This publication sets out areas where DfE is interested in more research and new evidence2. Given the broad policy agenda of the department it is not practical to provide an exhaustive list of research questions of interest. Instead this is a targeted list of areas which are both key departmental priorities and where we feel the research community is currently well placed to add to our evidence base. In terms of approaches to answer the questions, we are interested in both primary qualitative and quantitative research, secondary data analysis, and literature reviews/synthesis of existing evidence. For all questions we are interested in international perspectives and what has worked, or not, in other countries. For all our questions we are interested in how results differ for relevant sub-groups such as Free School Meal pupils, Pupil Premium pupils, Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) pupils, Black and Minority Ethnic pupils, and gender.
Get in touch with ARI.Reply@education.gov.uk
This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:
Access to higher education (HE) has become an extremely controversial area of policy, as successive UK administrations have sought to balance increasing student fees with ensuring that HE is open to individuals from as w...
Funded by: ESRC
Lead research organisation: CARDIFF UNIVERSITY
The project analyzes the factors that determine whether individuals progress through the education system to higher education and explores the impacts of barriers at the point of entry to higher education, which directly addresses the question.
South African higher education (HE) is characterised by inequalities of access, participation and success, and hence youth disadvantage, yet it is also seen as central to economic development and social mobility. The aim...
Funded by: ESRC
Lead research organisation: University of the Free State
The project focuses on developing an index that foregrounds equality and quality in higher education for disadvantaged youth, which partially addresses the question.
The UK's most academically selective universities have made slow progress on closing the socioeconomic gap in access over the course of the past two decades. Currently, young people from areas with the lowest rates of pa...
Funded by: ESRC
Lead research organisation: Durham University
The project examines the impact of various factors on widening access to higher-tariff universities in the UK, which partially addresses the question.