Here are four activities centred around the Spring Budget. They're pretty straightforward and stand on their own, so they should be well suited for homework or for a bit of cover work.
1. Impact Assessment: Have a look at how the budget's policies might impact different groups within society.
2. Policy Analysis: This one's digs into the rationale behind the policies and considering any potential drawbacks.
3. Quotation Hunt: This task gets students to search the text for quotes to back up their arguments – a useful skill for case studies
4. Comprehension Multiple Choice: This activity doesn't lean heavily on specific economic knowledge, so is suitable even if you're students haven't studied much macro. If you're using Microsoft Teams, you can access a digital version of the multiple choice questions with Microsoft Forms. Just follow the link here and click 'Duplicate'.
The activities are based on three open-access sources:
- BBC articles ‘Budget Summary: Key points from Jeremy Hunt’s speech’
- BBC article ‘What does the Budget mean for you and your money?’
- The Executive Summary of the official statement. It's a four-page document that's not only a chance to get students comfortable with denser texts but also an opportunity for you to chat through what an Executive Summary is all about. For mobile-friendly access, the link in the activity directs to an HTML version. However, if you're printing, you might prefer to use this link and print pages 6-9 (just a heads-up: the page numbers might not match up perfectly with the printed numbers at the bottom of the page. They'll show as 1-4 in the corner when printed).