About

An experienced programme manager and researcher, I’ve worked in educational research and policy for the past 16 years. I was an independent consultant from April 2020 to August 2022, working for clients including the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, Holex, ICF Consulting Ltd, and the TALENT programme at Midlands Innovation. I conducted research looking at: youth unemployment in Covid times; Institutes of Technology and the challenge of delivering higher technical education; adult education in a rural local authority; evaluating workforce development programmes for staff, leaders and governors in Further Education; and policy and partnerships about technicians in Higher Education.

For six years, I was Head of Research and Evaluation at the Education and Training Foundation, managing the FE workforce data programme including the Staff Individualised Record, and overseeing all evaluations of CPD programmes. I was on secondment at the Institute for Public Policy Research in 2016, where I wrote papers on apprenticeships and finding a solution for 16-18 year olds stuck in a cycle of Level 2 qualifications. Prior to that, I worked at City and Guilds producing and overseeing reports on a theory of vocational pedagogy, using digital technology in vocational education, and vocational education in Ireland. I also worked as a researcher at a sector skills council, the Learning and Skills Network, Universities UK and the National Foundation for Education Research.

I have been a governor at Milton Keynes College since 2016. I have previously chaired the Search and Governance Committee and the CEO Selection Committee, and currently Chair the Curriculum and Quality Committee. I am the link governor for English and maths, previously for apprenticeships, and I was involved in the establishment of the South Central Institute of Technology. In September 2020, I became a governor at the University of Bedfordshire. I was involved in appointing our current Vice-Chancellor and the Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, and am currently the link governor for apprenticeships. I sit on the Student and Staff Experience Committee and Governance Committee as well as the main Governing Body.

I was a local councillor in Islington from 2010-14 including chairing the Education Committee in 2013-14. I was a member of the Richard Reeves Foundation charity board from 2010 until 2016, and was a governor at Robert Blair Primary School 2010-2014 and Canonbury Primary School 2008-9.

I am currently studying for a PhD in Economics from the University of Sheffield, looking at the educational and employment pathways of young people who achieve only a Level 2 by age 19, using longitudinal data. I also hold a BA (Hons) in Modern History from the University of Oxford, an MSc in Social Research Methods from the Open University, and a Graduate Diploma in Economics from Birkbeck College, University of London.

Teaching

Sheffield Institute of Education

College of Social Sciences and Arts

Research

• Social and Economic Research Institute

Publications