The construction and value of a school database

Understand this issue

Behind the numbers: reassessing investment in skills and training

comment

"There are concrete steps, such as reforming the Apprenticeship Levy, that the government should take to improve the existing skills system."

12 October 2023

Sure Start achieved its aims, then we threw it away

comment

"We know that poor children grow up with poor life chances. We know how to ameliorate that. The choice is ours." Paul Johnson writes for the Times.

15 April 2024

Should the government levy VAT on private school fees?

explainer

Labour have proposed levying VAT at the main rate of 20% on private school fees. Paul Johnson lays out the facts in 90 seconds.

9 November 2023

Policy analysis

The short- and medium-term impacts of Sure Start on educational outcomes

report

We study the medium-run effect of Sure Start on academic outcomes, finding large benefits, particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

9 April 2024

Sure Start greatly improved disadvantaged children’s GCSE results

press release

New research from IFS finds that Sure Start generated big improvements in the educational performance of children from low-income backgrounds.

9 April 2024

What you need to know about the new childcare entitlements

comment

This comment looks at who will be eligible for free childcare, whether funding is high enough and what impact the new entitlements might have.

28 March 2024

Academic research

Social skills and the individual wage growth of less educated workers

working paper

We investigate the importance of social skills as a driver of wage growth for workers with lower formal education.

27 March 2024

Willingness to pay for improved public education and public healthcare systems: the role of income mobility prospects

journal article

These findings are based on more than 19,000 observations from the third round of the Life in Transition Survey.

14 March 2024

Labour market inequality and the changing life cycle profile of male and female wages

working paper

We estimate the distribution of life cycle wages for cohorts of prime-age men and women in the US.

15 April 2024