iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Stephen Isherwood

Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

All day long all I've heard is spurious theories about the NEETs rise. None of which are the obvious answer... wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/...

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

"There was not enough data to publish information specifically for this course. This may be because the course size is too small or not enough students responded to the survey. This does not reflect on the quality of the course." (From the Discover Uni website.) wonkhe.com/blogs/why-ha...

wonkhe.com

Why has the OfS downgraded graduate outcomes?

Stephen Isherwood explains that despite the challenges of measuring career outcomes, they remain central to student interests, value for money and informed choice

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Why do all the scammers who phone me pretend to be from O2? Either that or O2 have the worst cold-call sales strategy on the planet.

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

It's all the comments that make this such a giggle....

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Articles like this are why I read less and less general press commentary nowadays. Reading Sam's output is a far more productive use of my time. I learn't quite a bit from the comments too.

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

This ranks as possibly the most interesting podcast I've ever listened to. Shows how we pay almost no attention to the long term forces at play open.spotify.com/episode/4tFM...

open.spotify.com

The Rise and Fall of Homo Sapiens

Past Present Future · Episode

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Reposted by Stephen Isherwood

Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

I'm in @theobserveruk.bsky.social today on why a lot of the AI/jobpocalypse debate misses the point. observer.co.uk/news/opinion...

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Grad vacancies to GDP since 2000. Easy to spot the 2002 dotcom bubble burst , the financial crash, & covid. What is different about 2025/6 is that vacs have dropped even though there has been some GDP growth. Historically, employers over-index on grad hiring when the economy is growing.

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

AI is reshaping the skills profile of graduate/school-leaver roles: greater emphasis on adaptability. Read a summary of our latest report here: ise.org.uk/knowledge/in...

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

This slide on finance sector skills backs up what the ISE has been saying for a while - more and more jobs are becoming higher skilled. Also, for the third time in two days, adaptability flagged as the biggest skill need for employers (our new development survey also says the same thing).

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

I'm changing my mind on this too...

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Reposted by Stephen Isherwood

Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

This is such a facile argument. Sure, let's have a conversation about how universities should be funded. But let's also talk interest rates, debt that functions like an extra tax, repayment thresholds, and what that's actually doing to millions of young people who did everything they were told to do

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

Thanks for inviting me onto your podcast Tom. Lots to unpick on the grad market at the moment.

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Reposted by Stephen Isherwood

Lewis Goodall @lewisgoodall.com · 29/01/2026

Spoke to Shleagh Fogarty yesterday sbout why the Chancellor is wrong: our “student loan” system is not remotely fair. It’s regressive and embedding inter and intra generational wealth inequality. It’s not a loan system, it’s a bad grad tax in all but name. youtu.be/uOC6Arrf2us?...

youtu.be

Student loans are 'fair', says Rachel Reeves, amid backlash | LBC

YouTube video by LBC

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

One of the nice things about moving near to Cambridge is that I can now get to the university's Institute of Astronomy weekly public talks. Tonight was the first time I've been that the sky was clear enough for them to get the telescopes out.

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

Just done an IV for LBC on grad jobs market. Can't help wondering why the NUS are MIA - they should be a pain in the govt's backside right now on tuition fees. If farmers can get changes to the tax system by parking their tractors in Westminster, students should be doing similar.

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

Smart article from the FT on the graduate jobs market (and not just becuase the ISE data is quoted). I still think the impact of AI on jobs is overblown - at the moment. www.ft.com/content/c894...

ft.com

The great graduate job drought

Economic uncertainty and the arrival of AI have brought a reduction in entry-level roles, with potentially disastrous consequences for young people

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

Rule 8 is the one for me - avoid the algorithm feed. I occasionally venture into it but always regret it.

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

I can't think of anything that makes me chortle as much as @in-otter-news.bsky.social

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

What can we do as a nation to sort out EE? If we are supposedly a sophisticated country, how is that such staggering, mind-numbing incompetence (and dishonesty) is permitted.

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

This please: "...what if a group of bright things, young and old, sat down and wrote down a plan to make this country safe, secure and prosperous in the next 20 to 30 years. What are the things we need to do? You’ll find none of that in any of the current manifestos."

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

@lmicharlie.bsky.social data always good. Our data (ISE) is more skewed to the corporate market. This is data from grad outcomes on all roles.

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

Our annual survey out today. Grad vacancies down 8%, non-grad (mostly apprenticeships) up 8%. But grad hires are more in volume so overall early career market down 5%. ise.org.uk/knowledge/in...

ise.org.uk

Apprenticeships rise as graduate vacancies drop 8%

ISE’s Student Recruitment Survey 2025 launches with the latest data on the entry-level jobs market.

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

EE Broadband. How can a company be so mindbendingly incompetent and wasteful and still say solvent?

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

The younger Ish has got the A-level grades she wanted and all is dandy. But having seen the process play out at first hand, and at what all her friends are doing, I can't help but think how unfit for purpose it is.

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

Just read this piece by @recneil.bsky.social, made me think of France where employment regs make it really hard for young people to get permanent contracts. campaign-for-learning.org.uk/Web/CFL/What...

campaign-for-learning.org.uk

An insider-outsider labour market needs an insider-outsider skills policy

By Neil Carberry, Chief Executive, REC - May 2025

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Reposted by Stephen Isherwood

Wonkhe @wonkhe.bsky.social · 27/04/2025

Last week on Wonkhe: Graduate and apprentice employers are growing less interested in a person’s age, education and technical experience. Stephen Isherwood explains the upshot for higher education

buff.ly

Employers will increasingly focus on graduates’ skills over technical knowledge

Graduate and apprentice employers are growing less interested in a person’s age, education and technical experience. Stephen Isherwood explains the upshot for higher education Graduate and apprentice...

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

Best book I've read on politics in a very long time - Failed State by @samfr.bsky.social. Should be on the national curriculum.

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

Fascinating. There is also this tool from the IFS where you plug in your household income and it tells you where you sit relative to the rest of the UK. I think most people have very little understanding of what a middle income is: ifs.org.uk/tools_and_re...

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

A slide I left out my deck last week - it shows the current population split by age and projections to 2035. There are over 600,000 more 55-59yr-olds in the UK than 15-19yr-olds. One to think about when formulating talent plans! Link to our full report: ise.org.uk/page/futureo...

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

Today we launched our report on how student recruitment & development teams can embrace skills-based employer thinking. Reducing birth rates, an aging workforce and technological change are the drivers. ise.org.uk/page/futureo...

ise.org.uk

Future of early talent

Ten years ago, not many ISE members were hiring school leavers, now they are. Ten years from now, we expect many ISE member recruitment teams will not only still target school leavers and graduates, but also career changers, older workers and internal candidates.

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

A lot of chat on our forums about students using AI live in online interviews. The trouble is they are then getting rejected as they don't come across as authentic, and might otherwise have got through.

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

"41% of workers are mismatched in terms of field of study, because their highest qualification is not in the field that is most relevant to their job". But over 80% of UK employers don't recruit by subject. You don't need a law degree to be a lawyer here. www.oecd.org/en/publicati...

oecd.org

Do Adults Have the Skills They Need to Thrive in a Changing World?

The 2023 Survey of Adult Skills, a product of the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), provides a comprehensive overview of adults' literacy, numeracy, and ad...

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Difficult to sum up this excellent piece by @herdyshepherd.bsky.social , but this quote in particular stands out: our dipshit policy is to “Leave it to Tesco”, unherd.com/2024/11/a-fa.... Reminded me of some of the themes in Wendell Berry's 2019 'Going Home' interview in the NYT.

unherd.com

The farmers march on Westminster

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Reposted by Stephen Isherwood

Dmitry Grozoubinski @explaintrade.com · 20/11/2024

Appreciate this may not be a universally popular opinion but the less you treat BlueSky as a crusade or cause, and the more you position it as simply a superior user experience with a better governance approach, the more sustainable the growth will be.

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 08/10/2024

Two sentences in the FT today caught my eye: “Immigration drives fastest population growth for half a century”, and, “Deaths outnumbered births for the first time in 50 years, other than during the pandemic”. There are now fewer 15-19yr olds than 55-59yr olds in the UK. (www.populationpyramid.net)

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 12/09/2024

Our recent pulse survey on international student job applications: 33% of employers said they will now state where candidates can’t apply for some locations/positions if they need a visa, even with the graduate visa. Small sample, only 15, but as more are public on their policy others will follow.

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Reposted by Stephen Isherwood

Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 12/09/2024

New post just out: Notes on a dismal leadership contest... "Can anyone save the Conservative Party?" (£/free trial) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/c...

open.substack.com

Can anyone save the Conservative Party?

Notes on a dismal leadership contest

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 30/08/2024

"Of the respondents who had been successful, many said their best advice for students was to contact their university’s careers service, to gain as much practical experience as possible before, during and after their degree, and to pick up additional skills." www.theguardian.com/money/articl...

theguardian.com

‘Like throwing myself at a wall’: UK graduates struggle in ‘insane’ job market

‘Hostile and impersonal’ process to find first job after university leads many to work for minimum wage

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 25/08/2024

Blustery but sunny couple of days in Pembrokeshire

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 20/08/2024

IMO apprentice funding should shift towards young people. This from today's FT report on skills: "While university places are almost unlimited... apprenticeships and traineeships are in effect capped because of inadequate funding." www.ft.com/content/8422...

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 20/08/2024

Finally cleared my new allotment, very happy 😄. And my back survived the ordeal.

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Stephen Isherwood @stish.bsky.social · 20/08/2024

Breakdown of what actually happened to uni applications on A-level results day. "More England-domiciled 18 year olds have been placed at university on results day than in any year other than 2021", wrote David Kernohan on Wonkhe: wonkhe.com/blogs/a-leve...

wonkhe.com

A level results day, 2024

All the results, all the analysis, and all the clearing action from JCQ results day 2024

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