From our Economics Correspondent: The state of the UK economy in 2025 [Year 12 Enrichment Task]

As I write this entry, the Bank of England has just released a report warning that the UK faces its deepest recession on record. This initial report from the BBCexplains that Bank said that the economy was on course to shrink 14% this year, based on the lockdown being relaxed in June - although their scenario suggests that UK growth is expected to rebound in 2021 to a record 15%. However the size of the economy is not expected to get back to its pre-virus peak until the middle of next year, and the Bank assumes job losses and shrinking pay packets will continue to weigh on the recovery, with British families remaining cautious about shopping and socialising for at least another year.

This provides a stark backdrop for this week's Enrichment Task for Year 12 students, in which they are given the opportunity to combine their economic knowledge and their imagination to cast their minds forward to 2025. Students take the role of an Economics Correspondent for a major newspaper or TV channel in five years time, to create a report reflecting on the state of the UK economy, based on their analysis of the economic measures being taken now, in 2020. The report can be written or recorded, as if for broadcast on the radio or TV.

Yr 12 5 Economics Correspondent 2025