The COVID-19 pandemic brought many disruptions to children’s education, including the education of children with intellectual (learning) disability and/or autism. We investigated the educational experiences of autistic children and children with an intellectual disability about a year after the COVID-19 pandemic started in the UK.

An online survey collected data during the summer/autumn of 2021 from 1,234 parents of 5 to 15 year-old children across all 4 UK countries. The study investigated school attendance and home learning experiences of children with intellectual disability and/or autistic children who were registered to attend school in 2021. The study also investigated the experience of Elective Home Education in families of children with a neurodevelopmental condition whose child was de-registered from school before and after the pandemic started in the UK in March 2020.

The study provided evidence on the impact of COVID-19 on school attendance and home education for children with a neurodevelopmental condition.

Education changed dramatically due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools closed in 2019/20. There was compulsory return to school in September 2020 with measures in place to control infection and new regulations about COVID-19-related absences. School attendance in the first term of 2020-21 was lower compared to other years. Many children were de-registered from school. In early 2020-21, there was a second prolonged period of national school closures. The pandemic has caused many disruptions to children's education.

Children with neurodevelopmental conditions (NDCs), in particular intellectual disability and autism, are the most vulnerable of vulnerable groups. Among children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), children with intellectual disability and/or autism consistently struggle to meet the required standards in education. Our study will focus on these two groups of children.

Before the pandemic, many children with NDCs missed school. Then the pandemic disrupted everyone's education. Approximately one year after the pandemic started, we will investigate the educational experiences of children with NDCs.

Our project will investigate: - School absence and reasons for absence among children with intellectual disability and/or autism - Child, family, and school factors associated with school absence - Barriers and facilitators of school attendance - Parents' experiences of home schooling

An online survey will collect data from approximately 1,500 parents of 5 to 17 year-old children with NDCs across all 4 UK countries. We will recruit parents of: (i) children registered with a school in spring/summer 2021; (ii) children not registered with a school in spring/summer 2021 but who were registered with a school at the start of the pandemic in March 2020; and (iii) children not registered with a school on either date. We will collect data on school attendance for those registered with a school, and data on home learning experiences for those not registered with a school. For all children, we will collect data on their mental health.

The first analysis will investigate school absence with a focus on children registered with a school. We will summarise school absence data as well as reasons for absence as reported by the parents. The second analysis will investigate school attendance: attending school or home schooling. We will describe the children currently registered to attend school (group 1), those not currently registered who were registered in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic (group 2), and those not registered on either point (group 3). We will summarise the reasons parents give for de-registering their child from school. Our final analysis will focus on home learning support during home schooling. We will describe the types of support schools offer to school-registered students during remote learning (when students are self-isolating/shielding, or schools are closed because of lockdown). We will describe the home learning experiences of school de-registered children and parents' satisfaction with these arrangements.

We will work closely with parents of children with NDCs, seeking their advice on the study. Our team includes the Council for Disabled Children, the largest umbrella organization in the UK bringing together many charities supporting disabled children and their families. We will share the study findings widely, including key messages for policies related to the education of children with special educational needs and disabilities.

According to a survey conducted in the United Kingdom after the easing of lockdown rules, shoppers were asked what they planned to increase their spending on regarding DIY and home decoration. The best outperforming category that shoppers prefer to spend on is outdoor living at 53 percent followed by home decor and entertainment at 47 percent. DIY on third place at 39 of shares, closely followed by health and wellbeing at 38.5 percent while home office spends are predicted to be the least spent on by one-fifth of shares.

The data relates to the project COVID-19: Human Rights Implications of Digital Certificates for Health Status Verification. The study aimed at analysing the implications of Covid-19 health status certificates for data privacy and human rights. These certificates are also commonly referred to as digital health passports.

Covid-19 health status certificates are defined in the study as an all-encompassing term, referring to the digital and paper-based certificates that, combined with identity verification, allow individuals to prove their health status (such as the results of Covid-19 tests and vaccination records).

The study could draw on twenty semi-structured interviews with technologists and experts in digital identity and certification conducted between December 2020 and March 2021, as well as disciplinary and interdisciplinary literature reviews and evaluations of primary and secondary sources of law.

The UK government announced it would consider establishing "immunity passports" as part of a lockdown exit strategy during the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19. Digital certificates for verifying immunity, proof of vaccination and COVID-19 test results may contribute to the long-term COVID-19 management strategy, whereby based on their health status, certain individuals would be able to return to work and enjoy their general freedom of movement. Yet, such certificates pose important questions for the protection of data privacy and human rights, given that they would (1) use sensitive personal health information, (2) create a new distinction between individuals based on their health status, and (3) be used to determine the degree of freedoms and rights one may enjoy.

The technologies adopted during the current pandemic will have a lasting impact on our societies. They will shape how we respond to the trade-offs between data privacy, human rights, and public health interests. This project will evaluate whether and how digital certificates for health status affect our enjoyment of data privacy and the protection of our human rights, assessing whether there are effective ways to mitigate any potential risks for these rights, thus informing decision-making in this area of crucial national interest.

In 2022, the Oxford Word of the Year was 'goblin mode'. Goblin mode is a slang term that refers to self-indulgent, sluggish, or greedy behavior and is is frequently used in the terms "in goblin mode" and "to go goblin mode." Although goblin mode was initially observed on Twitter in 2009, it spread over social media in February 2022. When COVID-19 lockdown rules loosened and people began leaving their homes more frequently, the phrase seemed a useful way to represent the general attitude of those who rebelled against the notion of going back to their pre-pandemic lives, or against unrealistic beauty standards and unsustainable lifestyles promoted on social media.

Unprecedented times In 2021, the world of the year was 'vax', following the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent vaccination rollouts around the world. The word was particularly utilized towards the end of 2021 as 'vax' and many of its derivatives became more commonly used in everyday communication. Overall, 2020 was titled an 'unprecedented year' by Oxford Languages, so no specific one word was chosen. Additionally, 2015's word of the year was not actually a word, but the very popular 'Face with Tears of Joy' emoji.

Vast differences between the U.S. and the UK Picking a Word of the Year is a popular year-end practice among publishers, although choices may vary between vary greatly. UK-based Oxford University Press and U.S.-based Merriam-Webster concluded 2022 with two greatly different words. Whilst both relative to the events of 2022 and the past few years overall, 'gaslighting' was Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year.

In September 2024, the global PMI amounted to 47.5 for new export orders and 48.8 for manufacturing. The manufacturing PMI was at its lowest point in August 2020. It decreased over the last months of 2022 after the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war and rising inflation hit the world economy, and remained around 50 since.

The Conservative party and Boris Johnson were the clear victors in the United Kingdom's general election of 2019, winning 365 seats out of 650, earning them a majority of 80 seats in the House of Commons. The Conservative party's main rivals, the Labour Party, suffered their worst defeat since 1935, after seeing their share of the vote decline by 7.8 percent. Overall, the Labour Party lost 59 seats across the whole country, with historic losses recorded in the party's traditional heartlands of Northern England. Johnson's downfall Despite winning a large majority in this general election, Boris Johnson's popularity fell significantly throughout his time as Prime Minister. From the middle of 2021 onwards, the approval rating of his government declined dramatically. The start of this downturn began when Johnson, came under scrutiny for breaking lockdown rules at the height of COVID-19 lockdowns. Due to the nature of the violations, which concerned celebratory social gatherings at Downing Street, the scandal became known as 'Partygate. Johnson was ultimately served a fixed-penalty notice for breaking lockdown rules, and despite surviving a vote of no-confidence in his leadership in June 2022, his authority was badly shaken.

Truss and Sunak struggle to steady the ship A series of damaging ministerial resignations between July 5-7, 2022 forced Johnson's hand, and he resigned on July 7, 2022, remaining as Prime Minister until the Conservative party elected the ill-fated Liz Truss as his replacement in September 2022. Even by post-Brexit standards, Truss' time in office was very brief. Just 45 days after becoming Prime Minister, Truss resigned. The economic damage unleashed by her mini-budget was too severe for her to continue. In her place stepped Rishi Sunak, who became the third Prime Minister of 2022, and the fifth since the Brexit vote of 2016. Although Sunak restored a degree of political stability to after Truss, he has failed to improve the Conservative's poor polling position as the country gears up for an election in 2024 or 2025.

Boris Johnson is resigning as Prime Minister of the United Kindom after a large number of government ministers resigned from their positions between July 5-7, 2022. As of July 7, 45 government ministers had resigned from Johnson's government since taking power in 2019, the highest of any Prime Minister since 1979, including that of Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair who were in office for much longer periods. Johnsons's popularity had been declining for some time, with just 25 percent of people thinking he was the best choice for Prime Minister in May 2022, compared with 40 percent a year earlier. Johnson's sinking popularity is heavily associated with a number of scandals, especially 'partygate', which concerned Johnson and government officials breaking their own lockdown rules to attend social gatherings at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although Johnsons survived a vote of no confidence in his leadership on June 6, 2022, his authority was badly shaken by two by-election defeats that month.