Latest statistics on youth unemployment as well as comparisons with other EU countries.

Youth unemployment is currently at a historically low level. Youth unemployment fell to 372,000 in June to August 2022 which was the lowest recorded level since records began in 1992. However, since then it has been gradually increasing.

Youth unemployment in the UK rose on the previous quarter in August to October 2023, while youth employment fell by 33,000. The number of young people who were economically inactive increased.

There were 535,000 young people aged 16 to 24 who were unemployed in August to October 2023, an increase of 10,000 from the previous quarter and 104,000 more than the year before.

The unemployment rate (the proportion of the economically active population who are unemployed) for 16- to 24-year-olds was 12.7%. This is up from 12.4% in the previous quarter and from 10.5% from the year before.

The number of young people in employment in August to October 2023 fell by 33,000 compared to the previous quarter and was around the same as the previous year.

Read more here.

Changes announced at Autumn Statement will tear down barriers to work for over 2.4 million claimants, who will be able to try work without fear of reassessment or losing health benefit top-ups.

New measures will help to grow the economy by providing long-term sick and disabled claimants a Chance to Work Guarantee – brought forward from the White Paper reforms announced earlier this year – and by making the Work Capability Assessment fit for the modern world of work.

These changes to support the most vulnerable represent the next step in Government’s welfare reforms, alongside the new £2.5 billion Back to Work Plan and following the landmark Health and Disability White Paper published earlier this year.

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Views on 16-18 training due to the impending election is back on the agenda, the views of different parties are outlined in this blog that was originally published by Campaign for Learning.

Across all three parties, then, a shared aim is for a broader post-16 curriculum.

It is unclear how T Levels and Apprenticeships will fare for this age group, since both comprise single, substantial, occupationally focused qualifications, rather than even the typical up-to-four subjects studied for A Levels.

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The rising cost of living has affected further and higher education students in the UK.

As UK household costs and bills have risen, university leaders have warned higher education students are at risk of becoming “the forgotten group in the cost-of-living crisis”. Black students, disabled students, students aged over 25, and students from lower socio-economic backgrounds are likely to be hardest hit by rising costs of food, transport, rent, and energy.

Read more here.

Back in January 2023, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak set out his priorities for 2023 and announced all children and young people will study maths in some form until they turn 18.

In April 2023, the Prime Minister made a speech on improving maths attainment, in which he argued poor numeracy was socially acceptable and maths needed to be made more accessible, so children did not fear it.

The Prime Minister committed to:

*A new advisory group to advise on the ‘maths to 18’ plan

*The expansion of ‘Maths Hubs’ across England

*A new professional qualification for those teaching maths in primary schools

Rishi Sunak has confirmed the reforms associated with these interventions are unlikely to be implemented fully until at least the end of the current parliament (2025).

In October 2023, the Prime Minister announced the ‘Advanced British Standard’ would replace current post-16 qualifications and include maths in some form for all students.

Read more here.

The government has announced £4.5 billion in funding for British manufacturing to increase investment in eight sectors across the UK. The funding will be available from 2025 for five years, providing industry with longer term certainty about their investments.

£4.5 billion will be delivered to eight sectors that are key to economic growth, energy security, and levelling-up.

Over £2 billion has been earmarked for the automotive industry and £975 million for aerospace, supporting the manufacturing, supply chain and development of zero emission vehicles, and investment in energy efficient and zero-carbon aircraft equipment.

Alongside this, the government has committed to £960 million for a Green Industries Growth Accelerator to support clean energy manufacturing, and £520 million for life sciences manufacturing to build resilience for future health emergencies and capitalise on the UK’s world-leading research and development.

With the entire manufacturing sector making up over 43% of all UK exports and employing around 2.6 million people, this funding is targeted at the UK’s strongest, world leading sectors; including where the industry is undergoing fundamental changes to remain at the forefront of the global transition to net zero, like the move to zero emission vehicles in the automotive industry.

Read more here.

Up to £17 million in government funding will create more scholarships for AI and data science conversion courses, helping young people from groups underrepresented in the tech industry including women, black people, and people with disabilities and people from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds join the UK’s world-leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) industry.

The government is encouraging companies to play their part in creating a future pipeline of AI talent by co-funding the AI scholarships for the conversion courses. Industry support for these scholarships will help get more people into the AI and data science job market quicker and strengthen UK their businesses.

Together, government and industry funding will create two thousand scholarships for masters AI and data science conversion courses, each worth £10,000. The programme is enabling graduates to do further study courses in the field even if their undergraduate course is not related, creating a new generation of experts in data science and AI.

Read more here.

Six major regeneration and transport projects across Scotland are set to receive almost £122 million from the third round of the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund – a multi-billion-pound initiative improving lives for local people.

The UK Government announced a total of £1 billion to support fifty-five projects across Great Britain from the Levelling Up Fund. Proposals for Moray, North and South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Glasgow, Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish borders have each been awarded a share of the flagship fund, which will see upgrades to their town centres, high streets, and local transport.

Scotland will receive the second highest award given to any single project in this round – a significant £37.4 million to create new commercial buildings, better cycling and walking routes and more electric vehicle charge points across North and South Ayrshire.

Levelling up means delivering local people’s priorities and bringing transformational change in communities that have, for too long, been overlooked and undervalued.

Backing fifty-five projects across the UK with £1 billion to create new jobs and opportunities, power economic growth, and revitalise local areas. This funding sits alongside wider initiatives to spread growth, through devolving more money and power out of Westminster to towns and cities, putting in place bespoke interventions to places that need it most.

Read more here.

The UK government is encouraging businesses to use the Displaced Talent Mobility pilot to help at-risk people from around the world to help fill skills gaps.

Skilled refugees are contributing nearly £1 million each year in income tax and national insurance thanks to UK government pilot schemes to help those fleeing their homes find employment, helping to boost the UK economy and enabling businesses to access the vital skills they need.

Following a successful start, the government’s Displaced Talent Mobility Pilot has been extended for a further year, with more businesses being encouraged to hire skilled refugees while helping people rebuild their lives in the UK. First launched in October 2021, businesses ranging from renowned global companies to small enterprises have participated in the scheme, with refugees fulfilling roles as senior engineers, paralegals, construction managers, and software testing consultants in priority sectors.

The initiative aims to match up to two hundred people with UK employment opportunities, with Syrian and Afghan nationals the most common beneficiaries of the scheme so far.

Read more here.

Biggest ever increase to the National Living Wage, worth over £1,800 a year for a full-time worker, fulfils manifesto pledge to end low pay.

Since 2010, the National Living Wage will have doubled in cash terms from around £10,500 to £21,000 a year for a full-time worker.

For the first time, 21-year-olds on the National Living Wage will always earn two-thirds of average earnings.

The almost 10% pay boost, from £10.42 to £11.44 an hour, is the biggest cash increase in the National Living Wage in more than a decade and fulfils the government’s manifesto pledge to end low pay for those on the National Living Wage.

Eligibility for the National Living Wage will also be extended by reducing the age threshold to 21-year-olds for the first time. A 21-year-old will get a 12.4% increase, from £10.18 this year to £11.44 next year, worth almost £2,300 a year for a full-time worker.

National Minimum wage rates for younger workers will also increase. 18-20-year-olds will also get a wage boost to £8.60 per hour – a £1.11 hourly pay bump.

Read more here.