Kickstart, the new Government scheme to support 16 – 24 year olds through providing hundreds of thousands of work placements for young people on universal credit who are deemed to be at risk of long-term unemployment, is officially up and running.

The £2 billion scheme will cover 100% of the relevant national minimum wage costs for 25 hours per week and associated National Insurance costs and employer minimum automatic enrolment contributions. It will also provide a one-off payment of £1,500 for the employer to enable the right support for a placement.

Real Ideas is acting as a gateway to help schools access the scheme. We have developed an offer that will support schools to take on Kickstart placements in a way that ensures the process works as easily and simply as possible. We will ensure schools understand what is involved, place their Kickstart employee in an appropriate role in their setting and set up the right support around the placement. This will ensure that the young person gets the best opportunities for them and that the setting receives value and is not distracted from its core educational purpose.

We think there are several areas a Kickstart placement could really work in a school setting:

  • Office Support: helping the office team to manage the front facing elements of the school especially with maintaining a digital presence through the school website, social media accounts, and communications to parents.
  • Resources Support: acting as educational resource development support. Providing capacity to support teaching teams to develop the learning resources, both digital and paper based.
  • Activity Support: providing classroom and or lunchtime support in a socially distanced learning environment. Providing support for learning bubbles and creating the extra classroom capacity teaching teams will need.
  • Project Support. Working with the relevant staff to make particular time bound projects happen from developing the community programme to starting a school garden project or developing the outdoor learning environment.

So, what are the costs for you as an employer to benefit from the scheme? There are no costs to you as an employer offering all of the requirements of the programme. As an employer you will receive £1,500 to support the placement. We have a range of support you may wish to invest in below to make your programme as successful as possible and meet all of the requirements to be eligible.

Support for you as an employer – £350

We can support you to set up and manage the interview process; manage your placement including trouble shooting any issues that arise; support you to create and issue digital credentials to recognise employee achievements and act as a digital reference for your Kickstart employee.

Direct support to your Kickstart placement – Full support £650

  • Provide a face to face or virtual starter day where employees are introduced to school workplace expectations and supported to become a great employee within their specific role.
  • Give your employee access to monthly one to one sessions with a professional navigator (a Real Ideas career coach) to support your employee to build confidence and independence, work on their CV and overcome any personal barriers to success.
  • Access to monthly training sessions linked to school placement specific roles (Office, Resources, Activity, Project) to improve their education sector specific understanding, teamwork, communication, independent working skills and ability to get things done and meet deadlines
  • Access to a next steps group session (or ‘Opportunity Hack’ as we call them) where your employees are supported to identify and respond to live opportunities and ensure that they progress into new work at the end of the placement.

Light touch support to your placement – £350

  • Give your employee access to up to 3 one to one sessions with a professional navigator (Real Ideas career coach) to support your employee to build confidence and independence, work on their CV and overcome any personal barriers to success.
  • Access to a next steps group session (or opportunity hack as we call them) where your employees are supported to identify and respond to live opportunities and ensure that they progress into new work at the end of the placement

All in – Employer support and Direct support for your employee – £1000

  • This includes package 1 and 2 outlined previously

Join the Real Ideas community

Real Ideas offers a programme of support for both Kickstart businesses and their new employees on placement. In addition to the packages above, Real Ideas offers Membership at a range of levels to support businesses and young people.

Kickstart School employers who sign up for our Connect Membership (£20/m) will receive all the benefits of Connect Membership as well as 10% discount on the support packages below.

Kickstart School employers signing up for Connect Membership can also purchase a Kickstart Connect Membership (£20/m) for their employee on Placement offering the young person the ability to work in our Spaces for up to 25hrs a week alongside their employer, in addition to the other benefits available to Members.

Employers interested in our All In Membership (£200/m) will receive extensive Member benefits including unlimited use of our spaces as well as 15% off the support packages detailed below.

Find out more about our Membership levels.

Sign up for our webinar

Join us for our webinar ‘Kickstart for Schools’ on Tuesday 13th October, 9:30am – 10:30am. Sign up here.

Sound good? You can find out more information about Kickstart or apply to be a part of the scheme

To apply,

  1. Click on the button below.
  2. Sign up to become a FREE member of Real Ideas – You’ll receive your log in details via email (make sure you check your junk/spam folder)
  3. Access our application form – You’ll find this when you log into the members’ area under latest news and useful links.
  4. Submit your application!

Best of luck!

Already a member? Just login to your members’ area to access the EOI. If you’re already logged in, head to the useful links section of your members’ area.

Join us as a FREE member

Find all you need in our handy presentation!