Stephen Isherwood
@stish.bsky.social
My job is anything to do with early career recruitment and development (ISE joint-CEO). Other stuff I look at on here: anything to do with the outdoors, art and old cars.
I'm changing my mind on this too...
Given the chat about it today here's my post from a few years ago on what I got wrong about tuition fees...
samf.substack.com/p/what-i-got...
samf.substack.com/p/what-i-got...
What I got wrong about tuition fees
Some honesty is needed to get universities out of the hole they're sinking into
samf.substack.com
January 29, 2026 at 9:48 PM
I'm changing my mind on this too...
Reposted by Stephen Isherwood
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
2026: Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves, "It is not right that people who don't go to university bear the cost for others to"
2020: That time Labour leader Keir Starmer said he would scrap university tuition fees
2020: That time Labour leader Keir Starmer said he would scrap university tuition fees
January 29, 2026 at 2:44 PM
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
Thanks for inviting me onto your podcast Tom. Lots to unpick on the grad market at the moment.
🚨NEW PODCAST🚨
Why are so many graduates struggling to find a job?
@sarahoconnorft.ft.com and @stish.bsky.social join me to discuss why young people leaving university are having a tough time in the labour market.
Listen here: insideyoured.com
Why are so many graduates struggling to find a job?
@sarahoconnorft.ft.com and @stish.bsky.social join me to discuss why young people leaving university are having a tough time in the labour market.
Listen here: insideyoured.com
January 29, 2026 at 8:32 AM
Thanks for inviting me onto your podcast Tom. Lots to unpick on the grad market at the moment.
Reposted by Stephen Isherwood
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/uOC6Arrf2us?...
Student loans are 'fair', says Rachel Reeves, amid backlash | LBC
YouTube video by LBC
youtu.be
January 29, 2026 at 7:41 AM
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/uOC6Arrf2us?...
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.
January 28, 2026 at 9:55 PM
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.
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.
This week on Wonkhe: Jim Dickinson traces how a student loans system once sold as cost-sharing has become one where graduates fund everything – and where Labour has quietly reversed promises to make things fairer
Graduates are paying more and getting less
Jim Dickinson traces how a student loans system once sold as cost-sharing has become one where graduates fund everything – and where Labour has quietly reversed promises to make things fairer Jim Dickinson...
buff.ly
January 24, 2026 at 12:33 PM
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.
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...
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
www.ft.com
January 23, 2026 at 8:48 AM
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...
Rule 8 is the one for me - avoid the algorithm feed. I occasionally venture into it but always regret it.
Rule 1: You don't need to justify your decision to block someone.
20 top tips for staying sane on social media.
www.edrith.co.uk/p/staying-sa...
20 top tips for staying sane on social media.
www.edrith.co.uk/p/staying-sa...
January 23, 2026 at 8:46 AM
Rule 8 is the one for me - avoid the algorithm feed. I occasionally venture into it but always regret it.
I can't think of anything that makes me chortle as much as @in-otter-news.bsky.social
It’s been an eventful day. Steve has seized Rome. He’s not sure how.
January 23, 2026 at 8:16 AM
I can't think of anything that makes me chortle as much as @in-otter-news.bsky.social
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.
January 12, 2026 at 6:41 PM
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.
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."
New post out:
We have an interview with John Bew - one of the most influential people in British politics over the past decade + foreign policy adviser to four PMs.
(Free to read)
samf.substack.com/p/interview-...
We have an interview with John Bew - one of the most influential people in British politics over the past decade + foreign policy adviser to four PMs.
(Free to read)
samf.substack.com/p/interview-...
Interview with John Bew - adviser to four Prime Ministers
On Whitehall, Ukraine, Trump and the global challenges facing Britain
samf.substack.com
January 8, 2026 at 1:16 PM
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."
@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.
January 7, 2026 at 10:30 AM
@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.
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...
Apprenticeships rise as graduate vacancies drop 8%
ISE’s Student Recruitment Survey 2025 launches with the latest data on the entry-level jobs market.
ise.org.uk
October 15, 2025 at 9:48 AM
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...
EE Broadband. How can a company be so mindbendingly incompetent and wasteful and still say solvent?
September 25, 2025 at 7:40 PM
EE Broadband. How can a company be so mindbendingly incompetent and wasteful and still say solvent?
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.
August 14, 2025 at 9:53 AM
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.
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...
An insider-outsider labour market needs an insider-outsider skills policy
By Neil Carberry, Chief Executive, REC - May 2025
campaign-for-learning.org.uk
May 15, 2025 at 11:00 AM
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...
Reposted by Stephen Isherwood
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
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...
buff.ly
April 27, 2025 at 4:01 PM
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
Best book I've read on politics in a very long time - Failed State by @samfr.bsky.social. Should be on the national curriculum.
April 26, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Best book I've read on politics in a very long time - Failed State by @samfr.bsky.social. Should be on the national curriculum.
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...
Does earning £100k make you rich?
Exclusive new nationally representative polling from @FindoutnowUK.
Plus:
- What % of the country is rich?
- Do men and women differ?
- Should your primary home count?
- And which fictional families are rich?
www.edrith.co.uk/p/whos-rich-...
Thread.
Exclusive new nationally representative polling from @FindoutnowUK.
Plus:
- What % of the country is rich?
- Do men and women differ?
- Should your primary home count?
- And which fictional families are rich?
www.edrith.co.uk/p/whos-rich-...
Thread.
Who's Rich? Redux
Exclusive new polling from Find Out Now
www.edrith.co.uk
April 9, 2025 at 8:55 AM
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...
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...
March 6, 2025 at 2:29 PM
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...
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...
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.
ise.org.uk
February 27, 2025 at 4:22 PM
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...
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.
January 17, 2025 at 9:50 AM
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.
@in-otter-news.bsky.social is so much my favourite find on here.
January 9, 2025 at 8:24 PM
@in-otter-news.bsky.social is so much my favourite find on here.
"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...
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...
www.oecd.org
December 10, 2024 at 4:43 PM
"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...
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/2024/11/a-fa.... Reminded me of some of the themes in Wendell Berry's 2019 'Going Home' interview in the NYT.
The farmers march on Westminster
unherd.com
November 20, 2024 at 12:37 PM
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/2024/11/a-fa.... Reminded me of some of the themes in Wendell Berry's 2019 'Going Home' interview in the NYT.