Excellent report from Catherine Dilnot Gill Wyness and Professor Lindsey Macmillan on the nuanced situation BTEC-holding students are in in British universities. AccessHE completely agrees with the need for more research on understanding and closing the gaps that affect these students

Although students with #BTecs tend to fare less well academically, a new report from Oxford Brookes University argues that the qualification is vital to ensuring many disadvantaged students access higher education and “leads to university success” in most cases. ow.ly/TmFW50HsHoj

RIP Sir David Cox. His scholarship is enormous, but everyone who met him will remember him as much for his kindness, modesty, wisdom and sense of humour. What a joy and privilege for all of us Nuffield College to have had such a kind and inspiring giant among us for so long.

Very useful discussion of the implications of our Nuffield Foundation funded report on entry quality and uni outcomes for BTEC students here

This is a rich collection of essays that brings together a range of perspectives about Applied General quals, especially BTECs, and what would be lost if they were removed from the funding list. The Foreword from David Willetts sets the scene. #protectstudentchoice @Pearson_UK

It was almost all change Department for Education last week, and we're welcoming new people too! This month it's Claire Tyler, working with Professor Lindsey Macmillan gill wyness Catherine Dilnot on a Nuffield Foundation project on access to the professions: tinyurl.com/yckwwc7y. Welcome Claire!

A level results! I remember it so well. I did TERRIBLY. All I wanted to do was International Business Oxford Brookes University & study abroad. I begged them to take me, promised I’d make them proud. A wonderful lady in Clearing believed in me 🙏🙏🙌 FIND YOUR WAY. You’ve got this 💪🏼💪🏼

How well can we predict A-level grades from earlier grades? It’s hard to do accurately, even with machine learning methods. gill wyness Professor Lindsey Macmillan Catherine Dilnot & I discuss this and implications in an article out today in Education Economics! doi.org/10.1080/096452…

This is a really nice article in which prediction is the substantive issue & the approach is all about prediction. Bonus is that the issue is of considerable practical importance.

New research from Department for Opportunities shows that professionals from working class backgrounds earn on average £6718pa less than their more privileged peers in the same industry. Want to reduce the #classpaygap and improve #socialmobility in your firm? Start with data! 🧵

🛎️FULLY FUNDED PHD OPPORTUNITY🛎️ We and Education Policy Institute are looking for someone to undertake a studentship exploring the implications of changing Level 3 quals for young people's life chances The role also includes 1 day a week working with EPI directly ubel-dtp.ac.uk/co-fundedandco…

Really great to meet engaged, thoughtful and fun Year 9s from OxfordSpiresAcademy and Cheney School this afternoon to talk about predicted A-level grades - work done with gill wyness Professor Lindsey Macmillan and Jake Anders.

🧑‍🏫New @cepeo_ucl blog post As many have pointed out, the teachers strike today is not just about pay, but about having to work longer hours and do more One way we could reduce teacher workload is to remove the need for them to predict grades every year blogs.ucl.ac.uk/cepeo/2023/04/…

The lessons from this work are *not* to cut BTECs - a vital route for lower SES students to enter uni - but for universities to pay particular attention to students who might need more support with transitioning to university courses

Our research for the Nuffield Foundation showed how important BTECs were as a route into higher education for the most disadvantaged students - there are serious equity concerns about de-funding these qualifications too nuffieldfoundation.org/project/educat… Catherine Dilnot gill wyness

Claim: A level students are less likely to drop out or repeat a year. Source: Catherine Dilnot et al for @nuffieldfound. True. They also say BTEC students’ HE outcomes are “considerable successes for these students" and raise concerns about govt plans to de-fund them.