£4m in new grants funding announced

The Foundation is delighted to award £4m in grants to 20 new research projects from our Research, Development and Analysis Fund from the funding round which closed in September 2023.

The funding is going to 17 different institutions, and five grant-holders are joining our portfolio for the first time – ParentZone, the Learning & Work Institute, Policy Engine, SafeLives, and the Centre for Education Systems.

The new projects are spread across our three priority areas of interest. Eleven are in Education, five are in Welfare and four sit in Justice.

More details about the new projects in Welfare

Evaluating the outsourcing of social care in England, led by Dr Anders Bach-Mortensen (University of Oxford and Roskilde University)

This project builds on a previous Foundation grant, where the team created a, longitudinal data resource on outsourcing trends and their associations with key outcomes in adult and children’s social care provision in England. The research showed a significant rise in outsourcing residential services to private providers, especially for-profit companies, over the last 20 years. However, inspection ratings by regulators show that publicly operated and third-sector adult care homes and children’s homes outperform for-profit providers on measures of quality. The new project will further explore the impact of outsourcing and how contracting practices affect care provision.

Family change, wellbeing and social policy, led by Professor Susan Harkness (University of Bristol)

This project will explore how family living arrangements have changed, how this affects adults’ and children’s access to resources, and the implications for policy. In the UK, over 40% of children born in 2000 were not living with both biological parents by age 11. Despite increased family complexity, welfare and child maintenance systems still operate under outdated assumptions about family structure, while means testing has expanded and places a greater emphasis on ‘family’ income in the welfare system. This potentially leaves some children and adults without adequate financial support, especially in complex family arrangements.

Roots of problem debt and policies to mitigate its consequences, led by Dr Laura Fumagalli (University of Essex)

This project, in partnership with the Money and Pension Service (MaPS), will explore how people get into debt and subsequently manage their credit commitments, and the effectiveness of debt advice. One of the main policy interventions to support individuals in problem debt is providing free debt advice. However, evidence of its effectiveness is mainly qualitative or correlational. The research will address this gap by collecting a new dataset, the Longitudinal Survey of Debt Advice (LSDA), which will be used to investigate how useful it is to encourage people in problem debt to seek advice.

Routes to safety: Enhancing referrals to make victims of domestic abuse safer, sooner, led by Nanya Coles (SafeLives)

This project will use the SafeLives Insights database to produce new information on referral pathways and outcomes for survivors of domestic violence. Insights is used by frontline services in 36 local authorities across England, Wales, and the Channel Islands. It contains individual-level data for over 90,000 adults, and 9,600 children and young people, about the violence and abuse they experience, the support they receive, and their outcomes.  Policy and practice recommendations will be developed with survivors and practitioners, and through a ‘spotlight’ report they’ll aim to disseminate to policy, commissioning, practice, and research audiences.

More details about the new projects in education

Achieving high-quality provision in the baby room of English nurseries, led by Dr Mona Sakr (Middlesex University)

This project will gather evidence on what quality provision looks like in the baby rooms of English nurseries. By September 2025, all children under five with working parents who meet the criteria, will be eligible for 30 hours of free early years provision. This is likely to lead to increased scrutiny of the care and education of 0-2-year-olds. Initial global research shows there is a large knowledge gap on what happens in the baby room, and how practice could improve.

Out of sight: Exclusions, alternative provision, and later life outcomes, led by Dave Thomson ( FFT Education Datalab)

This project will explore how removing disruptive pupils from schools affects their education, labour market, crime, and health outcomes. Research has typically focused on inequalities whereby certain groups are disproportionately likely to be excluded, or on correlational evidence showing wide-ranging negative outcomes of exclusion. However, there is little research on the causal relationship between outcomes and exclusions.

An international analysis of SEND policy and practice: ScopeSEND, led by Dr Susana Castro-Kemp (UCL Institute of Education)

This project will compare policies regulating provision for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in the four countries of the UK, and the Republic of Ireland, Australia, Switzerland, Belgium and Finland. The goal is to influence SEND policy change in England, as the new government reviews the 2023 SEND and alternative provision improvement plan.

Early years digital media literacy review, led by Cliff Manning (Parent and Family Consulting Ltd)

This project will explore how digital literacy support can be improved for families of under-5s in the UK. Eighty seven percent of parents say their 3–4 year old children go online at home or elsewhere.  Official guidance for under-5s often focuses on screen time restrictions rather than the content being accessed. Existing research on under-5s focuses on the effect digital media may have on child development, not on how children’s development can be supported to include and benefit from digital media and technology.

Assessing and improving language-supporting practice in the early years, led by Dr Sandra Mathers (University of Oxford)

This project will assess the impact of the Talking Time intervention on Early Years Practitioner (EYP) outcomes, and is co-funded with the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF). Many children experience language delays, particularly those from disadvantaged families. Equipping EYPs to support language learning is essential to address disparities. This project will explore the impact of Talking Time on EYP practice outcomes, specifically, how EYPs support children’s language development.

Beyond teacher assessed grades: Post 16 education choices and COVID-19, led by Sam Tuckett (Education Policy Institute)

This project will investigate the impact of Teacher and Centre Assessed Grades on young people’s qualification choices and course completion rates in the 16-19 phase of education, and further and higher education. The higher grades achieved by students during the pandemic may have affected students’ transitions, influencing the types of qualifications they applied for, specific subjects, or their chosen institutions.  This is unlikely to have affected all students equally, as disadvantage gaps widened during the pandemic.

Exploring school-college partnerships for 14-18 learners in Scotland, led by Dr Stephanie Thomson (University of Aberdeen)

This project will investigate school-college partnerships (SCPs), which offer students in Scotland aged 14-18 the opportunity to undertake this phase of education at both a school and a college. The team will produce new insights into the characteristics of young people taking SCPs, the types of provision, and the experiences of learners and staff. The research aims to improve national evidence on SCPs, enhance practice, and inform policy development in Scottish and beyond. The project is being delivered in partnership with the College Development Network.

Educational dialogue for improving Foundation Year student outcomes, led by Dr Marion Heron (University of Surrey)

This project aims to improve Foundation Year students’ oral language skills to increase learning outcomes, retention and progression. The number of Foundation Year students moving onto undergraduate programmes is low, and students completing a Foundation Year are less likely to complete a degree than direct-entry peers. One potential is a lack of oral language skills, in particular educational dialogue, which is classroom talk in which students build on and challenge each other’s ideas. The project will develop and evaluate teacher resources to promote students’ use of educational dialogue.

Employer investment in upskilling and reskilling in a changing economy, led by Naomi Clayton (Learning and Work Institute)

This project will explore employer investment in skills, and employee responses to the need to upskill and retrain in a transitioning economy affected by advances in technology and the shift to net zero. UK employer investment in training has fallen by 26% per employee since 2005 and is now half the EU average, with large inequalities in access to training.  The study aims to shape long-term strategies for skills investment by co-designing practical solutions for policymakers at the UK, devolved, and local government levels, and for employers and training providers.

Accountability and curriculum international review and CES exemplar, led by Loic Menzies (Centre for Education Systems, incubated by the Education Policy Institute)

This project will support the development of a new organisation that will be the first to co-ordinate international research on macro policy to inform policy making. The Centre for Education Systems (CES) will strive to synthesise evidence, make it usable, and represent a consolidated source of authoritative information and insight to inform education policy.

Evaluating the Fundamental British Values initiative of the DfE, led by Dr Ozan Aksoy (UCL Institute of Education)

This project will explore the consequences of the Department for Education’s Fundamental British Values (FBV) initiative, launched in 2014. The FBV’s are: democracy, rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect, and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. The policy aimed to promote a shared “Britishness” and prevent violent extremism. The research team will assess the intended, and unintended consequences of the FBV initiative.

More details about the new projects in Justice

SEND complaints and the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, led by Professor Robert Thomas (University of Manchester)

This project will provide an evidenced-based understanding of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s (LGSCO) influence over local authorities, and how this could be enhanced to address administrative problems in Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND) provision. One of the LGSCO’s roles is identifying underlying systemic problems and issuing service improvement recommendations to councils. This research aims to develop evidence around the nature of the faults identified, their underlying causes, and how councils can use this learning to improve SEND provision.

Immigrant Families in the Family Justice System, led by Professor Renee Luthra (University of Essex)

This project will investigate how the immigration experience influences parental separation in immigrant families. A 2023 House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee inquiry highlighted how Brexit, “hostile environment” migration policies, and the tightening of the immigration system have disrupted the lives of families. The uncertainty, difficulties in maintaining relationships, and financial burden create further pressures on relationships. The researchers will work with third-sector organisations and law practitioners to co-create and disseminate outputs, including best practice briefings for legal practitioners, and to improve signposting and access to information for immigrant families.

Understanding the circumstances of children involved in breach proceedings, led by Helen Hodges (Swansea University)

This project will explore how being a vulnerable child increases the likelihood of ‘breaching’ criminal court requirements. Despite efforts to divert children from the formal youth justice system, vulnerable children, particularly from deprived areas, are over-represented in court. Between April 2013 and March 2022 there were 21,953 proven Breaches of Statutory Order offences by children in England and Wales. Limited research so far suggests that the children who have the most difficulty complying with the conditions are not the most serious offenders but those who offend persistently, and have strong links with disadvantages and vulnerability.

Immigration Detention and the Rule of Law, led by Dr Jean-Pierre Gauci (British Institute of International and Comparative Law)

This project will update safeguarding principles on immigration detention, first published by the British Institute of International and Comparative Law in 2013, to ensure they reflect the latest developments and continue to function as a practical resource. Immigration detention is widely used across many countries and regions, and the privatisation and externalisation of detention are increasingly mainstream. Practices including the use of Bibby Stockholm barge and Wethersfield airfield to detain migrants have raised questions about adherence to the rule of law.

Interested in applying for funding?

We have two application rounds in spring and autumn for the Research, Development and Analysis Fund. To keep in touch with key dates and learn more about our work sign up for our newsletter.