Profile
I am passionate about evidence-informed policy and practice, and strategies to overcome educational disadvantage.
For more than 20 years, I’ve been deeply engaged in exploring how research can support and improve education. During many years working in senior roles with the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) and, more recently, the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), my interest in how evidence informs policy and practice enabled me to carry out many interesting research projects on behalf of the Department for Education, the EEF, the Nuffield Foundation and other major education funders. I particularly enjoy collaborating on projects that aim to make a real difference in schools and classrooms.
In 2022/23, I joined the executive team at the EEF as Interim Director of Research, taking responsibility for guiding their programmes and evaluation commissioning portfolio. I found it especially rewarding to support teams working on projects that contributed to a better understanding of what works in education.
These days, I focus on freelance consultancy, where I get to work closely with organisations that are passionate about developing thoughtful, evidence-informed strategies. I particularly enjoy contributing to projects that blend rigorous research with practical insights.
I also serve as editor of Educational Research, a peer-reviewed international journal that brings together diverse perspectives on contemporary issues in education. I’m always interested in how research can spark new ideas and conversations across the field.