by admin
23 September 2026 
The Office of National Statistics (ONS) provides the latest figures on job vacancies in the UK, which are crucial for understanding the labour market trends. The most recent data indicates a decrease in job vacancies, with estimates for June to August 2026 suggesting a decrease of 8,000 (1.1%) to 702,000 vacancies. This is the lowest level since February to April 2021, with vacancies decreasing in 10 of the 18 industry sectors and in 2 of the 5 employment size bands. The largest industry decrease was in education, with a loss of 5,000 vacancies, and the largest employment size band decrease was for businesses with 1 to 9 employees, down by 7,000 vacancies.
The unemployment-to-vacancy ratio has remained at 2.5 since July to September 2025, indicating a relatively tight labour market.
In summary – this suggests that there are:
- Fewer jobs available
- A shrinking labour market
- Greater competition for EVERY vacancy
Add this scenario the 1 Million NEET Young People in the UK currently….and it is apparent that finding a job, after their Further and Advanced Education Studies is getting increasingly difficult for our Next Generation of Leaders.
This is why Mobile Team Challenge have designed and launched their “STUDENT SUPPORT STRATEGY”. This programme supports your Students for ALL of their time in College or University.
A key part of increasing employability for our young people is helping students develop Positive Psychology, Positive Thinking and Positive Attitudes, while recognising and managing Negative Thinking. Developing Stress Resilience, Wellbeing and Emotionally Intelligent Attitudes can help students adapt to change and develop the confidence, behaviours and attitudes required for the workplace.
This approach to Attitudinal and Behavioural Change can also play an important role in Managing the NEET Issue, by helping young people become better prepared for employment and the transition from education into the workplace.
✅ Year 1 – Students attend “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Students” workshops through term time. They participate in a BPS Approved, personal Emotional Intelligence Profiling with 1-to-1 Coaching, Mentoring and Feedback covering the 8 EI Behaviours and Life Skills.
✅ Year 2 – The workshops focus on preparing the Students for the ‘paradigm shift’ to go from a Student Mindset to a Workplace Mindset, creating Winning Behaviours and Attitudes and focussing on Student Wellbeing. These workshops equip the Students to be more successful in securing their positions for their Industrial Placement Year.
✅ Year 3 – During their Industrial Placement Year – our Coaches and Mentors will arrange 1 session per term to meet (either face-to-face or via a Teams Video Call) to continue the Students’ personal development.
✅ Year 4 – will consist of face-to-face workshops where they will complete another Emotional Intelligence personal profile to identify the development of each student over the 3 or 4 year programme and will also identify any areas where the student requires further mentoring on a 1-to-1 basis.
These sessions prepare Students for their first workplace position.
Each workshop carries a CPD Accreditation – so the Students are adding to their Professional Qualifications and thus increasing the chances of employability.
These Student Support Interventions for the “student life” also reflects positively on the University and NSS league positions will increase – thus attracting more students to the University in subsequent years.
MBA Students from Surrey University Business School
Take a look at our new Student Support Strategy here
