What can you expect to experience at university with the world in the current post lockdown, mid pandemic mess that is the country at the moment?

This is hard to truly predict how you will feel personally, but there are a few definites you can rely on knowing in advance.

Will you need to be vaccinated? In short, no.

You will not be denied access to university if you have not been jabbed.

However, the government strongly recommends for uni students to get their vaccinations, preferably both if possible, before going back to university this month.

They have even placed on-site vaccination centres across many universities over the country.

In person classes? Yes and No.

This depends mostly on the university itself. Make sure to check your university’s updates to ensure you have the most reliable news for your course.

Generally though, across the country there will be a lot more face to face learning which would not have been available the last year and a half.

Seminars and lectures with smaller groups of students are most likely to be taught in person to keep too many people from being in the same room for the length of the class.

You may also have to wear a face mask in these situations and probably libraries depending on university policies.

Quality classes?

From somebody who was in her final year of university, dissertation looming over me, when the first lockdown had hit - lecturers are passionate about their work and whether your class is online or in person, the quality of your lesson will not be any worse.

I know my only issue with the lockdown affecting my learning was due to the libraries having to close and I did not have access to all of the books I needed easily. This is no longer the case as the libraries are now allowed to be open so you have the same access to books and resources as you would have done pre-pandemic.

Freshers Week…

This is a topic which might sound unimportant in the grand scheme of things but I know that socialising is one of the key aspects of university life that people look forward to. Some time away from the stress of moving out of your home and beginning a degree.

Freshers Week is being reintroduced to universities in an in-person capacity, which was unable to be done last year in the midst of lockdowns and the pandemic generally.

Experts do warn us that holding Freshers Week in this way again may risk it becoming a ‘super spreader’ event, this is particularly more likely when alcohol is involved.

If your university is holding in-person freshers, maybe just try to be conscious of your proximity to other people if possible… Also maybe no sharing drinks, take this advice from someone who caught freshers flu a few times too many!

Mental Health Concerns?

According to Student Minds 74% of students stated that Covid-19 had a negative effect on their mental health and wellbeing.

They also found that two thirds of students said they have ‘often felt isolated or lonely since March 2020’.

This is obviously not a great statistic for new students, it does not inspire much faith. However, companies like Student Minds and also The National Union of Students are trying to get the government to provide financial support for students (especially those from lower income families) and to prioritise support for mental health.

Placement years can be tough to decide on; there are a lot of smaller decisions involved when deciding if you should take this opportunity whilst at university.

First things first… What exactly is a placement year?

A placement is an option that students are usually given for what would be their third year of university. During this year their learning gets displaced for a year and in the meantime the student would be working full time in a job that most likely is related to their degree or in another field the student desires.

Pros for a Placement Year:

Experience - You will gain so much experience in a relevant work field. These placements will also be looking specifically for people like you, students who are only looking for a year long contract with the desire to be taught the ropes. This experience will make you look more desirable to companies when you leave university and are looking to start a serious career.

Money - Not only is the experience greatly desired, you will also be earning a full time wage the entire time. Any money saved will be extremely beneficial for your final year of studying. Students rarely get the opportunity to work so much alongside studying so this is the perfect solution for any money issues.

Fulfillment - Doing this will bring you a big sense of fulfillment in your experience at university. You will be able to have plenty of achievements academically and in a career setting if you take on a Placement Job.

Cons for a Placement Year:

Graduation Date - Taking a placement year would mean delaying your studying by a year. This may not be a big deal to some people but it may to others. You may have had your heart set on being a graduate by a certain date and this would seriously alter that.

Friends - You may not graduate at the same time as the friends you have made on the course. Not everyone will take a year off to work and so it may mean that you do not get to celebrate the big day with those you have worked beside and have made friends with.

Stress - It is stressful enough to get through university… So taking on a year of work as well as finishing the uni workload a year later may not sound very appealing to you.

A Placement Year is not for everyone but make sure you think about what is best for you as an individual!

Here are some key tips for you if you do want to apply for a placement job:

Research - Make sure to thoroughly research the kind of jobs you would be interested in doing for a year of your studies. See if your dream company is offering any placement jobs and go from there. Choosing the best kind of company for you is very important, you want to be as happy and comfortable as possible whilst taking this year to work! Make a list of all the companies you come across that will best suit your needs. Apply to as many as you desire so you have more options.

Be timely - Make sure not to put off the search if you have decided to take on a placement year. If you have your heart set on somewhere that offers placements, if you leave it too late, that specific company may have given out all of their available placements and you will have missed out. I had friends at university that took too long to arrange a placement and they had a very slim choice of companies they could work with, which is not preferable since they had to spend a year at one of these places.

Don’t be disheartened - Applying for a placement job is just the same as applying for a regular job… Rejection is definitely a possibility. Try not to be put off by this, try to stay resilient and just apply to more! It can be hard but getting to do that placement year will be worth it.

Be prepared - Applying for multiple jobs means there is a big chance you will be called into companies for interviews. Make sure to research the company again before the interview, this will show you are truly interested in the job/company. Also wear something suited for the company, usually a smart suit would be appropriate for the typical interview but if you are unsure you could always reach out to a member of the company and ask them for their opinion. You could also look up interview questions and prepare a few topics to discuss in case the interviewer asks the same question or a similar one.

Take every opportunity - This is your chance to trial career possibilities, say yes to any offer that sounds advantageous to you during your time in your new role. This may be a mentor, a work trip, new responsibilities, etc. Doing a range of these opportunities will allow you to figure out exactly what you do and do not want to do with your career once you leave university. Not only this but it will make your CV look even better as it will show you have an array of skills and are not afraid to take on anything new!

What can you do at uni to get ahead in your career path?

This may sound a little preemptive… Job prep when you are yet to finish education, but it could prove to be very worthwhile.

When you leave university you will likely be in the same boat as hundreds of thousands of people. The future of your career will be standing in front of you with your education now firmly behind you. One way to stand out from the crowd is through experience and a further knowledge of the career world. So now is the time to start preparing!

Here are some tips on how to get ahead of those around you.

Volunteer

Volunteering is a great way to show a company how dedicated you are. Not only will doing this feel extremely rewarding as you will be helping those in need, but it will also look great on your CV.

Doing this will show that you are a passionate, good person and will do whatever you can to help - without the added incentive of being paid.

Get a Part Time Job / Summer Job

Sometimes working for free may not be financially viable for students; this is perfectly fine too, you will not be looked down upon for taking this route!

Having a job alongside studying is quite common, it is no secret that students often struggle with their finances since they are expected to spend their time studying instead of working.

A part time job will not only provide more money for a student but also a lot of experience and skills that an employer will look out for.

You will show your ability to work under added pressures and show that you are able to be flexible with your working.

Take A Sandwich Year

Similarly to the last point of gaining career experience, a sandwich year could be a good solution if you are worried about the distraction from your learning.

If your course allows you to have a sandwich year then you will be able to get a placement for a year, pushing your last year of study back.

If you take up this option, you will gain a year’s worth of pay and experience without taking time away from studying, so you accumulate experience in a field you are interested in too.

Use Your University’s Facilities

Most universities will offer help in regards to career advice. This will tend to include CV writing help, interview practice, and assistance in looking for jobs best suited to your needs whilst at university.

This will help so much as the people who work in these places have a lot of experience in helping people just like you trying to understand the job world a little bit better.

Even if this is just for the perfect volunteering scheme for you or for a part time job tailored to your needs, these facilities are very helpful.

Take An Active Role Where You Can

This can be as a student rep for your course, running to be an ambassador for your university or maybe even leading a society.

Taking on a role like this can be perfect to show your leadership and organisational skills, both being highly desirable in a workplace.

Taking on a role like this will also exhibit problem solving skills since it would involve having to work around a big group of people’s schedules.

As well as this, these roles are just generally rewarding as you will be helping advance the university/subject. Or, if it is a University Society Role, you will be leading a group of people in a society that is close to your heart and will be simultaneously helping people feel welcomed and happy in a society that means the same to them.

Take Notes!

You will likely have a lot of practice at this, as a uni student. Though, these notes will obviously be much less academic.

Try to take notes throughout your time at uni wherein you did something particularly impressive that showed off your skills.

Maybe you had to overcome a big challenge and you did so with success, this shows that you are able to adapt and do whatever is needed to achieve your desired goal.

Taking notes of instances like these will also mean that you will be prepared for any questions that may come your way in an interview as you will be more familiar with all of your achievements at university, having a quick and natural answer as opposed to being stuck on the spot trying to come up with something coherent.

These notes can similarly be added to your CV or any Cover Letters you may have to send out to companies!

Search for Graduate Jobs

After having done all of the prep needed throughout your time at university, the next step is actively seeking jobs that look specifically for people like you!

With companies like The Graduate Project helping graduates find the perfect job for them, signing up with a graduate recruitment company may be a great solution. Having a team of professionals who are searching for jobs that fit all of your needs and skills will alleviate some of the stress on you.

Looking for Graduate specific jobs will mean that the company will not expect you to have loads of relevant experience, they know you have recently finished university and are likely to have never worked in your chosen field.

Ever since the pandemic began last March, the whole working world was forced to re-evaluate everything that had previously been considered the ‘norm’.

From adapting workplace responsibilities so that individuals would be able to Work from Home, to enrolling in the Government’s Job Retention Scheme, and in more unfortunate cases, having to fire employees.

However, in more positive news, the country is slowly recovering from this and there appears to be a gradual return to pre-Covid conditions.

So, what have we found out about the effects of Covid on the workplace?

Employment Rates

As you probably can guess, employment rates plummeted when the country was in and out of lockdowns for a year. Before the pandemic, the country was at a 74.8% employment rate which dropped down to 72%.

Between the months of March – May 2021 32.18 million people were employed, which is a big improvement from December 2020 – February 2021 which had 25,000 less.

Redundancy Rates

The redundancy rates, though peaking at a whopping 14.4 thousand people mid pandemic, have now managed to return to pre-Covid numbers of 3.8 thousand, four and a half times less than the staggering rise.

This is an extremely positive sign for the country as it shows that it is not impossible for the to return to a state of normality again.

Impact on Graduates

There is some positive news for new graduates, despite the general economic strain on the country, the average starting salary for graduates gradually increased.

In 2019 the average salary for graduates was £24,134.

In 2020 the average salary for graduates was £24,449.

In 2021 the average salary for graduates was £25,439.

There has been an increase this year of nearly a thousand pounds, which is very promising for the working climate and graduates.

However, this is only a small victory. Over 2020 the new graduate unemployment rate between the ages of 21-30 was up to 6.3%.

Furlough Rates

The Government Retention Scheme being introduced meant that the Government were now paying 80% of millions of people’s wages. This obviously caused a big strain on the Government’s spending ever since the pandemic hit the country.

This scheme amounted to a total of 11.6 million jobs on furlough since the beginning of lockdown.

This then reduced to 5.1 million in January 2021.

Now this number is down to only 1.9 million jobs as of June 2021.

Job Sectors

There have been a lot of ups and downs over the year, with it looking quite dire in a lot of areas.

However, according to LinkedIn there are some job sectors that are on the rise. The top three that they list are:

E-commerce – this includes Delivery Drivers, Package Handlers and Supply Chain Specialists, etc.

Health Care Supporting Staff – this includes Home Health Aides and Wellness Coaches, etc.

Digital Content Freelancers – this includes those with Podcasting, YouTube, and Blogging skills.

Though, where there are peaks there are also valleys. Some areas were not so successful over the past year. With certain spaces, like theatres, having to completely close for the country’s safety, there was no possibility of financial stability whilst they were closed.

In Europe, the sectors with the biggest loss of jobs were in food service activities, retail trade, and accommodation. In food service activities in the EU-27, almost 1.3 million people lost their jobs, of which more than 700,000 were women.

Government Spending

In July 2021, the government borrowed £10.4 billion. This may sound like a lot, but it is extremely lower than a year before when the July 2020 statistic shows that the government borrowed nearly double that, at £10.1 billion more.

This is thanks to the removal of most Covid restrictions. With the decline in paying for furlough to 10 million people, this is bound to have saved the Government a lot of money.

And, although this is an incredible drop since last July, it is still the second highest amount borrowed since the records began.

So, overall, the country has been through a lot ever since 26th March 2020. There have been so many ups and downs, but all correlations tend to suggest that the country will ultimately improve in terms of jobs and economy with everything getting back to pre-pandemic conditions.

University Societies… There are likely hundreds to choose from when at your desired uni. You will likely be introduced to most of them at your Freshers Fair. Alongside all the freebies handed out to you, you will have people trying to interest you in following your passions and joining their society.

Or, if the wait for your first week at uni feels too far away, you can research what your university has to offer in terms of their offered societies.

Societies can be a great way to meet like minded people who you may never have gotten the chance to meet and, as a result, form new lasting friendships with people who enjoy the same stuff that you do.

Unis offer up an array of societies, it would be hard to find one that did not meet your interests as there are so many to choose from.

Now, what sorts of societies are there? Here is a short guide to what you can expect going into university:

Sports

You will likely come across a good number of sport societies. Football, netball, swimming, hockey, the list goes on. These sorts of societies are usually always present in a university as they are so popular in general. So, if you are the sporty type, you will more than likely find a place that has your preferred sport. Or, if you would like to start a new sport, this is the perfect opportunity to take it up!

Activism

Do you like speaking up for what you believe is right? If yes, unis will usually have societies that take a stand in the politics of today. Activism societies are a great way to find friends who want to change the world in the same way that you do. You will be doing fulfilling and meaningful activities every time you get together.

Games

Maybe you like a slightly more relaxed environment to sit and have fun in? Societies like those relating to board games, video games, chess, etc. can be the perfect answer. As someone who loves a board game, the board game nights I went to at university were a lot of fun! These socials tend to be very chilled out in comparison to big sporting socials for example.

Fandom

You may be lucky to find a show or franchise-based society at your university that is one of your favourites. Some bigger ones like Harry Potter or Marvel are more likely to be found than lesser known ones but this does not mean there won’t be. Look out for your favourites! Or alternatively there may be a less specific society for you like anime or film societies where your biggest interests may lie.

Music

Do you have a passion for anything musical? There is more than likely a society for you, whether it be a general one or specialised in your favourite instrument/genre/style. I know that my university had multiple societies for music, from Gospel Choirs to Rock. There is usually plenty of choice for someone who enjoys music.

Now, you may have a more unique desire from a society. This is where it pays to research what you are interested in as you never know what your uni will have to offer!

Here is a list of a few fun ones I have found at different universities:

Bath University’s WINE SOCIETY

Birmingham University’s SHAKESPEARE SOCIETY

Bristol University’s FROG SOCIETY

Durham University’s ASSASSINS SOCIETY

Exeter University’s QUIZZING SOCIETY

Newcastle University’s DRAG SOCIETY

Portsmouth University’s SKYDIVING SOCIETY

Sussex University’s MINECRAFT SOCIETY

Winchester University’s FASHION SOCIETY

York University’s BEEKEEPING SOCIETY

Whether or not you want to look up your university’s societies in advance or if you would just rather be pleasantly surprised on the day by all the possibilities, I would highly recommend joining one as they help you fit right into the uni environment.

As well as this, societies will be run by older students and so you will have a group of people who can offer advice as well as who share your interests! I personally joined the society that was created specifically for my course, and it was a great way to settle into university as all the freshers in the society were going through very similar experiences as me.

So, August 10th has been and gone, you have now had time to process your A Level results and your uni offers. It has likely been an exciting week, maybe even a nervous one at the same time. This is completely normal.

I remember how it felt for me, I could finally push aside the nerves that had been building in me every day leading up to results day and my future life in academics. Then results day came, and it was official, I was going to uni! There were plenty of celebrations, then the reality set in, I had to get ready for the next big chapter of my life.

This may seem daunting; you have to suddenly prepare for moving your life elsewhere with people you may not know. However, it is best to try to stay on top of the situation, so you feel like you have control over this huge step you are about to take.

Here are a few tips for the month leading up to uni.

1) First thing is first, make a list in advance of everything you need.

One of the best ways to do this is to do multiple lists for different rooms: bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, studying.

Making a list in advance will mean you can add to the list if you find you have forgotten anything important like bedding or your ID.

My biggest piece of packing advice is to bring an extension lead with you, there are never enough plug sockets in your room and this will be essential but is often overlooked. Also, any photos you may have of your friends and family to prevent feeling homesick.

2) Next, see if your uni needs anything more from you.

There could be a few unfinished forms, information about where you will be residing for your first year of studying.

At this point there probably will be minimal details like this to finish off but it is always best to check in case you have missed something important!

3) Check online to see if your course or halls have a community Facebook page etc.

Usually, students will create these kinds of pages so you can get to know one another in advance before the intimidating first day. The pages for the halls that you are staying in will also mean you get to find out who will be your neighbours, which is very exciting.

I was unaware of these pages when I started and was a bit disappointed that I hadn’t been able to get to know my peers beforehand. Though, speaking from experience, it will not hinder your time there if you cannot find one relevant to your course/halls.

4) Buy a 16-25 Railcard!

I can’t stress this enough, for £30 a year (or £70 for 3 years) you will save a lot more on travelling to and from uni over your time studying.

Every time you use your railcard you will be saving a third off your journey. 3 trips to and from London a year and the card has pretty much paid for itself! It is definitely a good investment for students, especially if you travel home a lot or want to go see your school friends who could now be all over the country.

Some banks even offer new student accounts a free 4 year railcard!

5) Learn a few basic meals...

Buying a student cookbook might be good for some people but I knew very few people during my time at university who ever actually opened their copy.

I found that the best way to start off with cooking for yourself is to learn how to cook some of your favourites before going to uni where you will no longer have your family around you for quick tips… Though I did definitely have to call my mum up on a few occasions to double check certain recipes.

This way in your first few weeks at uni you will not have to be overwhelmed and trying to settle in, make friends, and also figure out how you will feed yourself more than frozen pizzas for the next three years.

6) Get your books ready- start reading in advance.

Getting your books in advance is the easy part.

I know that the idea of spending the last month of summer and free time getting ahead on your reading may not sound very ideal right now… However, in the future you will be extremely grateful for your previous decisions.

This is especially great to do if your course is heavily booked based, like a literature degree. There will be constant reading for three years and being ahead with it will never be a bad idea.

7) Reserve time to have fun and relax before you have to head off.

I’m aware I just advised getting ahead on uni reading beforehand, but this shouldn’t be how you spend all your time.

This is your last little piece of summer, make the most of it! Spend time with those close to you, do things you want to do whilst you are around them and have the free time. When you are at uni you will likely miss these little moments, so make the most of it now whilst you have the chance!

As a new graduate you may not have experience in your desired field.

This may initially feel like a huge setback for a graduate; however, any experience is worthwhile to an employer. Most experience is universal and can be transferred to any workplace.

Whether you have experience from another job in a different field or whether you have experience from your time throughout university. All of these will be adaptable to use in workplaces.

Maybe you have spent some time doing Bar Work or in a café/restaurant?

When doing a job like one of these, you are bound to have busier shifts wherein you must do all your duties whilst being put under a lot more pressure. Situations like these alone gives you multiple skills any workplace should desire, including:

- Work Well Under Pressure, to navigate a busy bar or café can put a lot of pressure on an individual, so making sure you are adaptable when needed is a very sought-after trait. An employer will see this and think about how you would consequently be able to efficiently handle anything new that might be thrown your way.

- Teamwork, when working in a bar there would be a lot of communication amongst the workers to ensure the customers were getting the most out of their services. Since working alongside other people is key for most workplaces, having harnessed this skill would be very beneficial in a workplace as it would show that you are aiming to work well for the whole company rather than just yourself.

- Retention Skills, remembering orders in a loud, busy place is not easy, so it is a particularly impressive skill and shows you will be able to do this in much less intense situations. Being able to easily retain information would be perfect to an employer as it would show how you are more likely to easily pick up what you have to do as you are can remember everything you need to quite quickly.

Maybe you have experience in being a Shop Assistant?

Working in a shop means you gain a specific set of skills, be it improving your social skills with the number of customers you would interact with or if the skills were more physical due to looking over a shop all day long. Over the time working at a shop, you might develop skills such as:

- Organisation, you would ensure everything is orderly and that the stock is regularly put out for customers to be aware of. This level of organisation might be perfect for your new profession, you can show how prepared you are, avoiding a messy work

environment that might distract you from performing your best at your job and the ability to know exactly where something is that might be needed.

- Customer Service, you would encounter numerous people in a day who you would have to give a tailored experience to, to ensure that they get what they needed from their shop. A lot of job positions would want you to interact with people in a similar way, be it possible customers or people from different departments, where the ability to understand what different individuals want from a situation would be favourable to an employer.

- Problem Solving, you may have had to think on your feet depending on a customer’s question as there would be an array of unique questions that you would not have answered previously. This would be advantageous in a workplace as you never know what might happen so the ability to effectively be able to resolve a problem is extremely useful.

Maybe you chose to focus more on Uni Work over getting a part time job?

Throughout your time at university, you would have developed countless skills that could very easily be transferred over to a workplace. You would have had to balance uni life, possibly work life and a social life all whilst maintaining your grades.

- Analytical Thinking, this is a key skill graduates would particularly have honed in on, no matter their degree. This skill would be used across all assessments, essays, exams, or practical tasks. Possessing this skill will make you appear advantageous to employers as it will show your ability to think of the best way to solve a problem.

- Adaptability, as a university wants its students to excel in multiple areas and so test them in more than one way, graduates will develop the ability to be adaptable. This is highly desired in a workplace as an employer would actively look for somebody who would be able to thrive in any situation and would fit in well into the workplace.

- Communication, talking, writing, and listening effectively are vital to any workplace. Employers will be seeking communication skills for a multitude of reasons from benefiting the company financially, for example being able to engage new customers and persuade them to opt for their company over others, or to generally keep work morale, ensuring a positive and happy workplace.

These are just a few skills given as examples, but any skills you may have that are not listed here can be applied to new workplaces in a similar way.

Though serving drinks on a busy Friday night may not sound like something that would help you thrive in an office environment, the skills developed doing this can. And this applies to countless other job sectors too!

You may have heard times like ‘shecession’ floating around in recent times, but what does this really entail?

Unlike the typical recession where men tend to face the biggest financial hits, this time it is the opposite. Globally, women have lost 1.8 times more jobs as men, making up 39% of global employment but accounting for 54% of global job losses. This statistic shows a clearly uneven scale of job losses per gender.

Women have consequently have had a much harder time with the pandemic than men. They are more likely to have lost their job and more likely to be working in a lesser paid sector, showing very little hope for them from the pandemic.

The next question then is why?

Typically the differences may be put down to two reasons, one being that service jobs have taken a massive hit over lockdown and another being due to school closures and women taking the bulk of childcare duties.

With the country going into complete lockdown, preventing anyone other than key workers from physically going into work, so many people could not physically do their jobs. This meant that a lot of industries which were dominated by women (like beauty and hairdressing having 94% and 83% of workers being female) were no longer able to function for months. This clearly had a massive toll on the female population as suddenly so many women were no longer able to do their jobs and were unable to earn their typical monthly wages.

The lockdown also meant schools across the country were closing until the summer to protect the students, with the majority of children being unable to attend school any more. Due to the general differences in parental care between men and women (men claiming to take on 5 hours in a workday on childcare and women claiming 7 hours according to studies by King’s College London), women have less time outside of their childcare duties to dedicate to their careers etc.

From the first to second lockdowns, the schooling between parents shifted a lot. The share of educating children from home in the first lockdown was about a 50/50 split, but women ultimately spent more time washing, feeding and dressing their children than men. Then by the time of the second lockdown, 67% of women and 52% of men were actively teaching their children, according to findings by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This would then

further add to the strain on women in the country as a shift in parenting had emerged and women consequently had less time than men since they were taking on more parental duties than the men did.

Women’s Mental Health

On top of the financial pressure women faced, their mental health seemed to take a major blow too.

A study by King’s College London has found that since the pandemic began, 37% of women vs 25% of men say they find coronavirus stressful. On top of this, 53% of women have felt more anxious and depressed, compared with 43% of men. And finally, women (72%) are more likely than men (61%) to disagree that ‘too much fuss is being made about the risk of coronavirus’.

There was also more of a negative mental impact on women in regards to homeschooling their children too. ONS found that of the parents who were homeschooling their children, one in three women (34%) were experiencing a decline in their mental well-being as opposed to one in five men (20%).

This toll on their mental health cannot be helped by the pressures put upon them by their jobs changing and the amount of time spent educating their children.

This then leads onto a bigger debate, should men be offering up their time to take on more of a domestic role?

This is a difficult topic to breach and feels very cyclical, it also heavily revolves around heterosexual couples. There is no definite yes or no, just what works best for each individual family.

In the average family with a mum, dad and their children, the man would be earning more than the woman. To ask for the man to give up his job/reduce his hours to dedicate more time to childcare may not be financially viable for the family (unless the wage difference is not big enough to make them worry). So, it may not be possible for the man to take on the domestic duties so the woman can pursue her career.

In a 2020 study by Fatherhood Institute, it was found that men’s working hours dropped by around 11% (1 hour 37 minutes) including travel time over lockdown. If men kept Working

From Home they could feasibly keep their pay, hours and dedication, but also offer an extra hour and a half for their partner in order to let them keep more work hours. This therefore seems like a much more feasible way for men to help share the childcare responsibilities.

During lockdown men did work 36% more paid hours than women, however, this was a considerably smaller amount than the 50% difference in 2015. It could be down to this intense difference in work hours that led men to;

• be 2 times more likely to be denied flexible working than women;
•  have a bigger fear of requesting Part Time in case of damaging their career;
•  be more judged by managers as less committed when asking for Part Time work than they would to women asking for the same thing

In a Fathers Network Scottish survey, it was found that 60% of dads said that lockdown had positively impacted their relationship with their children. And, as a result, 56% wanted to change the way that they parent in the future. The findings also showed that 40% of dads spent 25 hours or more homeschooling their children.

These findings suggest that, although lockdown put a lot of stress on individuals, men gained a lot from being closer to their children.

So the combination of these findings and the extra 1 hour 37 minutes from the Fatherhood Institute study, could be a great solution to the issues with the ‘shecession’ as it would constantly alleviate some of the domestic workload from women without jeopardising either of the couple’s careers.

Hopefully now that things are getting back to normal again, women will be able to regain the financial stability they had pre-pandemic. Jobs in the service sector are now being able to open as usual. However, it is important to not let all of these findings go forgotten when we do get back to the way that things were. A more balanced sense of parenting can really benefit both women and men, allowing more time for women and a closer relationship between men and their children.

Top Global University Graduates no longer have to have a job lined up to acquire a visa to live in the UK.

The High Potential Individual Route is a suggested plan by the Government in an attempt to raise the UK’s level of innovation. The government is opting to make alterations to visa applications, specifically, educated individuals from globally renowned universities will no longer need a job lined up for them to gain access to a visa. This is because of the likely potential they will bring with them, as proven by their education.

They believe that this will vastly improve the country’s prospects and will help them fulfill their ‘UK Innovation Strategy’ in which they envision that the country will become a ‘global hub for innovation’ with this being planned to be completed by 2035.

This is a huge step for the country and will actively encourage people with a lot to offer to migrate to the UK.

The individual would not have to worry if they were wanting to change careers nor worrying about the possibility of losing a job. This new path allows them to be flexible with their working, giving them time to get the perfect job for them without the concern of not fulfilling the duties they would need to do with a regular visa.

Not only does this benefit the individual, it also benefits employers too since diversity in a workplace can promote innovative thinking that will allow for improvements and new opportunities for companies.

Access to overseas talent is seen as especially key in this new plan since the Government believes that it is critical to have diversity in order to encourage the ‘growth and competitiveness of high-growth businesses’ within the UK’s workforce, particularly with Brexit as it makes the country more appealing.

This plan will be a huge step forward for the country when it goes ahead. However, there are a few questions that need to be answered. For example:

• There is no set date for these visas being introduced.
• There is no specification on what would be considered a ‘top global university’.
• There are no terms and conditions further than this as to what transforms an individual into a High Potential Individual.

This is specifically what the plan states around this new visa scheme:

‘the UK government will introduce a new High Potential Individual route to make it as simple as possible for internationally mobile individuals who demonstrate high potential to come to the UK. Eligibility will be open to applicants who have graduated from a top global university. The UK government will explore the scope to expand eligibility to other characteristics of high potential. There will be no job offer requirement, giving individuals the flexibility to work, switch jobs or employers and make contributions to the UK economy. The route will also allow eligible individuals to extend their visa and settle in the UK, subject to meeting specific requirements’

For the full Government Plan follow this link:

UK innovation strategy (publishing.service.gov.uk)