This is the ninth 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 14/05/2020-20/05/2020.

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

Data taken from Wikipedia.

• The rate of growth of Covid-19 in the UK continues to slow down. The R (the reproduction number) is currently estimated to be 0.75.
• Detailed commentary has been released from the Office for National Statistics on death statistics.

Politics and policy

• Concerns about the way in which Covid-19 has been handled in the care system have become a political issue this week. Melanie Henwood of the London School of Economics explains what has been happening in the care system and why.

Economy

• How will Britain dig itself out of a £300 billion coronavirus hole? Asks Larry Elliott in The Guardian. The IPPR argue that this may not be a problem due to low interest rates.

Education

• The debate over reopening some schools on the 1st June continues to rage. Research by the teaching union NASUWT reports that only 5% of teachers feel it is safe to do so. At least 1500 primary schools have already determined that they won’t reopen at the start of June. A government adviser says that a track and trace system is a pre-condition for schools reopening.
• Apprenticeship numbers look set to drop as businesses reduce spending on learning and development.
• Universities are facing severe financial problems. One in five students says that they may defer their place this year and the University of Cambridge announces that it plans to deliver all lectures online next year.
• How can universities support the graduate labour market? Tristram Hooley in the Times Higher Education.

Labour market

• Claimant numbers have risen faster than at any time since 1947. Tony Wilson sets out new analysis of the government’s statistics.
• More than a fifth of employers are planning redundancies. From the Financial Times.
• There are very few new jobs being advertised according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies.
• Covid-19 is impacting on some job more than others. New EU research clarifies which occupations are highest risk.

The student labour market

Data from Covid-19: The impact of the crisis on student recruitment and development. New report from ISE. See also the blog post from Tristram Hooley and Gabi Binnie and reporting in The Guardian.

• Employers are slashing graduate jobs. But students mustn’t lose hope. From Stephen Isherwood in The Guardian.
• Young people most likely to lose work in lockdown. BBC report on new research by the Resolution Foundation.
• Thinking ‘bout this ‘n that. Charlie Ball’s round up of news on the graduate labour market.

Student recruitment

• Data from Covid-19: The impact of the crisis on student recruitment and development.

Covid-19 at work

• Zoom fatigue: how to make video calls less tiring. From Andrew Hines and Pheobe Sun in The Conversation.

Employer insights

The following insights are based on ISE’s interactions with employers during the period covered by this briefing.

• Start dates. Some firms are pushing start dates back to January, others are still hoping to start in September.
• Induction. Many firms are delivering online/virtual inductions. But they are still figuring out exactly how to do this and what are the best tools to use. Not all firms feel that this approach will work for them.
• Campus activity. Many firms are anticipating moving this activity online.
• Virtual careers fairs. Firms are talking to a range of national providers to deliver national virtual careers. There is less enthusiasm for working with institution specific fairs.
• Virtual internships. Many firms have transferred their internship schemes online. Some firms are trying to use virtual internships as part of the assessment of candidates.
• School engagement. A lot of firms are looking to delay their school engagement or to deliver some of it virtually.
• Tech poverty and digital access are a key new dimension for diversity and inclusion. Many universities have a lot of capacity to provide support for students in this area.
• Salaries are likely to be fairly stagnant across early careers in the sector.