This is the twenty-seventh of a series of bulletins produced by ISE to update members on key data and policy on Covid-19. This covers the period 24/09/2020-30/09/2020.

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

Latest COVID-19 data

Data taken from Wikipedia and from the government’s Covid-19 dashboard.

The UK has now had a total of 453,264 identified Covid-19 cases and 42,143 deaths. Globally we have now seen over a million deaths from Covid.

Education

• Most teachers lack trust in the government’s handling of the pandemic within the education system.
• The government has announced a package of post-18 education measures including a promise that people without A level qualifications will be able to access free further education courses from April.
• Despite concerns the number of students going to university has held up, with record numbers of international students. However, universities have placed considerable numbers of restrictions on new students, including full lockdowns. The higher education union has called for teaching to be fully online until the track and trace system is in place.
• How effective is employer and university engagement? Blog on ISE insights.

The labour market

• Rishi Sunak launches a new set of initiatives as the Winter Economy Plan, but concedes that it won’t stop unemployment from rising. Boris Johnson says that huge numbers of workers will have to change their careers as a result of the pandemic. Tristram Hooley discusses the implications of the Winter Economy Plan for student employers.

The student labour market

• The employment rate for young people is falling while youth unemployment is on the rise. Hear discussion of this on the long road ahead the NCFE podcast.
• The graduate jobs market – What matters in the pandemic. Presentation by Tristram Hooley for National Graduate Week.

Student recruitment

• What do students want? ISE blog looking at student attitudes to the recruitment process.
• The 7 point case for graduate recruitment. A blog from Dan Hawes on ISE Insights.

Work in the pandemic

• Companies are trying to create informal networking and socialisation opportunities around ‘virtual watercoolers’, but it is more difficult than it looks.
• Concerns are growing about the range of forms of surveillance that are being used by employers to manage homeworkers.