Excited to be here at @appam.bsky.social to present our work on inequalities in access to occupations, as part of a panel session on labor market transitions organised by @jscottclayton.bsky.social

Have you checked out our @cepeo-ucl.bsky.social working paper series recently? We've had a productive year, with our researchers investigating topics such as teacher assessed v exam grades the impact of t-levels the labour market talent pool econpapers.repec.org/paper/uclcep...

CEPEO welcomes the announcements from this week’s education and skills white paper of index-linking tuition fees and maintenance loans, as well as the return of some non-repayable maintenance grants for disadvantaged students. [1/7] 🧵

New research from our centre with important implications for assessment

New work: do teachers grade some student types more generously than others? (yes) Important evidence for policymakers considering reducing the use of standardised testing. And a great paper to work on with my colleagues @lindseymacmillan.bsky.social @opmc1.bsky.social @richmurphy-econ.bsky.social

we could... and we do!

We do now :) www.publicfirst.co.uk/couting-the-... Demand is a lot more elastic for non EU students than the previous estimates of EU students, so we’d expect to see a bigger drop off than the HO estimated

Many of us have been calling for the return of maintenance grants for a long time. So its great to see this is finally (albeit partially) on the cards. www.gov.uk/government/n...

New @cepeo-ucl.bsky.social working paper! Estimating heterogeneous returns to college by cognitive and non-cognitive ability by our @opmc1.bsky.social econpapers.repec.org/RePEc:ucl:ce...

GCSE results are out: On the surface, today’s results seem cause for relative optimism. Despite this cohort’s tough time — both final year at primary & first year of secondary were disrupted by COVID; rates of SEND and mental health issues also up among this group — there’s no results drop off.

Our academics on A-Level results day @gillwyness.bsky.social: The slight improvement in those with top grades "masks striking inequalities in achievement" @miriched.bsky.social: It's unsurprising universities are increasing recruitment "because funding is difficult to manage” uclioe.info/4fCqEup

Do students who follow the "traditional" education pathway (A levels to HE) fare better than those following "non-standard" vocational / mixed pathways - including the infamous T Level? Our PhD student @robbiemaris.bsky.social has the answers, in his new paper:

A level results are out! And as many have reported, there was an overall improvement in the proportion of students gaining the top grades. But its not good news for everyone: with London & the South East continuing to pull away from the rest of the country, and boys slightly ahead of girls.

Today the DfE have published their latest stats on widening participation in HE. Here are a few quick thoughts... explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statist...

My colleague @dominicpkelly.bsky.social has written a @cepeo-ucl.bsky.social briefing note which looks at how screen time in early childhood (0–5) affects attention and language development. Read it below:

That BBC screen time story that just hit your home screen? Our new policy briefing is the must-read for parents, policymakers, and childcare providers: 3 clear, actionable recommendations based on the latest evidence on screen time and cognitive development. 🔗 econpapers.repec.org/paper/uclcep...

📝New @cepeo-ucl.bsky.social working paper Why are students from elite high schools much more likely to go to high ranked university courses than equally qualified students from the state sector? 🤔 w @opmc1.bsky.social @lindseymacmillan.bsky.social & Jo Blanden econpapers.repec.org/RePEc:ucl:ce...

New @feweek.bsky.social op-ed from our PhD student @robbiemaris.bsky.social showing huge improvements in literacy and numeracy for young adults between 2012 and 2023... but a very concerning lack of progress for the lowest performing students feweek.co.uk/bottom-10-pe...

Recognising the growing difference between predicted grades and achieved grades over time, UCAS are piloting personalised reports to schools These will show schools how their UCAS predicted grades compare to achieved results www.ucas.com/corporate/ne...

Really enjoyed our 4th @cepeo-ucl.bsky.social annual lecture last night with @chloergibbs.bsky.social Fascinating talk about early years education and Headstart/Surestart. And one of the best intros to an econ talk I've seen in a while!

What a fantastic #annyleccy from @chloergibbs.bsky.social last night! Great insights on such a topical policy area. Thank you so much to Chloe for a fab day with the @cepeo-ucl.bsky.social team and to everyone who braved the heat to join us last night - it was wonderful to see so many people there!

Great to see @cepeo-ucl.bsky.social research and policy priorities informing the new Best Start in Life strategy: 🏠Best Start Family Hubs in disadvantaged areas 🚸Renewed focus on inclusive early years provision/funding 🔢Importance of early maths skills 💷Consultation on complex funding system

New @cepeo-ucl.bsky.social blog post. Our brilliant PhD student @robbiemaris.bsky.social has been looking at inequalities in resit performance. Those performing worst in resits are: - Disadvantaged students - Students w unauthorised absences in year 11 - Students entered into resits too early

🎙️NEW FINDINGS🎙️ Updated analysis from our @nuffieldfoundation.org funded work on shows that inequalities by socio-economic background have *increased* over time for the latest year of recruitment as competition for graduate jobs have increased repec-cepeo.ucl.ac.uk/cepeow/cepeo...

🔥What’s the only thing hotter than this week’s weather?🔥 Our new @wheelockpolicybu.bsky.social working paper: “School Enrollment Shifts Five Years After the Pandemic” In it, BU Wheelock PhD @abbyfrancis.bsky.social and I ask: Has the pandemic permanently changed families' schooling choices?

Is it better to have standardised exams or teacher assessments? Myself and my colleague @opmc1.bsky.social have read the literature so you don't have to. Our @iza.org world of labour summarises below #econsky

Excited to see @dynarski.bsky.social in action at the @stoneeconucl.bsky.social workshop today on inequality. When asked a question on slide 2, her response: "how can you have a question already?"

How should we best measure student achievement? 📝 New IZA WoL article by @opmc1.bsky.social‬ & G. Wyness tackles the pros & cons of teacher assessment vs. external exams. Understanding the merits of each can help us build more effective & equitable education systems. 👇 wol.iza.org/articles/the...

My brilliant colleague @laouthwaite.bsky.social has been on secondment to Ofsted, doing great work on how we can better understand and reduce educational inequalities in early years. summary and working paper here:

As we point out in our recent @cepeo-ucl.bsky.social briefing note, international students account for 42% of higher education course fees and 21% of all income for universities in England. econpapers.repec.org/paper/uclcep... They are also great students. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

If this stands, and if it spreads, it would be a crushing blow to higher education in America -- and also a major new contributor to our trade deficits. Higher ed is one of the most reliable surplus drivers that our country can offer. Free link www.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/u...

Omg

Our Annual Lecture with Professor Chloe Gibbs is getting closer! Sign up now for the event on the evening of 10 July, discussing making smart investments in early childhood education: www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/events/2...

New blog post by my colleague @jakeanders.uk describing how the effects of the pandemic are still impacting young people’s lives. This has serious implications for these young people as they go through life, including via increased risks of mental health challenges.

Higher Education caught in the immigration crossfire again, with a concerning point in today’s white paper. Needless to say this is bad news for university income, and likely to have numerous unattractive consequences…

🚨🚨 Seminar this Thursday at 3PM 🚨🚨 Join us to hear @mattdickson.bsky.social talk about what happened to human capital and labour market returns when England raised the school-leaving age to 18! Register here to join online: ucl.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

On universities the white paper only reduces the graduate visa from two years to 18 months (which is a win for the DfE). The bigger thing universities will be worrying about is this little timebomb.

Very sad news ...

Nice to be at the @scoteconsociety.bsky.social conference today with @opmc1.bsky.social and @lindseymacmillan.bsky.social on a sunny Scottish day. Talking about work showing gender and SES inequalities in access to occupations

Join us tomorrow at 3pm for our next @cepeo-ucl.bsky.social seminar with @colinpgreen.bsky.social This is our joint seminar with DFE for this term, so in-person spaces are limited, but do contact us directly to attend or join us online by signing up below now!

Oh, hello. committees.parliament.uk/committee/20...

Does it matter that university tuition fees are soon likely to break through the £10k psychological barrier? CEPEO's deputy director @gillwyness.bsky.social comments in this Times Higher Education article: www.timeshighereducation.com/news/rising-...

Disadvantaged graduates are less likely to apply early for a job post... and this hampers their chance of obtaining a job offer. Surprising stuff from my colleagues @lindseymacmillan.bsky.social @clairetyler.bsky.social and Catherine Dilnot.

Its always great to have @colinpgreen.bsky.social come and present at @cepeo-ucl.bsky.social ! Dont miss this one, on a very interesting natural experiment in Norway in which pupils are randomly assigned to different exam formats!

Enjoy last week's seminar? We know you did! Next week's is on the effect of grading on student choices, with Professor Colin Green from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/events/2... Book now! ucl.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

📢 New blog post 📢 💼Why are working class applicants less likely to be hired? blogs.ucl.ac.uk/cepeo/2025/0... Following on from our @nuffieldfoundation.org report today’s blog post focuses on why working class young people (yp) are less likely to be offered jobs than their more advantaged peers

Our @cepeo-ucl.bsky.social seminar today is about to start - join us (and S Club)

📢 New report out today 📢 Interested in social mobility, gender & racial inequalities in access to professional careers? ➡️ Report: repec-cepeo.ucl.ac.uk/cepeow/cepeo... ➡️ Blog post: blogs.ucl.ac.uk/cepeo/2025/0... By @lindseymacmillan.bsky.social, @clairetyler.bsky.social, and C. Dilnot

👇New #NuffieldFunded research out today finds that employers are less likely to recruit ethnic minority graduates from disadvantaged backgrounds.