Education in a Shifting Political and Economic Landscape

New priorities and challenges will shape the education sector for the next five years, and beyond. We’re already experienced in researching key issues laid out in the Coalition’s programme for government.

"The Government believes that we need to reform our school system to tackle educational inequality, which has widened in recent years, and to give greater powers to parents and pupils to choose a good school. We want to ensure high standards of discipline in the classroom, robust standards and the highest quality teaching. We also believe that the state should help parents, community groups and others come together to improve the education system by starting new schools.”

The Coalition: our programme for government , Cabinet Office, May 2010

Educational inequality

We have a strong track-record in research to explore open access to educational opportunity. For clients like the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS, now BIS), London Councils, the Office of Fair Access (OFFA) and the Sutton Trust, we’ve looked at issues including: the desirability of American-style SATs in determining the academic potential of applicants to higher education; young people’s perceptions of the capabilities they’ll need to lead fulfilling adult lives; access to, and the use of, computers in the home to support teaching and learning; and the influence of teachers on pupil progression into higher education.

Greater powers to choose a good school

Amongst others, our projects have examined: factors influencing choice and what constitutes a ‘good’ school; parents’ and pupils’ views on the impact of school inspections; support for selection through entrance testing; how parents use school performance table information; and public views on fair ways of determining the allocation of places in over-subscribed primary and secondary schools.

Discipline, robust standards and teaching quality

We regularly conduct research with the schools workforce on a variety of professional issues, including training, ongoing development and performance management. For example, our six-year longitudinal study, Becoming a Teacher, mapped the impact of initial teacher training, induction and early professional development experiences on rates of retention amongst new entrants to the teaching profession. Our project on behalf of the National College identified factors (or ‘retention packages’) that would encourage headteachers to remain in the profession until full retirement age (or beyond), while a three-year longitudinal study for the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) examined support staff access to, and experiences of, training and development opportunities.

Our recent research for the National Audit Office collected robust data on the prevalence and nature of partnering in schools, and the contribution made by partnership working to improving the attainment and behaviour of pupils at Key Stage 3.

We’ve also tracked public confidence in GCSE, A-level and (latterly) Diploma qualifications; explored issues around the reliability of assessment and error in exam results; measured reactions to curriculum reform; and gauged perceptions of the quality of leadership in schools.