News and Blog

WISERD research reveals benefits to Assisted Places holders

Professor Sally Power uncovers the benefits for those from less advantaged homes attending independent schools. WISERD research has revealed that beneficiaries of the Assisted Places scheme, which provided a means-tested education at independent schools for young people from less advantaged homes until 1997, continue to reap the benefits from their private education. The research, funded…

New WISERD Director

Professor Ian Rees Jones has been appointed as the new Director of WISERD.     Based at Cardiff University, Professor Jones will lead the Institute which has become a major centre for social science research excellence in Wales and beyond. Talking of his new position, Professor Jones said: “This is a very exciting time to…

Professor Taylor to present at AQMeN seminar

Professor Chris Taylor will present his findings on Devolution and Geographies of Education: the use of the Millennium Cohort Study for ‘home international’ comparisons across the UK. Using the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), a recent longitudinal birth cohort study specifically designed to provide the potential for geographical analysis, Professor Taylor will present his highly publicised research…

WISERD Podcast: Pupil Deprivation Grant Evaluation

The third podcast of the WISERD Research Podcast Series is now online:  Professor Chris Taylor discusses developments in his evaluation of the Pupil Deprivation Grant (PDG).   This two-year evaluation will look at how schools have used this new grant and what impact this additional resource has had on these children and young people. The PDG was…

WISERD Research Podcast Series

The second podcast of the WISERD Research Podcast Series is now online:  Professor Sally Power discusses developments in WISERDEducation. As the anniversary of WISERDEducation approaches, Professor Sally Power looks back on the work of the past twelve months and gives an insight into the key developments taking place in the future. WISERDEducation is a one million pound investment to…

Welsh pupils’ literacy lagged behind England in 2007

Professor Chris Taylor’s research revealing that children in Wales are behind their counterparts in England in standards of literacy was covered extensively by national news outlets Wales Online – https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/literacy-standards-dropping-wales-new-5835371 The Independent – http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/english-children-outperform-welsh-and-scottish-pupils-at-reading-8797106.html The Guardian – https://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/sep/04/reading-england-wales-scotland-pupils ITV News – http://www.itv.com/news/wales/update/2013-09-04/literacy-lagging-behind-england/ BBC News – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-wales-23955938/welsh-pupils-literacy-lagged-behind-england-in-2007

WISERD research finds English children outperform Welsh children in literacy levels

Professor Chris Taylor has uncovered evidence that children at age seven in Wales do not do as well as their contemporaries in England when it comes to literacy. Professor Taylor has found that whilst children in England and Wales score equally in assessments on their numeracy and non-verbal reasoning, the gap in literacy levels between…