Children’s mental health and wellbeing was deteriorating prior to COVID-19, but there was significant decline during the pandemic, particularly in the North of England. This blog post covers the collaboration between Professor Pamela Qualter, Professor Matt Sutton, Stephanie Gillibrand, Professor Neil Humphrey and Dr Ola Demkowicz in their study of children’s mental health, originally published […]
Gender equality and the productivity agenda
The implications for gender equality are rarely discussed in the new productivity and levelling up agenda. It is key for productivity and levelling up policy agendas to address the underutilisation of women’s potential and the undervaluation of women’s work. In this blog, Professor Jill Rubery from the Work Equalities Institute investigates the underutilisation of women […]
Child of the North: Schools and education
COVID-19 exposed the disadvantage suffered by children and young people in our most deprived areas, disproportionately in the north of England. In this blog, Professor Caroline Bond and Professor Pamela Qualter discuss how these problems, and the accumulating evidence, demand a policy response. This is an adaptation of an article they co-authored for the Child […]
The Child of the North: Building a fairer future after COVID-19
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, growing evidence has shown the effects of the disease, and measures to contain it, have not been felt equally across the UK, with the North of England one of the hardest hit regions. Even before the pandemic, the North suffered from higher levels of poverty, poor health, and inequality compared to […]
Employability meets education: Why essays and exams are not enough
In an increasingly digital world, the skills that students require to succeed in employment are changing but assessments within education settings are not. In this blog, Dr Drew Whitworth discusses the potential pitfalls of traditional forms of assessment, such as essays and exams, which focus on information retention instead of application, and highlights how practice-based […]
Bridging the digital divide: Greater Manchester schools creating pathways to success
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority created the Pathways to Success strategy to support schools to deliver education to vulnerable children during lockdown. In this blog, Dr Paul Armstrong, Dr Stephen Rayner and Emeritus Professor Mel Ainscow reflect on the strategy and explore the opportunities for schools to implement aspects of it […]
Rewriting the creative sector’s digital transformation
The creative sector is incredibly diverse and there are growing disparities between those who are already familiar with the digital world of work and those who are struggling to adapt. In this blog, Dr Anita Greenhill addresses the challenges that the sector will face in the coming years and provides examples of best practice from […]
Children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing: moving towards evidence-based, data-driven responses
As children and young people return to classroom education, schools have a vital role to play in assessing and supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. Here, Professor Neil Humphrey from the Manchester Institute of Education argues that schools should routinely collect reliable mental health and wellbeing data, with which they can ‘build […]
Filling a youth-shaped gap in the FE White Paper: Reducing inequalities in post-16 progression
The new Further Education (FE) White Paper claims its proposals will transform post-16 education and training in England. It acknowledges that not enough people develop technical skills at Level 3 and above. Yet it has nothing to say about the thousands of young people who do not progress smoothly from GCSEs to Level 3 programmes. […]
Why parents need the right to stay home without risk to their income or jobs when schools are closed
Under the UK government’s furlough scheme, parents can be placed on furlough if they have caring responsibilities for a child who is at home as a result of school closures. However, a parent’s request for furlough depends upon the agreement of their employer, which is not always forthcoming. In this blog, Dr Isabel Tavora and […]