Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities
We create cutting-edge research focused on equalising opportunities across the life course. Our work seeks ways to improve education policy and wider practices to achieve this goal.
About us
What are we trying to achieve?
We are one of the most unequal countries in the developed world, in terms of outcomes and opportunities.
Our multidisciplinary work seeks to reduce these inequalities:
- We identify barriers to opportunity in under-explored areas, using innovative methods and thinking, and co-producing evidence-led policy solutions to reduce barriers to opportunities.
- We offer insight and impact at every stage of the life course, through the centre’s four main research streams: early years, schools, tertiary, and adulthood.
More info:
How do we achieve our mission?
- We research previously unanswerable questions, through innovative data collection and analysis.
- We evaluate policies and programmes by designing, implementing, and analysing Randomised Control Trials (RCTs) and Quasi-Experimental Designs (QEDs).
- We address novel questions in under-researched areas using existing large scale data from administrative sources, and from our rich birth cohort studies.
More about our approaches.
Team
Professor Lindsey Macmillan
Lindsey is Professor of Economics at UCL and the Director of the Centre. Her academic career has been dedicated to understanding educational inequalities and social immobility.
Professor Gillian Wyness
Gillian is a Professor of Economics of Education and Deputy Director of the Centre. She leads our tertiary and adulthood workstreams.
Professor Jake Anders
Jake is Professor of Quantitative Social Science and Deputy Director of the Centre. He leads our early years and schools workstreams.
Professor Claire Crawford
Claire is Professor of Economics. Her research focuses on the determinants and consequences of participation in childcare and education, for both children and their families.
Dr Sam Sims
Sam is a Quantitative Education Researcher interested in teachers and education policy. His research provides insights into how school leadership and teacher effectiveness can improve outcomes.
Dr Laura Outhwaite
Laura is a Psychology and Education Researcher. She is interested in child development and learning, educational technology and mixed-methods evaluation methodologies.
We believe a holistic approach is vital to create informed education policy and wider practice that works. The centre's multidisciplinary team brings together different perspectives from:
- economics
- education
- psychology
- social statistics.
Staff
- Professor Lindsey Macmillan – Centre Director
- Professor Gillian Wyness – Deputy Centre Director
- Professor Jake Anders – Deputy Centre Director
- Professor Claire Crawford – Professor of Economics
- Dr Sam Sims – Associate Professor
- Dr Laura Outhwaite – Principal Research Fellow
- Dr Fabien Petit – Research Fellow
- Dr Richard Branch – Visiting Staff
- Dr Claire Tyler – Research Fellow
- Dr Oliver Cassagneau-Francis – Research Fellow
- Dr Dominic Kelly – Senior Research Fellow
- Dr Paul Martin – Research Fellow
- Clare Routledge – Research Fellow
Affiliates
Members who share an interest in our research programme and support our mission:
- Professor Jo Blanden – University of Surrey
- Professor Simon Burgess – University of Bristol
- Dr Stuart Campbell – Bank of England
- Professor Matt Dickson – IPR, University of Bath
- Dr Catherine Dilnot – Oxford Brookes University
- Professor Emla Fitzsimons – UCL Institute of Education
- Professor Alissa Goodman – UCL Institute of Education
- Professor Colin Green – Norwegian University of Science and Technology
- Professor Paul Gregg – University of Bath
- Professor Colm Harmon – University of Edinburgh
- Dr Susannah Hume – King’s Policy Institute
- Professor David Jaeger – University of St Andrews
- Professor John Jerrim – UCL Institute of Education
- Professor Ruth Lupton – Honorary Professor at University of Manchester
- Professor Lee Elliot-Major – University of Exeter
- Professor Sandra McNally – CVER, London School of Economics
- Dr Richard Murphy – University of Texas at Austin
- Professor Michael Sanders – King’s Policy Institute
- Dr Luke Sibieta – Institute for Fiscal Studies and Sibieta Economics of Education
- Professor Emma Tominey – University of York
Advisory Group: External Members
- Tom Richmond – Education policy analyst
- Tim Leunig – Director, Public First Economic and Strategy Consultancy
- Osama Rahman – Director of the Data Science Campus, Office for National Statistics
- Carl Cullinane – Director of Research and Policy, Sutton Trust
- Tom McBride – Director, Ending Youth Violence Lab
- Torsten Bell – Member of Parliament for Swansea West
- Becky Francis – Chief Executive, Education Endowment Foundation
- Jonathan Simons – Partner and Head of the Education Practice at Public First
Advisory Group: UCL Members
- Alison Fuller – Professor Emerita, IOE
- Lynn Ang – Pro-Director Research, IOE
- Susan O'Neill – Head of the Department of Learning and Leadership (DLL) at IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society
- Li Wei – Director and Dean of IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society
- Jennifer Hudson – Executive Dean - Faculty of Social & Historical Sciences; Vice-Dean - Equality, Diversity & Inclusion; Director - Development Engagement Lab
PhD students
- Oliver Anderson
- Robbie Maris
- Tolani Ogundamisi
COVID Social Mobility and Opportunities Study (COSMO)
This major new youth cohort study is providing vital new evidence on how the COVID-19 pandemic affects socio-economic inequalities in life chances.
Latest news
Poverty’s impact on mental health, food insecurity and academic performance
This podcast hears how mental health and life chances of young people and their parents are being dramatically affected by post-pandemic cost of living pressures.
27 Nov 2023
How to find a maths learning app you can count on for your kids
This podcast hears about research evidence focused on the role of apps in early education.
18 Sep 2023
No evidence grammar school systems are best for the brightest
The UK’s brightest pupils’ chances of getting top GCSE grades are actually lower in grammar schools than in comprehensives, according to a major new piece of research involving UCL researchers.
29 Aug 2023
What's on
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Department of Learning and Leadership
IOE – Faculty of Education and Society
University College London
20 Bedford Way
London, WC1H 0AL
