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Internships in Whitehall departments and local government could be used to improve access to top professions. The Cabinet Office report into boosting the number of people entering professions such as the Civil Service highlighted how work experience could be part of the solution. The Panel on Fair Access, chaired by former health secretary, Alan Milburn, revealed that 96% of students said an internship would help raise aspirations. And 80% of employers revealed they had recruited someone who had completed work experience with them. Research for the panel revealed a disproportionate number of top jobs still went to people from public schools. Legal officers, policy advisers and finance officers were more likely to have been privately educated. Giving exposure to the Whitehall and local government culture would help students from non-professional backgrounds gain extra knowledge. The report revealed those students spent significantly less time in clubs and societies, councils and committees, and as course representatives than their peers from higher socio-economic groups. The panel will also consider if there are enough flexible routes for aspiring professionals to enter and progress top professions at different life stages. The report added that opening up professions in law or government could improve social cohesion: ‘A society in which everyone has a fair chance to achieve their potential may also have higher levels of cohesion, because people have confidence that there are no artificial limits on what they can do in life.'

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WHITEHALL

Internships 'offer key to professions'

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