In March 2022 the Welsh Government Launched Jobs Growth Wales+ (JGW+), offering employability skills, training, and paid work placement opportunities for young people aged 16-19 years in Wales. JGW+ is part of a suite of programmes and support that make up the Young Person’s Guarantee. Since the launch of JGW+, the Welsh Government is keen to explore activity that will support the most disengaged young people to engage with and benefit from the support JGW+ can offer.

Evaluation of the Traineeships programme, one of the key programmes supporting young people into employment, highlighted concerns that some Contractors were not able to provide the resource-intensive support required to meet the needs of young people with complex needs and enable them to secure good outcomes. In response to this, the Welsh Government introduced the Supported Employment Coach Pilot (‘the pilot’). The pilot began in October 2021, initially through the Traineeships programme and runs until March 2023 as part of the Jobs Growth Wales+ programme (JGW+ which has replaced Traineeships).

Overview of the Supported Employment Coach pilot

The overall aim of the pilot is to improve outcomes for young people with a moderate to severe learning disability/difficulty (LDD) and/or autism, by increasing the number who progress in to paid employment or apprenticeships. In addition, the pilot aims to:

▪ Provide resources to further develop awareness and confidence in supporting disabled learners and those with additional learning needs;

▪ Inform a better understanding of the cohort of learners who would most benefit from following a learning pathway in line with the Supported Employment Model;

▪ Inform Welsh Government support for young people with moderate to severe LDD and/or autism to progress onto positive outcomes, including inclusive apprenticeships and paid employment.