News and Blog

UK unemployment has risen to its highest in two years this month, from 3.9% in March to 4.1% in September. Young people aged 16-24 have been hit hardest and, to date, one-third of 18-24 year olds (excluding students) are unemployed or furloughed as a result of COVID-19, compared to one in six of 25-40 year…

Recent results from the Children’s Worlds study revealed that children in Wales have some of the lowest levels of well-being amongst children surveyed in 35 countries. Children’s Worlds is an international study of children’s subjective well-being, with the third and most recent survey including over 128,000 children, surveyed between 2016 – 2019. This is the…

As the start of another school year approaches, amongst the many challenges that providing a COVID-safe educational environment poses, reintegrating learners into a safe and secure learning environment will be key. Concerns have rightly been raised about young people’s mental health and welfare during these unprecedented times. Our research with children and young people as…

Today sees the release of GCSE results for pupils across the UK. The last-minute changes to the awarding of A level grades last week saw similar changes made to the awarding of GCSE results. Pupils will now receive the centre assessment grade, provided by their school, if it was higher than the calculated grade, produced…

Early into lockdown, French friends I met while researching Welsh-Breton town twinning emailed with the news that they were cancelling their summer exchange to Wales. Members from both towns had been planning the trip for months. The Welsh cakes were already on standby. But now no-one knows when (or if) there might be another town…

In the shadow of the fallout from the qualifications results announced for young people in Scotland earlier this month, and last-minute amendments made by the Welsh and English governments to the awarding of grades, this blog reflects on the steps taken to calculate grades, necessitated by these unprecedented times. Detailed information is now publicly available…

We have long become accustomed to the concerns expressed in the letter pages of local newspapers or on various online forums from those members of the public forced (if fortunate to have access to a car) to drive greater distances, or to make alternative and more costly arrangements, to access services such as health, educational,…

In late March 2020, we were told – by the Prime Minister no less – to work at home if we could.  How many workers were able to respond to this call and what effect did this have on their mental well-being? Alan Felstead (Cardiff University and PrOPEL) and Darja Reuschke (University of Southampton) present analysis of new data…

Note: This blog has been updated on 28 July to include Student Loan Company data to the end of June 2020. There has been much discussion, forecasting and concern around the impact of COVID-19 on the higher education sector. With many universities beginning to slowly lay out their intended teaching and learning practices for the…

This blog outlines preliminary findings from a larger WISERD Education Data Lab project exploring non-attendance and school exclusions. Here we draw on annual attendance data and pupil level data. We explore the total number of school sessions missed by a cohort of young people over an 11-year period, from age 5 years old (Year 1)…