The next event in the "Future of Policy" event series is the Future shape of the state on 3 December, featuring Rowena Crawford (Associate Director, IFS). Find more information and book your place for that event here.

You can watch the video from the Future of Education event, and download Paul's slides, here.


The British economy is going to face a number of big issues over the next fifty years. Whether it is reforming the tax and benefit system, managing an ageing population, or preparing for the workplace of the future, there are plenty of challenges and opportunities ahead.

Little is more important to our society and economy than the effectiveness of our education system. The IFS has been working on all aspects of education spending and performance for more than half its 50 years. At this event, Paul Johnson will look at how spending on and effectiveness of the different stages of education have changed over time, how well children from different social backgrounds do, and what the big challenges are for the future. Branwen Jeffreys (Education Editor, BBC) will then chair a conversation on the topic with Paul, David Laws (Executive Chairman, Education Policy Institute, and former Schools Minister) and Anna Vignoles (Professor of Education, Cambridge University).

About the Future of Policy series

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2019, and to mark the occasion we will be holding a series of events throughout the year where we draw on this experience to consider these big issues and discuss what evidence-based analysis can tell us about how to understand and respond to them. Events in this series will feature expert insight from IFS researchers and key commentators on each topic, and there will be plenty of time for discussion and debate.

Other events in the series include:

27 February: The future of benefits
3 April: The future of tax
25 June: The future of income in retirement