News and Blog

School practices on discipline and punishment of disruptive behaviour can affect the exclusion rates being recorded and they have been shown to vary across different jurisdictions of the UK. These practices could be closely linked to and shaped by pupil-level characteristics and needs, including free school meals (FSM) eligibility and special education needs (SEN) provision…

Racial equality in Wales was the focus for the 2021 Centre for Welsh Politics and Society Annual Lecture that over 200 people watched live on Zoom last week. The lecture, Showing true colours: the changing politics of race equality in Wales, was presented by Professor Charlotte Williams OBE, Chair of the recent Welsh Government Working Group…

WISERD Director, Professor Sally Power, has been elected to sit on the British Educational Research Association (BERA) Council. BERA is a membership association and learned society committed to advancing research quality, building research capacity and fostering research engagement. They aim to inform the development of policy and practice by promoting the best quality evidence produced…

There is evidence to suggest that school exclusions can have negative effects on children’s lives. Exclusions have been associated with poor educational outcomes, and long-term physical and mental health problems. We need to investigate how patterns of exclusions and characteristics of excluded pupils differ across time and can help to inform current understanding of possible…

Professor W. John Morgan, Honorary Professor and Leverhulme Emeritus Fellow at Cardiff University has joined the new Editorial Board of the Indian Journal of Adult Education. The journal was founded in 1939 by the Indian Adult Education Association. The Indian Journal of Adult Education is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes research papers, articles on education,…

Professor Sally Power shares WISERD Education Multi Cohort Study findings in a BBC Wales Radio interview highlighting the impact of lockdown on young people’s learning. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000t6bz (From minute 37:16)

Cardiff University researcher Dr Catherine Foster (WISERD) said children from disadvantaged backgrounds more likely to have fallen behind while learning from home. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-56423630

On an Wales Online interview, Dr Catherine Foster said life had “changed dramatically” for many young people who suffered from effects such as loneliness and loss of routine. She said: “Although some children have been able to continue going to school at least part of the time, most have lost the organization and structure that…

WISERD surveyed young people in Years 7-12 about their home learning experiences during summer 2020, what they missed and whether they should be allowed to see friends. In addition to asking about resources for schoolwork, time spent learning and going to school during lockdown, we asked young people about their worries, how they had been helping…

Social Sciences Prof Chris Taylor, from Cardiff University, said this gap was continuing to widen. “Closing schools exposes and accentuates the deep disadvantage that many families have across Wales in the different circumstances that they’re in,” Prof Taylor said. BBC article