Student recruitment and development

Fossil fuel recruiters banned from UK university careers service. Exclusive: Birkbeck, University of London, is first institution to blacklist firms ‘most responsible for destroying the planet’.

Specialist professional staff – the other recruitment crisis. It is increasingly difficult to fill specialist professional roles in universities, and new UHR chair Naina Patel has been investigating what can be done about it.

Labour Market

Squeezed labour market harming firms’ ability to invest and grow, said BCC Head of People Policy, Jane Gratton, commenting on the latest ONS Labour Market statistics.

Unfilled Vacancies are a Ticking Timebomb. The labour market remains incredibly tight adding to the growing list of concerns businesses are facing. This is a ticking timebomb for firms up and down the country.

Education

Most students think UK universities protect free speech, survey finds. King’s College London finds 65% believe campuses places of ‘robust debate’ – but growing number disagrees.

Parents urge UK universities to reveal student suicide rates. Inquest to be held into death of Harry Armstrong Evans, who was at University of Exeter.

Duolingo says its English language tests for visas are cheap and secure. The founder of the language app is in talks with the UK government about offering its online test to visa applicants, at less than £50 a time.

University Guide 2023: university profiles from A to Z. All the information you need about each UK university, including fee, bursary and accommodation details.

Economy

UK five-year mortgage rates hit 6% as Kwarteng meets bank chiefs. Average mortgage rates hit 12 year high, as ratings agency Fitch lowers outlook on UK debt to “negative” from “stable”.

UK business inflation expectations rise in September. Fitch are right to be worried about inflation, judging by the latest data from the Bank of England.

Bank of England £65bn gilt intervention staved off UK financial ‘spiral’. Policymakers defend launch of bond-buying programme.

UK businesses forecast record price rises in year ahead. The economic climate in the UK is shifting, this is going to have knock-on impacts on businesses as they are forced to absorb unexpected costs.