This report from UK think tank the Sutton Trust looks at the geography of opportunity and social mobility in England. Opportunity is not evenly spread across the country. A young person’s socio-economic background – including the income level of their family, their parents’ educational qualifications, and their family’s wealth – all play a critical role...

This report from UK think tank the Institute for Government explores how Labour can learn from its experience of tackling complex problems when it was last in government. The last Labour government’s success in tackling complex policy problems like school absence provides a blueprint for Keir Starmer’s government. This report, written by Moira Wallace, former...

This report from UK think tank CEPEO examines the medium term impact of the pandemic on pupils with SEND. This report examines how the COVID-19 pandemic affected students in England with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), particularly those with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). Drawing on national and local authority-level data from 2015–2022,...

This report from UK think tank The Sutton Trust surveys school funding and pupil premium in 2025. Our annual survey of 1,208 teachers, conducted by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) as part of their Teacher Voice Omnibus Survey, takes a closer look at schools funding and how school leaders are spending their budgets...

This report from UK think tank the Resolution Foundation looks at why the 2025 Spending Review must reckon with the distribution of public service use. Post-Covid, the British state is estimated to have reached a historic high of 45 per cent of the size of the economy. Past strategies to cope with increasing pressure on...

This report from UK think tank the Education Policy Institute features a detailed look at the Bristol Education Partnership (BEP) and the York ISSP. The new report by the Education Policy Institute (EPI), funded by HMC (The Head’s Conference), examines the workings, challenges and perceived benefits of partnerships between independent and state schools in England....

This report from UK think tank the Social Market Foundation examines the state of young people’s mental health in England. This briefing looks at case studies from the young people's charity #BeeWell in schools in Greater Manchester and Hampshire, showing further the importance of prioritising the wellbeing of students in our education system. Adolescent wellbeing...

This report from UK think tank the Social Market Foundation argues that there is no inherent trade off between wellbeing and attainment in schools. Through a literature review and new analysis of OECD data, this briefing paper argues that there is no inherent trade-off between wellbeing and attainment as some have suggested; and sets out...

This report from UK think tank CEPEO presents new comparative evidence on the decline in pupils' emotional engagement with school. Research has indicated how, in England, pupils' emotional engagement at school drops rapidly in the first stages of secondary education (Key Stage 3). But to what extent is a similar pattern observed in other countries,...

This report from UK think tank CEPEO examines the impact of debt forgiveness in promoting higher education outcomes. This paper examines the impact of a debt forgiveness program implemented in 2011 on education and labour market outcomes for student loan holders who pursued university education in Colombia. The policy generated a sharp discontinuity in the...

This report from UK think tank the Institute for Government looks at how government can start closing the opportunity gap in early years education. The Starmer government has committed to five long-term missions, including to ‘break down barriers to opportunity’, and has set a target for 75% of five year-olds to be ‘school ready’ by...

This report from UK think tank HEPI considers the consequences of boys and men's underachievement. The problem of educational achievement by boys and young men is a long-standing and big one that has been largely ignored by policymakers. This new HEPI report considers the consequences for individuals and society and proposes: adopting a ‘boy positive’...

This report from UK think tank IPPR sets out 10 recommendations which, if delivered, would see a measurable improvement in school inclusion. An alarming number of children are missing out on the social and educational benefits of school. A crisis of lost learning is sweeping across schools in England. Children cannot learn if they are...

This report from UK think tank CEPEO investigates inequalities in access to professional occupations. Previous research has shown that disadvantaged young people are less likely to work in professional occupations than their advantaged peers, even when they have achieved the same level of education. Yet until now little has been known about the reasons for...

This report from UK think tank the Education Policy Institute explores how long-term changes in education and employment outcomes vary across the four UK nations. A new report by the Education Policy Institute (EPI), funded by the Nuffield Foundation, explores how long-term changes in education and employment outcomes vary across the four UK nations. The...

Universities must find ways to cultivate a sense of belonging amongst students By Alexis Brown (HEPI) It’s no secret that students have had a rough time of it during the pandemic. Those who weren’t in university yet missed out on the standardised tests and schooling that would normally prepare them for higher education, and those...