Disability, neurodiversity & mental health careers support

There are several online platforms dedicated to helping students with disabilities find internships and job opportunities, offering online resources too. 

Ambitious about Autism: Provide paid experiences of work, industry insight events, education and training activities, employability support and additional resources. All opportunities are exclusive to autistic young people aged 18-25 years old.

Careers with Disabilities – A UK-based job board featuring disability-friendly employers. Explore their free Disability Advice Hub, grants, schemes, and other online resources under ‘Support for Disabled People’.

Change 100: Run an internship programme every year, organised by the Leonard Cheshire charity. They are committed to supporting disabled students and graduates to access professional development and mentoring opportunities. This scheme re-opens in September 2025.

Disability Jobsite: Lists job vacancies from employers committed to removing barriers and promoting inclusion.

DisabilityJobs.co.uk: An online job board connecting candidates with disabilities to inclusive organisations.

EmployAbility: Offers dedicated support and advice, have an online vacancy board with internships, graduate roles, and scholarships specifically for students with disabilities. Resources and recorded webinars are also provided to remove employment barriers.

Evenbreak:  Vacancies are advertised, and resources are provided via their Evenbreak Career Hive. They offer an online jobs board, working with inclusive companies seeking disabled graduates and interns.

Inclusive Companies – A directory of organisations making a positive impact on workplace diversity and equality by producing lists of the top inclusive employers in the UK

My Plus Students' Club: Lists insight days/week, provides careers advice, internships, placements, training contract roles, mentoring and other employability programmes, apprenticeships and graduate jobs (has their very own job board)

MyPlus Pathway

The MyPlus Pathway on Careers Connect will help you build confidence when applying to roles and opportunities with a disability.

The University ’s Careers Network offers work experience programmes, such as:

• Impact Challenge (for eligible penultimate and final year undergraduates)
• The B-Experienced Internship Programme (for all students and recent graduates with no or limited work experience)
• The Birmingham Project (for all first-year undergraduates)
• Masters Consultancy Challenge (for all postgraduates) 

Worklink advertise part time jobs at the University for current students. 

Careers Connect is a University of Birmingham system for booking careers events and advertises external graduate jobs, internships, placements, volunteering, work shadowing and other work experiences such as insight days/weeks.

Enactus Birmingham is a student society linked to Enactus UK & Ireland. If you would like to create your own social project to make a difference, and build leadership skills, this society enables you to engage with large recruiters, pitching your ideas and progress towards winning regional and national awards.

The Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) scheme enables you to mentor lower year University of Birmingham students. Make an enquiry.

Go Global offers volunteering, internships and work overseas, including studying abroad. Funding can be accessed via an application process at set points in the year.

Starting your own business is another option. If interested, review business start up advice for next steps. The University runs its own start up programme ‘UoB Elevate’  where budding student and graduate entrepreneurs and freelancers engage at The Exchange on Broad Street, in Birmingham’s City Centre.

For further help on searching for work experience opportunities, you can go to the Work experience and Internships page, searching for work experience opportunities. Canvas announcements via your School and College also list opportunities that come into Careers Network. Remember, work experience does not have to be a full-time summer internship. It can be any activity which fits around your studies during term-time or during the holidays, where you are building the transferable skills and attributes that employers seek for the workplace.

The University recommends that you work a maximum of 20 hours per week when undertaking work experience, fitting around your studies during term time. If you are an international student, you must adhere to your visa requirements. Please find more information on working during your studies and for contacting the International Student Team here.

Mentoring schemes and networking allow students to engage with industry professionals who are like-minded and can help initiate conversations around your career development. They empower and motivate you to understand your goals and advise you on how you can achieve them.

Additionally, these connections can provide valuable insights into industry trends, offer guidance on navigating workplace challenges, and open doors to potential job opportunities. Participating in these programmes can also help you build a supportive professional network that can be beneficial throughout your career.

Once you are in employment you can also be mentored or even learn to become a mentor to students yourself! 

Resource list

• Careers Network Mentoring
• Alumni Leadership Mentoring Programme
• Applying to roles with a disability (Careers Connect Pathway)

Whilst you’re a student at the University, you should ensure you engage with all the support available alongside the Careers Network and utilise opportunities to hear from students and graduates who come from a varied range of backgrounds, sharing their success stories and what helped them the most. Watch this interview with Saleha below, a current student who engages with Careers Network to make the most of opportunites. 

The University delivers an enriched programme of events to celebrate UK Disability History Month (UKDHM) each year in November - December. Supported by the Student EDI Team, last year’s 2024 theme for UKDHM was Disability, Livelihood, and Employment. and from it we can share the recorded panel discussion with UoB members of staff and a student whom all have disabilities and take the time to share their insights into navigating employment with a disability:

To register with the University's Disability Service, please visit our dedicated webpage and fill out the registration form to receive the support and accommodations you need during your academic journey.

You also might like to consider joining SANDAM (formerly known as DAMSA) - Students' Association for Neurodivergence, Disability and Mental Health, a student group at The Guild that welcomes students who identify as having a disability, offering a supportive and inclusive community for exploration and connection. You can view the range of student groups currently running, such as the Autism Society, through The Guild’s webpage. Joining one or more of these groups can build employability skills such as communication, time management, project management, organisation, creativity, problem solving and teamwork. Volunteering groups are also listed.

Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) provides support to cover the study-related costs you have because of a mental health problem, long-term illness or any other disability. The type of support and how much you get depends on your individual needs - not your household income.

Olivia - EDI Student Ambassador for Accessibility

Testimony about the support we can offer

“During the summer of 2024, I worked as a Diversity and Inclusion Intern for the Royal Society of Chemistry through the Change 100 scheme. While it felt daunting at first, my confidence grew throughout the experience. The internship gave me valuable insight into accessing reasonable adjustments in the workplace, which has made me feel more self-assured about advocating for my needs in future employment. I learned that being honest about my difficulties allowed others to support me effectively. It was a fantastic opportunity to gain work experience in a sector I’m passionate about and contribute to meaningful projects in a supportive environment.”

At Careers Network, we know that finding a job can feel overwhelming, especially when navigating additional challenges along the way. That’s why we’re here to help you connect with disability-friendly employers, understand your rights, and access the resources you need to succeed.

The Equality Act 2010 protects against disability discrimination in the workplace. Employers must make reasonable adjustments for employees with disabilities.

Key sections to know from the Act:

• Section 6: Defines disability.
• Sections 20-22: Duty to make adjustments for disabled employees.
• Section 39: Employer duties to job applicants.

Understanding these rights helps you navigate work and ensure fair treatment. Learn more with the Easy-Read Guide.

Finding an employer who values diversity and inclusion is key, and many employers are actively working to create accessible workplaces.

When researching potential employers, you can look for:

• Disability Confident Employers – This UK government scheme recognises employers that are committed to supporting disabled employees. Find Disability Confident employers here.
• Inclusive policies & support networks – Check if the company has clear policies on reasonable adjustments and support groups for disabled employees.
• What employees say – Look for insights from current and past employees on platforms such as:

1. Company websites
2. Industry news and blog
3. TARGETjobs Employer Insights
4. Glassdoor
5. The Job Crowd
6. LinkedIn & social media
7. Job Sectors ‘

The Equality Act 2010 safeguards disabled applicants from discrimination during the recruitment process and in employment. The decision to share your disability with an employer is yours to make.

EmploYability is one of many online resources that discuss topics such as knowing your rights, reasonable adjustments and tips for interviews via their webinar recordings, such as their Next Generation Inclusive Thinking Webinar series: Your Rights: Privacy and Adjustments below: https://www.employ-ability.org.uk/news/next-generation-inclusive-thinking-webinar-series-your-rights-privacy-and-adjustments/

Employers must make reasonable adjustments to ensure workers with disabilities, or physical or mental health conditions, are not substantially disadvantaged when doing their jobs. This can include a wide range of provisions, such as flexible working arrangements, specialist software or physical adaptations. This can only be done if they are made aware of your disability and needs, and the more time given means the employer has plenty of notice to understand and implement your requirements.

Being open in the recruitment process: employers may provide a space in the application stage for you to share if any adjustments could be made for you in the interview or assessment centre, otherwise you can contact them via email or phone call.  It’s important that you learn about their recruitment processes so you can understand where you may need adjustments before getting in touch.

In your CV, there could be a gap in employment due to your disability, which can be clarified in an accompanying cover letter. It is acceptable to mention your disability, as much as you are comfortable to do so, in your cover letter; you can share it in a way that highlights the skills you’ve gained along the way or by managing the challenges alongside your other commitments and responsibilities. View our  CV and covering letter support page for further advice.

You can also mention your disability during the interview stage, to highlight any skills or experiences you’ve achieved alongside managing your disability.

Psychometric testing for disabled people

If you have a disability that might affect your test performance, you can ask for reasonable adjustments. This makes sure that the testing process is fair. Adjustments could include things like being able to use screen reading software or having extra time to complete the test

Get in touch with the employer as soon as they ask you to take a test, to make sure these adjustments are made.

Being open during employment: you will spend a lot of time in your employment, so it’s important that you feel supported to perform your job the best you can. This may look different to the support your colleagues may have, so be open about your disability and needs for your employer to make the relevant adjustments.

Watch this video from Change 100 about sharing and asking for adjustments at work:

• AbilityNet - support in using technology independently 
• Access to Work - a government scheme with information, support and funding for additional work-related costs
• ADHD UK - advice on adjustments in the workplace for individuals with ADHD
• AGCAS Disability Task Group blog – a bank of careers resources to support disabled students & graduates
• Aspierations - Aspierations aim to build a bridge between business and talented people within the autistic community to improve employment opportunities for mutual benefit.
• Blind in Business - helping blind and partially sighted people into work
• British Dyslexia Association - information and resources on career development, tips and strategies to manage dyslexia-related challenges in the workplace
• Disability Connect specialises in sharing lived disability experience through mentoring, reverse mentoring, training, speaker events and insight services
• Disability Rights UK - online resources with information and support on employment rights, discrimination and reasonable adjustments
• Disabled Solicitors Network -  promotes equal opportunities for people with disabilities within the legal profession
• Employment Autism - information and support
• Equality and Human Rights Commission - information about employment rights 
• Equal Opportunities Commission - information and advice on employment rights and equality in the workplace
• Mind - resources to support mental health in the workplace
• National Autistic Society - Support to get work experience and find a job
• Snowdon Trust - aims to break down barriers for disabled students on their journey through post-school education and into employment.