SKOPE Research Archive
Employability
Understanding the CREATE Emloyability Framework
This study aimed to understand the goals and deployment of CREATE, an employability skills framework unique to the Studio Schools network.
Funding Period : 2017 – 2018
Funder : The Edge Foundation
Understanding NEETs: Individual and Institutional Determinants of Youth Inactivity in France, Germany, Japan, The Netherlands, and the UK
This project investigates the patterns, causes and consequences of NEET to reveal and understand country similarities and differences. The goal is to provide new theoretical and empirical insights on the temporal patterns of NEET, the impact of individual and institutional characteristics and the interplay between institutions and individual characteristics on young people’s transitions into and out of NEET.
Funding period : 2016 – 2019
Funder : Economic and Social Research Council
Graduates on the property ladder : Skills, work, and employment in a ‘graduatising’ industry
This project examined the issues of skills, work and employment of residential estate agents in the UK real estate industry. The industry had been hit hard by the economic downturn in 2008 the UK and, even before the downturn, changes were occurring within the industry in terms of how sales occur and the push to have estate agents registered.
The research was conducted in partnership with AssetSkills, the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for the real estate industry. Support was also provided by the Property Ombudsman and the Scottish Solicitors Property Centre.
Funding Period : 2011 – 2012
Funder : Economic and Social Research Council
Policy and Practice
Good People in a Flawed System: the challenges of mainstreaming excellence in technical education
The key research question this project addressed is: How, if at all, does the knowledge and skills developed by Training Managers during their WorldSkills UK experience transfer to pedagogical leadership in their day-to-day teaching roles?
Project Duration : 2018 – 2019
Project Funder : WorldSkillsUK
People and policy: A comparative study of apprenticeship across eight national contexts
The study used documentary analysis as its central methodological approach, citing, summarizing, synthesizing, analyzing and critically reflecting on existing literature and data produced by international organizations, government agencies, universities, and research institutions on apprenticeships across eight countries. The countries studied were: Australia, Denmark, Egypt, England, Finland, Germany, India, and South Africa.
Project Duration: 2016 – 2017
Project Funder: WISE Qatar Foundation
The Developing and Understanding Vocational Excellence (DuVE) suite of projects
Developing and Understanding Vocational Excellence (DuVE) was a suite of six research projects focusing on groups of individuals involved in developing vocational excellence through skills competitions. By understanding the process of learning and training, and the environments in which this happens, we can begin to understand the good practice occurring, and the potential it has to feed back into the VET system more generally.
Duration : 2008- 2016
Funder: National Apprenticeship Service
To learn more, and for access to publications, click here .
Nuffield Project
Comparing inequality and outcomes across post-16 education in the UK
Post-16 education and training (E&T) at levels 2-5 plays a major role in shaping educational and labour market outcomes and inequalities. Yet, post-16 E&T provision is complex. It includes academic and vocational classroom-based education, as well as apprenticeships and employer-provided training, amid divergent policy choices across the four nations of the UK.
The overall aim of this project is to better understand the different post-16 E&T systems across the four UK nations in light of recent differing policy approaches. We focus on the interplay between the stakeholders – policymakers, post-16 E&T providers, employers, and young people – comparing policies, participation, outcomes and inequalities. Through a mixed methods design encompassing four strands, the research will:
- build a comprehensive map examining post-16 E&T policies and divergent approaches across the four nations;
- provide quantitative analysis of educational inequalities and resultant early labour market inequalities, including as a result of variation in school leaving ages across the four nations;
- build a critical understanding of six industry sectors and their associated E&T structures and pathways focussing on the relationships between skills demands and supply; and
- explore young peoples’ lived experience of the different E&T systems and how they navigate different pathways
Project Duration: September 2020 – January 2021
Research Team: Alis Oancea (PI) James Robson (Co-I), Xin Xu, Cathy Scutt, Tiarnach McDermott
Funder: The project was funded by the British Academy and the Royal Society
Mapping the UK Educational Research Landscape
This project examined the UK educational research landscape, mapping modes and drivers of research production, funding patterns, key topics, approaches, stakeholders, and dissemination channels. The research comprised bibliometric analysis of outputs, analysis of key funders, a Systematic Literature Review of research on the UK educational research ecosystem, interviews with key researchers, and stakeholder workshops.
Project Duration: September 2020 – January 2021
Research Team: Alis Oancea (PI) James Robson (Co-I), Xin Xu, Cathy Scutt, Tiarnach McDermott
Funder: The project was funded by the British Academy and the Royal Society
Our research
E&T for the Climate
Social and Epistemic Justice
Political Skills Economy
