Work experience

What is general work experience?

Work experience is time you spend in a business to learn more about a job, company or industry. 

Read more about general work experience.

Supporting a work experience student

You should try to treat them the same as any other employee as much as possible. This is so that they learn about workplace expectations and behaviours. You must also provide them with a higher level of supervision and coaching due to their lack of experience.

Here are some of our top tips to finding the right balance:

• Inductions – make sure you include the basics for behaviours and expectations. See our ‘inductions’ section under Personal development, behaviours and welfare (PDBW) for more details.
• Allocate a mentor or buddy wherever possible. Especially if you’re not able to work with them directly for large parts of the day.
• Create a rough plan or timetable for them so that they know what their day/week will look like. This is very useful for students with additional needs who rely on routine.
• Plan meaningful and real activities that will give them an insight into the working world. You can include work shadowing but be sure to mix things up so that they have a blend of learning. People learn in different ways so it would be useful to know how your student prefers to learn. This will allow you to tailor what you do.
• When planning activities, you could tailor them to what the student wants to get out of the placement. Have a discussion with them about what they might want to do or are interested to learn more about.
• Build soft skills. Make sure your student isn’t just learning how to carry out a task specific to your team or company. Make it so they are learning skills they can take to other places. Increase their confidence or ability to use their initiative to resolve problems.
• Your student will probably be eager to please – make sure you encourage them to give feedback and ask questions throughout. Reviewing the placement regularly is a really good way to get them to open up. Some placements require a diary to be filled in each day. If not you could consider using our work experience diary template to do this.
• Towards the end of their placement have discussions around their career interests going forwards. They might benefit from a session with employees from other teams/sectors. This will mean they can find out more about their roles and how they got into that sector.
• On their last day, ask for feedback from the student. Make sure to share this with inclusiveoffer@barnsley.gov.uk. You can gather feedback in several ways, such as:
  • An anonymous questionnaire.
  • A 1:1 chat.
  • Using a work experience evaluation form template. 

Further reading

GOV.UK has a useful Work experience: employer guide.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has a guide to making work experience work - top tips for employers.

Use this project template if you'd like your employee to improve their project management skills.

If you are a Barnsley Council employee, check out our work placement checklist.

Apprenticeships

What are apprenticeships?

An apprenticeship is a paid job which offers hands-on work experience alongside studying for a qualification. Read more about apprenticeships.

More often than not, an apprentice joining you via the Inclusive Offer will be a young adult. One who is looking for professional and personal development.

What does a manager need to do when hosting an apprentice?

As the manager of an apprentice, you are in charge of their professional development and you must:

• Ensure they do real, productive work. Work which gives them the chance to access, develop, practice, and evidence the knowledge and skills required to meet the standard.
• Allow them to attend external training and assessments as part of their paid working hours.
• Take part in regular reviews with the apprentice and training provider to review their progress.
• Liaise with the training provider and choose who will do the end-point assessment.
• Confirm that the apprentice is competent at work.

Apprenticeship standards

Apprenticeship standards are similar to assessment criteria. They list the knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs) the apprentice needs to develop. As a manager, you can use these standards to structure your support.

Regular 1:1s

You should meet regularly with your apprentice for formal and informal 1:1s. Part of your agenda should include reviewing the KSBs to:

• make sure the apprentice understands each KSB and how this relates to their role
• identify those KSBs which have been developed and those which the apprentice needs to address

It’s important you do this as you must be able to confirm the apprentices' progress and ability. This will help you to demonstrate their growing skills during any reviews with the apprentice and the provider.

Review meetings

Review meetings should take place at least every 12 weeks. Providers will arrange these, however you are as liable as the provider for ensuring these take place.

Planning tasks or projects

Where any KSBs are not on track, you must work with the apprentice and the provider. This is to identify and agree an action plan to address this. The action plan can include further activities the apprentice can take part in to expand their skills.

You may increase or change the set tasks the apprentice does each day/week. Or there could be a project area your team are developing where the apprentice could lead on certain elements.

At times, the provider will supply you with a timetable or learning plan for the duration of the apprenticeship. This will show what topics and KSBs they will focus on throughout the academic year. You can use this to help with your planning.

Personal development reviews (PDRs)

You can use the apprenticeship standards as part of formal reviews. It can help you to identify strengths and achievements, as well as areas for development.

Your apprentice is on a journey to develop skills, knowledge and experience. They do this through studying and gaining a qualification whilst also gaining vital experience of the working world. More often than not, an apprentice joining you via the Inclusive Offer will be a young adult. They will likely be looking for professional and personal development.

Your main role is to support and coach them through their journey. For more information on coaching, see our ‘coaching’ section under Personal development, behaviours and welfare (PDBW).

Further support

Take a look at our Personal development, behaviours and welfare (PDBW) section for more help.

You can also download our 12 ways to support your apprentice checklist.

The Lead Pastoral Mentor can provide targeted support for apprentices and their managers and can help with:

• Pastoral care.
• Guidance and advocacy.
• Signposting to relevant services for support.
• Planning for next steps as the apprenticeship comes to an end.

The provider will have safeguarding policies in place to ensure the safety and wellbeing of apprentices. If you become aware of any safeguarding issues, you should consider sharing these with your apprentice’s tutor. This is so they can arrange the right support. Any details should be shared in line with your information governance policies. Consent should be sought from your apprentice before sharing.

Further reading

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has a guide for employers supporting an apprentice.

Amazing Apprenticeships have developed a 50 support activities booklet which lists activities you can encourage your apprentice to do. This booklet was initially developed for supporting apprentices during the Covid-19 lockdown. It does include useful things such as a reflection project and employment guidance, which promote personal development.

The Learning and Work Institute have put together an apprentice support guide.

Derby City Council have a useful guide for managers with an apprentice.

Supported internships

What are supported internships?

Supported internships are for young people aged 16 to 25 who have special educational needs and disabilities. They help people who are keen to get into work but need some extra help. Read more about supported internships. 

These programmes run for 12 months. You'll be fully supported by the education provider that the young person attends.

Preparing for a supported internship placement

The most important thing is all placements are tailored to meet the needs of the young person.

Initially, the college’s Work Skills Coordinator will support the placement by working with you and the young person. They will identify what support might be needed from you during work. They'll know the student well and be able to prepare you for what to expect initially. Most students want, and should be, treated in the same way as any other member of staff. This may be in terms of orientation around their working environment, introductions to the team and any induction for example. They may need reasonable adjustments such as extra time to process new information. These are things that the Work Skills Coordinator will discuss with you in advance. The Work Skills Coordinator will be the key college contact. They should keep in touch with you regularly for updates on progress or adjustments to support.

It’s a good approach to work with the student and ask them what they need. Speak to them to find out what their strengths are and where they think they’ll need more support. Its important that they have a voice and can advocate for themselves as much as possible. A work buddy is often a good idea. This is so they know who to ask for help or advice when they need it.

A job coach will also be assigned to work with the young person. This might be support to carry out all tasks initially. They may also just support specific areas of a task as needed. The job coach is likely to provide higher levels of support at first. They will then stop accompanying them to work when they are no longer needed. This will be planned with you and the student.

The Work Skills Coordinator will oversee the placement throughout, including holding reviews where together you will:

• Look at areas for development.
• Tailor the placement to fill any gaps on progress.
• Check if the employer or employee have anything to raise.

They may also use a review planning checklist to help.

Further reading

Find out more about our supported internship program.

Browse the British Association for Supported Employment (BASE) guidance for supported employment.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has a guide to employing disabled people and people with health conditions.

The Department for Education (DfE) has a guide to providing supported internships for young people with an EHC plan.

Various support and guidance is available from:

• The Careers and Enterprise Company.
• National Development Team for Inclusion: Preparing for adulthood

T-level placements

What is a T-level?

T-levels are technical-based awards, gained over a two-year period and equivalent to three A-levels. Read more about T-levels

What does a manager need to do when hosting a T-level placement?

You’ll need to understand your duties and the agreed timeframe your student will be working towards. Link up with the provider (usually a local college) in the early stages to gather the details from them.

Your main role will be supporting the learner to build specific technical skills. Ones which align with your team activities and their study programme.

For more about your duties as an employer, please visit GOV.UK: Industry placements

Preparing for a T-level placement

As with any type of training or work experience, it's important for you to prepare. This is so the young person can hit the ground running when they start. Take a look at the induction section under Personal development, behaviours and welfare (PDBW). This has more help on how to prepare for those first few weeks.

For T-levels, you'll want to focus on the specific projects and tasks that the learner will undertake, thinking about:

• How you can provide a variation of tasks/projects that the learner can work across. This will allow them to build a number of skills.
• How you can vary the difficulty of tasks so that the learner is challenged but not overly so.
• How you will support the learner as they carry out new tasks, such as shadowing, coaching, training sessions for example.
• How you will check-in with your learner to ensure they are fully supported, with 1:1s, check-ins, team meetings for example.
• How you will support your learner to develop employability skills. Remember most learners may be having their first experience in a workplace and might need support to develop. For more help, take a look at the employability skills section under Personal development, behaviours and welfare (PDBW).

Progress reviews

It’s important to complete regular reviews with your T-level learner. This is so that you can both feedback on how useful you think the placement has been. Learners need to gain new skills and experience. You also need to see them developing and becoming a part of your team.

Progress reviews will look different for everyone. Some young people may require more supervision and training, whereas others might feel able to take on more challenges. During the review you can reflect on what’s gone well and what could’ve gone better. You can plan new tasks and activities from there.

Progress review meetings allow you to look at their personal and professional development. They are also a good time to encourage students to speak up if they are struggling or need support.

Download our progress review template or our end of placement review form.

Further reading

Further advice and guidance on supporting a T-level industry placement can be found on the Gatsby website.

Find out more about managing young people who are new to the workplace.

Learn more about T-level skill areas and how to choose projects and tasks for your student.

Find out how to support industry placement students with special educational needs and disabilities.

GOV.UK has a guide to industry placements.