Most UK business leaders say that higher education doesn’t fully prepare graduates for the workplace, according to a new poll from Multiverse. Yet the survey also suggests that over half (54 percent) of senior leaders at those companies still require degrees for entry-level roles. The findings, which come as part of a global report into business leaders’ attitudes to on-the-job learning, show just a third (32 percent) believe a graduate’s degree grade is one of the top three indicators of their potential. This comes as almost twice as many (59 percent) say they actually learned more valuable skills during their first two years in the workplace than they did during university. More →

Many of this year’s graduates finished their degrees online and are due to enter the workplace amidst a tumultuous jobs market, however, fewer graduates felt like their university had prepared them for the workplace this year, with only 15 percent reporting that they felt completely prepared (down from 18 percent last year). Graduate jobs board Milkround’s survey of nearly 3,000 students, graduates and young workers has revealed that 10 percent of the next generation of workers feel wholly unprepared for the workplace after their degree. More →

Teenagers’ own career aspirations could be perpetuating both the gender pay gap and the higher education gap, a study from researchers at UCL Institute of Education (IOE) suggests. The new research reveals that, while teenage girls are more likely than teenage boys to have high hopes of going to university and having a professional or managerial occupation, when it comes to salaries it’s the boys who are aiming highest. The research team at the IOE’s Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS), analysed data collected from over 7,700 teenagers in the UK who are all part of the Millennium Cohort Study, a study which has followed their lives since they were born at the turn of the century. When they were 14, the teenagers were asked a series of questions to find out their future aspirations.

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A new study from the Open Research Lab found that while unconditional cash transfers such as universal basic income slightly reduced employment rates and work hours, they increased the financial stability and agency of recipients. People were 2 percent less likely to be employed and worked 1.3 fewer hours weekly but had higher incomes when including the cash transfers. The financial support allowed individuals to pursue education, caregiving, health improvements, and more meaningful work. Overall, cash transfers provided recipients with the flexibility to make employment decisions aligned with their personal goals and circumstances. More →

Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson have unveiled Skills England, an initiative designed to unify the fragmented skills landscape and foster a cohesive national ambition to enhance the nation’s skills. Richard Pennycook CBE, former chief executive of the Co-operative Group and lead non-executive director at the Department for Education (DfE), has been appointed as the interim Chair of the new body. More →