What Works
DFN Project SEARCH Impact Evaluation
Building robust evidence of how the supported internship programme model can support young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) into employment.
The systems challenge
Young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) are significantly less likely to be in employment, yet not enough is known about what works to support these groups.
Our aim
To build on previous UK and US-based evaluations and grow our understanding about the effectiveness of supported internships in England for young people with SEND with and without Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).
What are we doing?
We are partnering with KCL and the Steve Morgan Foundation to fund and evaluate the delivery of DFN’s Project SEARCH supported internship programme, a form of unpaid work-based study.
The programme
DFN Project SEARCH is a 9-month programme for young people aged 16 to 24 with a learning disability, who are autistic, or both.
Interns complete training via a series of 10-week work placements over an academic year, totalling at least 700 hours of practical experience, rotating across three different departments in host businesses.
It is run as a site-based model by the central team and brings together:
- Further Education colleges
- host employers such as Asda and GXO
- local authorities across England
- supported employment providers
Evaluation approach
Following a 2024 feasibility study, researchers will now conduct:
- A quasi-experimental design (QED) evaluation of DFN’s historic supported internship delivery with young people with SEND with an EHCP (since 2019) focusing on Education, Employment & Training (EET) outcomes.
- A randomised controlled trial (RCT) comparing employment, health and wellbeing outcomes for a sample of the 2026 cohort of young people with SEND without an EHCP and a control group of young people that will receive business as usual support from their Further Education colleges.
- An implementation and process evaluation (IPE), that will seek to understand how the programme achieved any impact.
- An economic evaluation, that will monetise the benefits of the programme to employers, the Exchequer and society to understand whether it provides value for money
Background
The supported internship model has previously been evaluated through a randomised controlled trial in the United States, which found a strong impact of the programme of the employment outcomes of participants. At 12 months post-internship, 87% of participants in the treatment group remained in employment, compared to 12% in the control group.
Aseries of evaluations by the Department for Education (DfE), including in 2013, 2024 and 2026, have shown promising findings on the potential impact of supported internships (including the DFNPS model) on interns’ outcomes.
DfE are also piloting the delivery of supported internships for young people without an EHCP though the Internships Work pilot.
Meet the partners
The Policy Institute – King’s College London
Evaluation panel, Research & evaluation partner
View partner
