Research

Small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) are key to making apprenticeships more accessible, especially for disadvantaged young people, but many such companies continue to face barriers to offering these opportunities. Existing research has identified many such barriers, but geographical factors have not previously been considered. In our first working paper, we examine how geography impacts SMEs’ likelihood of offering apprenticeships, with a view to informing effective solutions that will result in more equitable apprenticeship opportunities across the UK.

This edition of Successful School Leadership brings in the latest evidence and material to what has remained a popular publication. While the fundamentals of what drives successful school leadership remain the same, new evidence further supports the arguments put forward by Christopher Day and Pam Sammons back in 2016. The growing interest in system leadership that we have witnessed over the last five years also features in this edition, as does a reflection on the expanding body of international literature focused on school leadership in low-income contexts.

Around the world, young people face considerable challenges. Even before the disruption of the Covid-19 crisis, policymakers were seeking to respond to rapid technological advances, climate change and – in some countries – an ageing population and workforce. While children and young people worldwide generally have high aspirations and ambitions for their futures, evidence shows that they often face problematic and protracted transitions into work. In this context, new pathways from school to employment are needed. In this paper, we review extensive evidence to provide guidance on how children and young people can be best prepared to succeed in their school-to-work transitions, both now and in the future.

Effective careers advice is impossible without good quality labour market information. Careers professionals and advisers, the people whose job it is to offer and support careers advice in the community or in schools, are key to success. Vital to their work is access and familiarity with a robust and sophisticated body of intelligence about the labour market.

London schools continue to constitute an extraordinary ‘success story’. By common consent, the government school system in London achieves extremely good results compared to the rest of England, and students from disadvantaged backgrounds do particularly well.

This review examines a range of lesson observation frameworks designed for and used in the observation of teaching in mathematics.

This report distils down what others can learn from three decades of England’s approach to school performance data.

This study investigates the experience of an unusually interesting group of government-funded primary and secondary schools in England.

This report showcases nine research studies conducted by two CfBT Schools Trust academies: St Mark's Church of England Academy and Oxford Spires Academy.

As the debate about the nature and generation of education evidence becomes centre stage globally this report leads the way. Twelve teacher-led randomised controlled trials and other styles of experimental research demonstrate the potential of serving teachers to carry out research that applies scientific method with rigour. The teachers planned, conducted, analysed and wrote up their research, which they have presented in a conference poster format.

This is the first in a series of three reports that collectively provide a commentary on research awareness and research use within schools in England.

This report is the third of three publications that collectively provide a commentary on research awareness and research use within schools in England.