This is the twenty-third of a series of bulletins produced by ISE to update members on key data and policy on Covid-19. This covers the period 26/082020-02/09/2020.

You can access all of the Covid bulletins on ISE insights.

Latest Covid-19 data

Data taken from Wikipedia and from the government’s Number of coronavirus (Covid-19) cases and risk in the UK webpage.

After flattening last week the number of cases has started to grow again this week. The number of deaths has also grown slightly this week.

Ending lockdown

• The government has announced that people who are self-isolating can claim up to £13 a day for expenses. This is designed to encourage people to self-isolate when they need to, but there are concerns about whether this is really enough.
• The government is keen for firms to start encouraging staff to return to their offices. Some businesses have been offering incentives to get staff back into the office. But, some are arguing that the shift to homeworking could be a good thing.

Schools

• Schools have been returning over the last week. At the last minute the government changed its advice about the wearing of facemasks in school.
• Questions still remain about how schools will deal with outbreaks of Covid. Cases could result in year groups being sent home or whole schools closing.
• The Education Policy Institute’s annual report finds that the attainment gap in English schools has stopped closing during 2020.
• Concerns have already begun to emerge about how the GCSE and A level exams are going to work next year. With Labour calling for the exams to be delayed.

Post-secondary education

• The clearing process which allows for last minute changes to university places is now moving toward its end. So far it seems to have functioned in a pretty similar way to previous years suggesting that concerns about student numbers plummeting will not be realised.
• The University and Colleges Union has warned that the reopening of university campuses may result in a public health crisis.

The economy

• GDP in the OECD area (richer countries) showed its biggest ever fall with the UK experiencing the biggest fall (20%).
• The government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme has been widely seen as a success with 64 million meals claimed. This has helped to stimulate consumer confidence during August and revive high streets.
• There are big concerns about the economic impact of the drop in travel and tourism. Gatwick Airport cuts 600 jobs.
• The government is likely to have to raise taxes in the long run to pay for the Covid crisis.

The labour market

• The furlough scheme continues to wind down, prompting some to ask what happens when it ends?
• The government’s Kickstart scheme has begun to role out. But, there are questions from business about whether it will work.

Student recruitment

• Is student recruitment wrecking the planet? (ISE blog)
• Responding to the Plan for Jobs. (ISE blog).
• Charlie Ball’s weekly overview of the graduate labour market.