Resources

The Stories Behind the Data

Welcome back to another edition, November has been a busy one. This month, I recorded The Student Outcomes Podcast live for the first time, with Jon Datta from The Sutton Trust. We talked about post-16 reforms, contextual offers, and what’s actually changing for students navigating increasingly complex choices. Jon is an absolute fountain of knowledge (and stats!) when it comes to access and widening participation, and it was great to have an in-depth conversation about these areas in real time, with people in the (virtual) room. 

I also invited to attend an inaugural lecture by Professor Julia Snell, a previous podcast guest, which got me thinking about language, accent, and who gets to sound ‘right’ in education. More on that below. 

In this edition, you will find Danny’s blog on what we learned at the Boys’ Impact Conference, some reflections on language and social justice from Julia’s lecture, and a quick note about an upcoming research project we’re launching. 

On 11th November we went live with Jon Datta to unpack how post-16 reforms are reshaping fair access and social mobility in higher education.

We explored everything from the value of higher education and cost-of-living pressures to contextual admissions, regional opportunity gaps, AI’s impact on employability, how to better engage underserved groups, and so much more.

You can now watch the full recording and access all the resources shared during the episode on YouTube and Spotify.

Attending Julia Snell’s Inaugural Lecture

Last week, I attended Professor Julia Snell’s inaugural lecture at the University of Leeds – “Language Diversity as Social (In)Justice.” 

Julia was a recent guest on The Student Outcomes Podcast, where we explored accent bias and how something as subtle as the way a student speaks can shape their educational experiences and opportunities. Her lecture celebrated her promotion to Professor while examining how language ideologies reinforce inequality in education. 

She shared research showing how northern accents and working-class speech patterns are still stigmatised in schools, despite decades of evidence showing that non-standard speech has no impact on writing ability or academic potential. The pressure on students to “tone down” their accents or code-switch to succeed was very visceral, and it carries a cognitive cost that we rarely acknowledge. 

Congratulations Julia – it was brilliant to be there, to support and celebrate your important work. 

NEW RESOURCES & PROJECTS

Boys Impact 2025, Reflections from the Back Row

Danny recently attended the annual Boys Impact Conference, where he had the opportunity to not only join the conversation about supporting young men, but also contribute. He delivered a spotlight session sharing insights from our Marginal Gains programme, and its impact on confidence, resilience and the educational outcomes of young men.

Coming soon: Trauma and Decision-Making Study 

We’re launching a collaborative research study early next year exploring why disadvantaged students are less likely to convert university offers into enrolments – and in general what’s really driving their decision-making at critical moments in the recruitment journey. 

The study will examine factors like trauma, emotional readiness, and what students actually value when they are choosing whether (and where) to go. It’s an area that we have seen doesn’t get enough attention in recruitment strategy, and we think the findings could be really useful for institutions trying to strengthen conversion, transition and retention. 

If you would like to know more about the project, just get in touch. 

Thanks for reading.