Welcome to my website. I set up this site as a way of storing research reports and other publications that I’ve worked on in the past as well as displaying my media appearances. I have also included a short biography and a contact form, should you wish to find out more.
With a General Election due in the coming months, the Labour Party’s plans to add VAT to independent school fees has taken on even greater salience. The question of how much money this headline change would raise remains a source of heated debate. Last year, a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies concluded that…
Teachers and school leaders are currently facing an array of challenges – funding shortfalls, a teacher recruitment and retention crisis and questions over the safety of some buildings, to name but three. It may therefore seem like a curious time to be discussing the structure of the state school system, most notably the future direction…
The academic pathway from GCSEs to A-levels to an undergraduate degree at university is a well-trodden and well-understood route that attracts tens of thousands of young people in England every year. However, while this pathway receives considerable political and media interest, just 37 per cent of young people take three A-levels in their final years…
The political debate over the role, status and taxation of independent (‘private’) schools in England shows no sign of abating. Two issues have attracted considerable attention in recent months: the prospect of VAT being added to independent school fees; and the charitable status of independent schools. In the first part of this research project –…
Despite its current political salience, the proposal to charge VAT on private (‘independent’) school fees in England is nothing new. The Labour Party’s 1983 election manifesto set out plans to “withdraw charitable status from private schools and all their other public subsidies and tax privileges [and] we will also charge VAT on the fees paid…
Over 300 years since the first written exam was used in the English education system, this traditional form of assessment continues to divide opinion. To their supporters, written exams provide a rigorous test of students’ knowledge and understanding that acts as a source of motivation as well as a sound basis for progression onto university…
10 years ago, the Coalition Government commissioned the ‘Richard Review’ to ensure that apprenticeships in England were “consistently delivering high quality training”. The Review called for a package of reforms that aimed to deliver a “world class” system, which centred around a new ‘employer-led’ approach that has allowed employers to control the design and provision…
In recent years, our education and training system has been buffeted by several seismic events, including the quest to reach ‘Net Zero’ by 2050, Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic and now the looming prospect of yet another economic downturn. To rise to the challenge posed by each of these events, let alone a combination of them,…
A young person being ‘Not in Education, Employment or Training’ (NEET) can be particularly harmful and have long-term ‘scarring’ effects. Individuals who spend time NEET are more likely to be unemployed, receive lower wages, have a criminal record, report lower levels of life satisfaction and job satisfaction and suffer from health problems such as depression….