Latest Publications
Work, Skills & Education
We research all aspects of education and work, but we focus particularly on aspects that political debate often neglects: further education; vocational and technical education; apprenticeships and lifelong learning; in-work poverty.
Latest Publications:
Publication
Laying the foundations: How to support SMEs to take on apprentices in skilled trades
This report explores the key enablers and barriers for SMEs in taking on more young apprentices in skilled trade roles, including green jobs. It presents new panel data on the attitudes of trades firms, incorporating insights from interviews with skilled trade workers. Additionally, it discusses policy solutions to support these businesses in effectively increasing their apprentice intake.
| Published: | 05 December 2024 |
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| Author(s): | Niamh O Regan, Jake Shepherd |
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Care and Learning in Higher Education: How society and universities can support care experienced and estranged students to succeed
There is growing recognition that society’s obligations to care experienced and estranged young people involves getting more of them successfully through higher education. However, the promise of support often doesn't match reality. This report explores the gaps in support for care experienced and estranged students, and suggests actionable ways to ensure that support is more consistently available.
| Published: | 02 December 2024 |
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| Author(s): | Aveek Bhattacharya, Dani Payne |
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Things worth knowing: The role of assumed knowledge in youth transitions from education to employment
This report examines how access to 'assumed knowledge' - certain unspoken, untaught information that helps them ‘get ahead’ - varies among young people based on socioeconomic background, and the way it hinders social mobility.
| Published: | 17 October 2024 |
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| Author(s): | Dani Payne, Jamie Gollings |
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Recovering the lost workforce: Exploring the needs and priorities of those at the edge of the labour market
This report explores the barriers that people face getting into work, how those barriers might be addressed, and the potential that could be unlocked by doing so. It provides new primary research, using SMF survey data on the challenges, needs, and wants of those seeking employment.
| Published: | 19 September 2024 |
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| Author(s): | Jake Shepherd, Gideon Salutin |
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Capital improvement: A proposal for a new in-work poverty benchmark for London employers
This report is the culmination of a three-year project supported by Trust for London examining the scale and impact of in-work poverty in London. It proposes the creation of a new employment benchmark, empowering employers to better support their staff.
| Published: | 24 July 2024 |
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| Author(s): | Richard Hyde, Jake Shepherd, Matthew Oakley |
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Too much of a good thing? International students and the financial stability of English higher education
International students benefit the UK, but the speed of the increase in their numbers since 2019 has diluted these benefits and created pressures on student housing. This briefing lays out how to manage their numbers to reduce these pressures without creating a financial stability risk for the higher education sector.
| Published: | 25 June 2024 |
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| Author: | Zeki Dolen |
Publication
Crazy for you: What just happened, and where next, for the UK’s switchback policy on international students?
The debate around international students has taken a more negative tone both in the UK and in other major host countries over the past year. This report sets out the competing priorities around the policies – which lie at the intersection of higher education, immigration and trade – governing questions of the UK’s offer to and admission of international students.
| Published: | 25 June 2024 |
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| Author: | Jonathan Thomas |
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Testing patience: Reducing the burden of the English school curriculum
Nearly a decade on from the last major reforms, politicians are again turning their attention to the national curriculum. This briefing assesses claims that the curriculum is ‘too packed with content’, and sets out how curriculum and assessment reform can improve secondary level education in England.
| Published: | 07 May 2024 |
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| Author: | John Asthana Gibson |
Publication
Investing in the future: The case for universal financial education in the UK
Politicians across the spectrum are keen for education to provide young people with key life skills, yet financial literacy among young people in the UK remains inadequate. This report looks at how financial education can be delivered more effectively in the UK.
| Published: | 16 April 2024 |
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| Author(s): | John Asthana Gibson, Dani Payne |