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Expert Panel Report

“Making the most of education research: The ecosystem and the common good” is the report of the expert panel and delivers its findings. The report examines how to strengthen the UK’s education research ecosystem for the common good and asks ‘How can we build and sustain forward-looking and generative education research that most stakeholders, most of the time, regard as helpful and important in shaping policy and practice?’ It concludes with a set of recommendations for those in leadership positions in universities, and ½¿É«µ¼º½ Council, as well as ‘actionable insights’ for organisations that fund education research, national government departments and regional organisations. While instigated by ½¿É«µ¼º½, the report represents the independent work of the panel and offers a rigorous and timely analysis of the health of education research in the UK. To access the report please use the following link: Making the most of education research: The ecosystem and the common goodÌý

½¿É«µ¼º½ Conference 2026

Abstract – How can we make the most of education research? The ecosystem and the common good

1:ÌýWhat’s working, what’s not working and what could be better?Ìý

Professor David James (Cardiff University)Ìý

ÌýFebruary 2026 saw the publication ofÌýMaking the Most of Education Research: the ecosystem and the common goodÌý(James et al, 2026), the main outcome of the work of an expert panel commissioned by ½¿É«µ¼º½ to look at education research funding. The panel’s aims grew to encompass research/policy/practice relationships, models and assumptions that pertain across the four nations of the UK. A prime goal was to develop a fresh understanding of the current landscape while seeking positive ways forward.Ìý

Partly a response to earlier work (e.g., British Academy & Royal Society, 2018), the report highlights both strengths and weaknesses in the current education research ecosystem, such as high quality and impact and inherent interdisciplinarity juxtaposed with relatively low – and declining – levels of investment. Some of this investment appears ineffective or counterproductive, yet clear evidence of this seems to be ignored. We note increasing diversity of organisations involved while pointing to a lack of transparency.Ìý

A healthier education research ecosystem could be achieved by:

• Taking a ‘systems’ perspective to understand research (Best & Holmes, 2010)
• ‘Better listening’, e.g., more open forums for agenda-setting and horizon scanning
• Greater transparency in respect of any public resources used
• Reconsideration of the current balance of investment between knowledge brokerage and knowledge generation
• Nurturing more collaborative and partnership-rooted forms of research.Ìý

Recommendations are given for research leaders in universities and for ½¿É«µ¼º½ Council, then ‘actionable insights’ for research funders and government departments.

2:ÌýReflecting on the direction of education research fundingÌý

Professor Becky Francis (CEO of the Education Endowment Foundation)

This presentation will offer an assessment of the strengths and limitations of the report from a research funder’s viewpoint. ÌýIt will reflect on understandings of the common good, and the relationship between the education research ecosystem and the needs of policy and practice (and on the needs of individual funding bodies within this). It will consider what policymakers and funders want from research, and the issues arising – both for the health of the ecosystem, and for the influence and funding of academic research in education.

The session will draw out some ongoing impediments for academic research to influence policy, building on Prof Francis’ recent experiences at the EEF and the DfE; including reflection on opportunities for academic research impact and funding. Within this she will highlight the importance of engagement, collaboration, and better understanding of the contexts in which different players operate, and their consequent motivations. She will use EEF agenda and the opportunities arising as an illustration of where collaboration can be fruitful, both in meeting funders’ needs and in supporting academics’ research programmes and their impact.

3:ÌýWhat sort of research mightÌýactuallyÌýhelp to improve Education?

Professor Harry Torrance (Manchester Metropolitan University)Ìý

The debate about how educational research might better inform policy and practice is not new (Nisbet & Broadfoot 1980; Weiss, 1972). The debate has usually revolved around agenda-setting, appropriate research methods and utility. In particular, educational processes and outcomes seem highly resistant to investigation by experimental designs, partly, at least, because educational outcomes are the product of so many complex interacting variables. Interestingly, Campbell and Stanley’s (1963) classic paper onÌýExperimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for ResearchÌýnotes regular periods of RCT (Randomised Controlled Trial) advocacy and RCT disillusionment in education research, going back to McCall’sÌýHow to Experiment in Education, published in 1923.Ìý

The Expert Panel Report notes we are in yet another period of centralised agenda-setting in England, with an emphasis on experimental methods. Equally problematic is the centralised broker-led dissemination model employed. Large tracts of educational research operate with a linear set of assumptions with respect to the relationship between research, policy and practice. Except circumstances change, problems persist and re-emerge in new contexts and conditions. We need a more locally grounded and dynamic model of research, policy and practice.Ìý

ÌýThe paper will review these issues in more detail and argue the need for a more emergent, iterative model of research which:

• focuses on research engagement.
• involves local capacity building and production of knowledge in context.
• privileges participation, deliberation & dialogue around decision-making, not the production of a static, supposedly generalisable, ‘proof’.

ÌýExamples of these sorts of approaches which have been used in educational research and policymaking in the past, including school-based curriculum development projects, and teacher-led Mode 3 examining, will be discussed.

Expert Panel update (October 2025)

½¿É«µ¼º½â€™s Expert Panel on educational research funding is continuing its work. After some initial meetings, the panel revised its aims and also engaged a RA who worked with the Chair, David James, to compile and analyse data. There followed an interview stage where members of the panel spoke to key individuals both in funding organisations and HEIs to look at the landscape. Interim findings are set out in the papers available as “downloads” below and were presented at ½¿É«µ¼º½â€™s AGM on 26th November 2024. A draft final report and recommendations was presented to the ½¿É«µ¼º½ Council in May 2025 and the panel met in early October to continue refining their work on the report and recommendations. The publication of the final report, with recommendations, is expected in late 2025.Ìý

Expert Panel established

½¿É«µ¼º½ Council has agreed to establish an expert panel to investigate the situation regarding funding for educational research in the UK. David James (Cardiff University, and chair of the REF 2021 Education sub-panel) has agreed to chair this.

This ½¿É«µ¼º½ Expert Panel is a continuation of the Education: The State of the Discipline initiative where the funding for educational research was identified as a priority area for ½¿É«µ¼º½ to develop work in. It is intended to clarify the changing landscape of funding for educational research and to help the Association to understand the research environment and to act to support educational researchers.

The panel will present interim findings at the ½¿É«µ¼º½ conference in September 2024 and will report subsequently to ½¿É«µ¼º½â€™s AGM and Council.Ìý

Membership

The panel is chaired by David James, Professor of Sociology of Education, Cardiff University.ÌýÌý

The members include:

• Professor Jo-Anne BairdÌý(Oxford)
• Professor Huw MorrisÌý(Welsh Government and UCL)
• Professor Daniel MuijsÌý(Queens University Belfast)
• Professor Gemma MossÌý(IOE-UCL)
• Anthony TomeiÌýCBEÌý(former CEO, Nuffield Foundation).Ìý

½¿É«µ¼º½â€™s President Marlon Moncrieffe, Vice-President Vivienne Baumfield and Chief Executive Nick Johnson will also form part of the panel’s deliberations.

ÌýThe panel has been composed to ensure a strong level of experience and expertise from those with knowledge of research council funding mechanisms and processes, major charitable funding mechanisms and processes, government funding mechanisms and processes and HEI educational research grant capture

Aims

ÌýThe aims of the expert panel are to:

1. To present a map of the nature and volume of funding for educational research, highlighting notable trends over time and how it compares to other social science disciplines.ÌýÌý
2. To present an informed analysis of the elements of infrastructure and current relationships between research, policy and practice in the UK, including key variations across the four jurisdictions.Ìý
3. To consider and articulate a view on the extent to which these current arrangements: (a) serve goals such as enabling research capacity building or fostering imaginative and creative responses to educational challenges; (b) serve the public good and a selection of stakeholders such as children, learners, citizens, educators, researchers, institutions.ÌýÌýÌý
4. To present recommendations that are forward-looking, and which may lead to improvements, where possible drawing on exemplars of interesting practice.ÌýÌý

Ways of working

In addition to relying on the knowledge and expertise of its members, the expert panel will consider evidence (such as that in REF and HESA data) and relevant publications, e.g., on the nature of educational research and how it is resourced. It will also seek conversations with a selection of key individuals whose experience can enhance its analysis.Ìý Panel members are likely to be involved in facilitating contact with such key individuals.Ìý In addition to meetings of the panel, they are also likely to be involved in commenting on draft material. We will be engaging an RA to support the work of the panel as it conducts its work.