Lindsay Paterson is professor of education policy in the School of Social and Political Science at Edinburgh University. His main academic interests are in education policy, social mobility, civic engagement and political attitudes. He has contributed to many debates in Scotland since the early 1990s on the impact of education policies, and on the importance of policy implementation in achieving or modifying the aims of policymakers. He currently holds a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship on education and society in Scotland.