilities.[7] So fostering greater interchange between employers, SEND education institutions and SEND students is key to unlocking this.  

December 2020