Departmental Work Experience

Bob Spink
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many work placements his Department offered to (a) school pupils, (b) university students and (c) graduates in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins
The Northern Ireland Office facilitates week-long unpaid work experience placements for GCSE students, as well as year-long paid placements for university students as part of their IT degree courses. In addition, the Department offers paid summer placements to undergraduates and graduates with disabilities or from ethnic minorities under a Cabinet Office programme to increase diversity in the civil service fast stream.

The following table gives details of placements offered in the last five years.

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|                    |2004|2005|2006|2007|2008|
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|GCSE students       |6   |2   |3   |1   |5   |
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|IT sandwich students|4   |3   |3   |0   |0   |
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|Summer placements   |1   |2   |1   |2   |0   |
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