Students pave their way to employment with practical placements at Laing O’Rourke

Three Supported Internship students completed six-month internships with construction company Laing O’Rourke.

Three Capital City College (CCC) students have successfully completed a six-month placement programme with international engineering and construction company Laing O’Rourke, with one student going on to gain employment with the firm.

The Supported Internship Programme students, Abu Miak, Rose Durrant and Hakeem Al-Yasin, were from the college’s King’s Cross campus. CCC’s Supported Internship Programmes are designed to support students with disabilities and learning difficulties into employment. The programmes, which function as a stepping stone between college and work, match students to meaningful job placements with supportive and inclusive employers. These placements prepare them to secure sustainable and fulfilling employment after they leave the college. 

The college had initially secured one long-term placement position with Laing O’Rourke at their Old Oak Common Project Office, where they are a subcontractor supporting the building of the large-scale HS2 station. The three Supported Internship students attended an interview in October 2024, where the Laing O’Rourke team were conscientious in adapting the application and interview process to meet their needs. As a result, all three students performed exceptionally well in the interviews and enjoyed participating in the selection process. Following the success of the interviews, Laing O’Rourke opted to expand their offering and created a further two placement opportunities.

The students began their placements with Laing O’Rourke in November 2024. Abu and Rose worked in the Quality Department and Hakeem joined the Health and Safety Department. They learned how to complete a range of advanced administrative tasks such as creating technical documents, reading and editing Excel sheets and providing overall support to their respective teams.

In addition to support from CCC staff, Abu, Rose and Hakeem also benefited from exceptional guidance, mentorship and care from their colleagues at Laing O’Rourke. The team showed true passion in supporting the students in their professional growth as well as providing extensive mentoring and coaching on a weekly basis. They implemented an agile and individual approach, frequently reviewing each student’s aims to ensure that they had opportunities to engage in tasks relevant to their personal professional goals.

The company also provided valuable professional training and gave students an insight into the other roles within the Old Oak Common project. In March 2025, the students took a guided tour of the construction site, giving them a real-world view of the project in progress and allowing them to view structures that will not be accessible to the public when the station opens.

Thanks to the care, support and encouragement from the team at Laing O’Rourke, the students found the placement incredibly valuable in developing their professional skills and giving them experience of employment. After completing their placements in June, Rose is currently exploring roles in care and theatre, while Abu is looking into manual roles – and both students will be continuing the Supported Internship Programme in the coming academic year. For Hakeem, who was due to leave the college, the placement provided him with the opportunity to impress a potential employer. His hard work, flexibility and positive attitude had such a positive impact that Laing O’Rourke offered him employment in a business operations support role, which he started at the end of June.

Rose Durrant, a student on a Supported Internship Programme, said: “My time on the programme was amazing – the people, the atmosphere in the office environment, it was a pleasure to work with my fellow colleagues and managers. I learnt about the importance of client satisfaction with what we were building. During the programme, I could see how far my potential grew and it was amazing to hear such great feedback from managers and teachers. I particularly enjoyed going out on site, getting to experience the building first-hand and to know what we were dealing with.”

Hakeem Al Yasin, who is now employed at Laing O’Rourke, said: “The thing that I enjoyed about the placement at Laing O’Rourke was working with the different people like Josephine, Richard, Simon and Matt. The most valuable and useful thing I learned was using Excel and also SharePoint to download different documents that mentioned the dates of when Laing O’Rourke last had a delivery. One of my highlights at Laing O’Rourke was being with my two teachers Madalin and Tom and with my two friends Abu and Rose and going out on site with Sabien (Social Value Advisor with Laing O’Rourke Expanded).”

Sabien L’Aimable, Social Value Advisor with Laing O’Rourke Expanded, said: “The Supported Internship not only provided valuable professional learning and development for the students, but also boosted project morale and fostered a strong sense of shared purpose among all involved. This partnership has opened new pathways for young neurodivergent individuals while also reinforcing Laing O’Rourke, Expanded’s commitment to building a more inclusive and diverse workforce.”

At CCC, we offer Supported Internship Programmes for those with additional support needs and an EHCP aged 16-25 years old. These carefully-designed programmes provide students with the guidance and encouragement they need to succeed in their chosen industries.

We also have a wide range of courses for 16-18-year-olds to develop their Foundation Learning Skills and offer courses for adults in core subjects.

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