Closing the Disability Skills Gap report

Year of Publication: 
2015

Disability Rights UK has published a summary of the Closing the Skills Gap reports. The report highlights their findings on the skills young disabled people need to get into employment; and on skills for people who acquire impairments or conditions during working life.

Their findings, based on the two reports, stress:

  • the importance of peer to peer support
  • a need for disabled people to be able to exercise choice and control

There are critical success factors from the 2 reports:

  1. Careers advice that blends trained independent advisors with online accessible resources; rooted in in-depth knowledge of both the career potential of disabled people (overcoming low expectations) and the job roles of the future economy
  2. Skills development that is integrated with employment, offering a range of quality work experience, traineeships and apprenticeships. Colleges, Job Centre Plus and employment support providers have key roles in integrating skills with employment opportunities
  3. Peer support and mentoring: sharing the expertise of lived experience
  4. Support for the individual, skills provider and employer. Good practice suggests rapid job/work experience search, with flexible and - where needed - ongoing support for employer and learner
  5. Incentives to employers to offer apprenticeship and other career development programmes to disabled people (for instance, tax or national insurance incentives).

The full reports are posted on the DRUK website at http://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/2015/march/closing-disability-skills-gap-report