GENERAL: Chancellor’s Spending Review speech. The Treasury published the Chancellor’s full Spending Review Statement to MPs setting out the key headlines, occasional asides and major spending decisions for depts for the next 3-4 years.
Spending Review 2025. The Treasury published the full report accompanying the Chancellor’s Spending Review Statement, complete with key principles, spending decisions and dept settlements for the Review period.
IfS on the Spending Review. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IfS) provided its take on the Spending Review, acknowledging the difficult choices that the Chancellor faced but suggesting that a lot of the figures doled out in the Statement were hard to reconcile and that tax rises may yet be needed in the autumn.
Resolution Foundation on the Spending Review. The Resolution Foundation offered its take on the Spending Review suggesting that the ‘win’ for the NHS means ‘shrunken’ public services elsewhere but that lower-income households should benefit from many of the measures while fearing ‘a darkening autumn of fiscal reality.’
Global Economic Prospects. The World Bank pointed to growth weakening to 2.3% across ‘most economies’ this year, the slowest rate of global growth since 2008 and driven largely by “a substantial rise in trade barriers and the pervasive effects of an uncertain global policy environment,” as it published its latest report.
Labour market outlook. The ONS published its latest estimates for the UK labour market showing a 0.2% fall in the employment rate between March and April this year, particularly in the hospitality sector, with further concerning signs of a fall in vacancies and continuing rise in youth unemployment but with pay growth up.
Labour market analysis. The Institute for Employment Studies (IES) provided its regular assessment of the latest labour market data pointing to a ‘cooling’ market with 14 out of 18 sectors showing a fall in vacancies and concerns about youth unemployment but noting a small decrease in the overall inactivity rate.
Good Work Index. The CIPD reported on the findings from its 2025 Good Work survey looking at how workers rate their working lives against seven ‘dimensions,’ with work-life balance and mental health worries a concern for some but others reporting a positive picture, with job autonomy and supportive line managers key factors in this.
Child’s play. The Raising the National Play Commission, launched last year with the Centre for Young Lives to look into the importance of play to children’s development, called for a funded National Play Strategy for England and for raising the age of digital consent to 16 as it highlighted the importance of giving children time and space to play as they grow up. SCHOOLS: AI skills. The government announced plans to provide secondary schools across England with funding and support to train up a million young people over the next three years with AI skills as part of a major new ‘TechFirst’ programme.
AI guidance. The government updated its guidance for teachers on the use of generative AI, setting out both opportunities and challenges that come with its use and how to use it effectively and safely, along with a range of free support materials and training modules to help.
Provisional exam entries. Ofqual reported on exam entries for GCSE, AS and A level this summer with provisional figures showing a drop in entries across all three exams with GCSE entries down by 0.6% notably for German, Engineering and some sciences, and down 0.4% for A levels, notably Languages and English.
Ofsted inspections. Ofsted explained that it had received a huge response to its consultation on inspection reform with considerable support for the proposed school report cards but that more work was needed on other aspects meaning its formal response would now be delayed until September and the introduction of the new framework to November.
Support staff. The government launched consultation on the setting up of a School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSNB) with views sought in particular about how best to define such staff, whether to include agency workers and current pay and conditions.
SEND reform. The Local Government Association (LGA) called for ‘a national vision around values and expectations for SEND reform’ along with open access, as it reported on the series of workshops held with young people, practitioners and members following its earlier commissioned report into reform of the SEND system.
Free school meals. The Education Policy Institute called for a system of auto-enrolment for free school meals as it published a new Nuffield funded report highlighting significant regional variation in how meals are accessed.
Teacher R and R. The NFER reported on teacher recruitment and retention in a report funded by the Lewis Hamilton Foundation, arguing that tackling concerns and issues facing teachers from ethnic minority backgrounds could greatly increase teacher numbers and help meet government targets in this area. FE/SKILLS: Industrial Strategy. The House of Commons Business and Trade Committee published the results of its inquiry into the government’s Industrial Strategy making a number of recommendations such as further skills devolution and setting out ten ‘tests’ for judging how the Strategy develops.
Youth unemployment. The House of Commons Library Service reported on youth unemployment, pointing to an upward trend over recent months reaching 14.3% in the last quarter up from 13.6% previously, albeit with a slight improvement in the overall employment rate and the inactivity rate leaving the UK sitting near the middle in terms of comparison with other OECD countries.
Apprenticeships. The government indicated that its plans to build Sizewell C will generate hundreds of jobs including 1,500 apprenticeships.
Balancing work and care. The Learning and Work Institute indicated that there are ‘nearly 6m people of working age in the UK’ who are having to balance work with unpaid care, calling for better workplace flexibilities and entitlements, along with a reformed carers’ allowance. HE:
Committee Inquiry. The Education Committee announced a new Inquiry to look into the financial viability of university finances in the face of rising challenges, issuing a call for evidence for by the end of July.
Student academic experience. HEPI and Advance HE published their latest annual survey report into the academic experience of students, pointing among other things to ‘a dramatic rise’ in the number of f/t undergrads undertaking term time jobs, an increase in the number of respondents saying their experience has exceeded expectations but a rise in the number who would not now take the HE route.
Tech skills. The government announced two new programmes, TechGrad and TechExpert that will provide funding and support for eligible domestic students in developing AI and other tech skills for the future.
Research and innovation. The government promised funding worth £22.5bn pa by 2029/30 for research and innovation inviting local leaders to develop ‘innovation clusters’ across the UK to ‘turbo charge’ some of our fastest growing sectors including life sciences and manufacturing.
Predicted grades. UCAS launched a pilot scheme providing schools and colleges with their own predicted grade report, enabling students and teachers to look at both offers and grades held by previous successful applicants and providing a useful benchmark for the future.
SHAPE graduates. The British Academy reported on the latest data on SHAPE graduates showing that they ‘increasingly work in the UK’s highest growth sectors,’ enjoy strong wage growth and achieve positive results
New tertiary model. Wonkhe called for a greater alignment between HE, skills and economic growth as it published an initial report from its project looking into the future of post-18 education and proposing among other things a framework for regional growth, the creation of devolved post-18 education and skills groups, and a single qualification framework for post-18 provision.
Social mobility. The Social Market Foundation highlighted the key role universities can play in tackling social mobility, calling in a new report for a more holistic approach the be adopted reflecting universities’ wider impact on students, employees and local communities within the context of an extended national strategy.
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