Investment in Supported Internships Programme

Supported Internships (SIs) are a work-based study programme for 16-24 year olds with SEND who have an Education Health and Care plan, who want to move into employment and who need extra support to do so. SIs are designed to equip young people with the skills they need to secure and sustain employment through learning in the workplace.

The DfE wants to build the capacity of the SI programme and are aiming to double the number of SIs from c.2,250 internship enrolments per annum to c.4,500 per annum by 2025.

Following an open procurement process in compliance with the Public Contract Regulations (2015) (as amended). Contracts have been awarded to deliver services to meet these aims:

Lot 1 'Strengthening the Supported Internships Programme' worth up to a maximum total value of £4,537,165.04 (exc VAT)

Lot 2 'Delivery of Job Coach training' worth up to a maximum total value of 1,219,651.50 (exc VAT)

Both contracts will run until 31st March 2024, at which point, a further 12 month extension may be exercised at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

On 09/11/2023 a variation was completed on the Lot 1 contract 'Strengthening the Supported Internships Programme' to administer and monitor additional grants to local authorities to test the supported internships model for those with Learning Disabilities and Difficulties but without Education, Health and Care plans (EHCPs).

The additional cost of this variation is £197,285.92 (exc. VAT) bringing the Lot 1 contract value total to £4,734,450.96 (exc. VAT). The total value of both contracts is now £5,954,102.46 (exc. VAT).

On 11th April 2025 a variation was completed to extend both the Lot 1 and Lot 2 contracts for a further 12 months with a revised end date of 31st March 2026. This takes the contract totals to: Lot 1: £5,966,482.76 (excl. VAT) Lot 2: £1,542,374.40 (excl. VAT) Total for both contracts: £7,508,857.16 (excl. VAT)