Developing a systems-based approach to research use in education

While it is not always easy to see the tectonic plates moving, a culture shift appears to be occurring in English schools towards widespread engagement with research (DfE, 2022). Yet, when we...

Science and religious education teachers’ perspectives on the purpose of RE on the secondary school curriculum in England

It is important that secondary school teachers know about the other subjects that are taught in their schools in order to provide a coherent curriculum experience for students. Over the past...

2023 BERA School Research Award

BERA is pleased to announce our new award aimed at encouraging the development of research skills in the curriculum of secondary schools.  The BERA School Research Award aims to promote the value...

School transitions and adjustment of children with neurodevelopmental conditions during the Covid-19 pandemic: Who was caught up in a whirlwind?

Covid-19, education and educational research

Transition from primary to secondary school is considered a key milestone in children’s education. During the Covid-19 pandemic, children experienced additional changes in their lives...

Diversifying our curriculum: Rediscovering the power of our narrative voices

BCF Curriculum Investigation Grant Research Reports

Funded by the 2021–2022 British Curriculum Forum Curriculum Investigation Grant, this project aimed to investigate the degree to which a secondary school in England included a multitude of...

Can a whole-school curriculum focus on celebrating diversity reduce the volume of racist incidents?

BCF Curriculum Investigation Grant Research Reports

This project, funded by the 2021–2022 British Curriculum Forum (BCF) Curriculum Investigation Grant, involved finding ways to celebrate diversity within a Welsh school and its school curriculum....

Sounding right, sounding white: Interrogating language, race and curriculum in secondary education

BCF Curriculum Investigation Grant Research Reports

Funded by the British Curriculum Forum Curriculum Investigation Grant 2021–2022, this project explored the impact of offering lower KS3 pupils a curriculum that contrasted significantly with the...

An empirical evaluation of ‘big questions’ as an organisational framework for interdisciplinary social studies in a Scottish high school

BCF Curriculum Investigation Grant Research Reports

This research project assessed the impact on pupils and staff of a school-designed integrated social studies curriculum, aiming to apply insights from Big History and Big Questions to offer pupils...

Educational attainment in Northern Ireland: Understanding inequalities through administrative data

Educational attainment inequalities receive continuous policy attention across the UK with certain social groups consistently underachieving. Our study (Early et al., 2022) used the first record...

Winter 2022/23

Research Intelligence issue 153: Off the cutting room floor: Learning from research when things do not go as planned

The value of student researcher groups in carrying out peer evaluation in schools and colleges

Student researcher groups are small groups of secondary school and A-level college students, aged 13 to 18, who evaluate outreach activities – such as motivational speakers, study skills...

Editorial: Transitions, wellbeing and mental health: Education after lockdown

Transitions, wellbeing and mental health: Education after lockdown

This special issue focuses on the experiences of educators and students returning to the classroom post-lockdown. We have included contributions from lecturers, students and academics to capture a...