Breaking the firewall: How to engage SMEs in technical education
Engaging SMEs in the skills agenda remains one of the biggest challenges for policymakers, providers and other employer-facing organisations.
What do we know about school uniform policies and inclusion?
School uniforms have been a feature of English education since the 1550s and are deeply embedded in English culture.
New Report launched: The Missing Middle - Unlocking the growth potential of higher technical qualifications
The Lifelong Education Institute calls for urgent alignment of funding, clearer progression routes, and greater flexibility to address chronic technical skills shortages.
Low life satisfaction more strongly associated with school absence for girls than boys
New NFER research shows that lower life satisfaction among pupils in England is associated with higher school absences, with stronger links seen among girls and persistently absent pupils*.
Emerald Publishing sold to Wiley for £337 million
Social science imprint based in Leeds is described as ‘outstanding strategic fit’ for American publishing giant.
UK university spin-out activity ‘growing beyond golden triangle’
Tripling in spin-out growth since 2020, with university equity stakes reaching lowest level in a decade, according to new report.
Debt-ridden graduates seen as ‘cash cows’ to fund older people’s lifestyles, MPs told
7. Student loans crisis ‘comparable to PPI scandal’, education tsar suggests | Independent
8. 'With debt rising and jobs scarce, were our degrees worth it?' | BBC
Unlock opportunities for postgraduate study to transform the UK’s skills base
As demand for specialist skills rises sharply, the Russell Group says the UK could fall behind other leading research nations without collective action.
The stickiness of children’s voice and agency in research
Increasingly, ‘voice’, though not an uncontested term, is understood as manifest through, for instance, gesture, gaze, body language, art, and other embodied forms (Murris, 2013; Murray, 2019), and even silence (Spyrou, 2016; Hanna, 2022).
First projects funded by Local Innovation Partnership Fund
£30 million has been earmarked for Liverpool City Region (LCR) to boost high-potential innovation clusters.
Growing up hungry: Measuring UK child food insecurity in 2026
Since the last time SMF looked at child food insecurity, the economic landscape has shifted considerably.
New research finds university students experiencing increasing levels of perfectionism
University students are becoming increasingly perfectionistic, with growing fears about failure, mistakes and being judged by others, according to new research co-authored by Dr Thomas Curran, Associate Professor of Social Psychology in the Department of Psychological and...
Landmark report sets out action to address key skills gaps
Skills England has today published its Annual Skills Report, marking its first anniversary with a comprehensive assessment of current and future skills needs.
FE falls as bootcamps boom in priority skills pipeline
Mainstream further education courses linked to the government’s priority industrial strategy sectors have declined while higher education, apprenticeships and skills bootcamps all grew.
Liverpool first winner for devolved mayoral research funding
Support for two major science projects is hailed by city’s mayor as an important turning point in UK science policy.
Two-thirds of English public doubt value of university degrees
People increasingly sceptical of higher education’s benefits, according to social attitudes poll, while majority back limits on international students.
Changing public attitudes to higher education
The latest British Social Attitudes survey release tracks a disquieting change in the public's perception of higher education. David Kernohan has the numbers.
2025 Childcare Provider’s Finance Report
London Economics were commissioned by the Department for Education (DfE) to investigate the state of childcare providers’ finances and the cost of childcare to parents, using information from the 2025 Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers (in partnership with IFF...
Multiply adult numeracy randomised controlled trials
L&W has been working with Ipsos and other partners to support the Government in understanding what works in increasing adults’ numeracy skills, as part of Multiply, the Government’s flagship programme for improving adult numeracy between 2022 and 2025.
Opting out- The failure of not investing in young people and the limits of research led growth
Research makes economies stronger and a stronger economy is the only way out of the quagmire of political inertia that has left a generation of young people chronically unemployed. Universities must do something but James Coe argues they must be clear in what they can and...