News and Blog

Welsh Government have published the final report of a three-year independent evaluation of the Foundation Phase, undertaken by researchers from the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods (WISERD); led by Professor Chris Taylor. The report received substantial local media coverage, which can be found by following the links below. Wales Online…

The Welsh Government’s flagship Foundation Phase has led to overall improvements in pupil’s educational achievements, their well being and their engagement in learning according to  new research published today. The findings follow a three year programme of independent evaluation, commissioned by the Welsh Government and undertaken by researchers at Cardiff University and the Wales Institute…

In recent years the political, economic and social climate in which volunteering by older adults occurs has changed significantly, with the onset of an economic downturn, concern about pensions, a change in the public policy context for volunteering following a change of government, and the abolition of default retirement age. The notion of ‘unretirement’ is…

Dr Sioned Pearce was interviewed by the BBC’s Steffan Messenger regarding Young People and Politics, the interview can be accessed below. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-31824693

WISERD Co-Director Professor David Blackaby has spoken to BBC Wales ahead of the election, specifically about how the £8.9bn benefits budget is spent in Wales. A link to the full article can be found below. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-wales-32551129

Delegate bookings for the WISERD Annual Conference 2015 are now open! Details about how to register can be found on our events page The 2015 conference is the sixth annual WISERD conference, and follows on from five successful conferences, held in the Universities of Cardiff, Swansea, Bangor, South Wales and Aberystwyth.  Bringing practitioners, policy makers and…

The All Wales Academic Social Care Research Collaboration (ASCC) is a three year programme funded by the National Institute for Social Care and Health Research (NISCHR). ASCC was developed in response to the Huxley (2009) report which identified a clear need for increased social care research capacity, and greater levels of collaboration between academics, social care policy makers and social…

Professor Gareth Rees, Co-Director of WISERD, was interviewed by BBC Wales’ Education Correspondent Arwyn Jones this week regarding student financing in Wales in light of the upcoming General Election. The full article can be viewed by following the link below. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-wales-32383567  

Our lives, and the landscapes in which we live in, are storied in nature. These stories come in many different forms: from policy materials, census data, media reports, official documents and scholarly insight, to authorial fantasy. According to Piatti and Hurni (2011: 218), these stories form a ‘rich geographical layer’ that ‘hovers… above the physically…

A new social research centre has been launched at Swansea University. Minister for Finance and Government Business, Jane Hutt AM, officially launched the Administrative Data Research Centre Wales at an event at Swansea University on Monday,  March 23, 2015. The Administrative Data Research Centre Wales, led by Swansea University’s Medical School in partnership with the…