This is the tenth of a series of bulletins produced by ISE to update members on key data and policy on Covid-19. This bulletin just covers the period 21/05/2020-27/05/2020.

You can access all of the Covid-19 bulletins on the ISE website.

The week in Covid-19

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

• Coronavirus, the UK economy and society, faster indicators. New data and insights from the Office for National Statistics.

Ending lockdown

• Government is hoping to allow citizens to take holidays in the UK from July.
• As the country comes out of lockdown, there may be a move to use more localised lockdowns to deal with flareups in the number of cases.

Politics and policy

• Much of the political week has been dominated by the row over Dominic Cummings movements during the height of the lockdown. Pressure is continuing to grow on him to resign.
• The pandemic is putting government finances under extreme strain argue the Resolution Foundation.

Education

• Schools continue to plan for a return to teaching this year, but it now looks likely that most will not restart on 1 June. New regulations provide insights into what reopened schools will look like.
• Further education colleges are hoping to reopen from June, but the Association of Colleges warns that social distancing will be very difficult to ensure.
• Universities are switching existing offers to unconditional to try and attract more students, leading to concerns about quality. Those students who are unhappy with the grade they are allocated may have to wait until October or November to resit their exams.
• New higher education students remain uncertain about whether to start courses in September. Bolton University announce a plan for a return to campus with temperature checks and other precautions in place. Some commentators argue that this crisis could result in some universities collapsing.
• Navigating the storm: the role of careers services during a pandemic. Luminate article by Gabi Binnie and Tristram Hooley.

Labour market

• The number of job vacancies continues to fall.
• Which jobs are most at risk of contracting and dying from Covid-19.
• This is the biggest employment crisis that we’ve faced – we now need to respond. Post from Tony Wilson on the Institute of Employment Studies blog.

The student labour market

• Covid-19: We need to act now to support young people and employers. ISE blog from Martin Edmondson.
• Youth unemployment is a ticking timebomb. Article by Tristram Hooley in the Huffington Post.
• UK graduate labour market news from Charlie Ball on Luminate.
• The only certainty is still… uncertainty. ISE blog from Sophie Meaney.

Covid-19 at work

• Now is the time to prioritise employee and personal wellbeing. Blog from James Rind on the Institute of Employment Studies blog.