Magic Breakfast is a charity that delivers healthy breakfast food and provides expert advice to schools in the UK, to support children at risk of hunger with fuel for learning at the start of the school day. Whilst the charity had undertaken research with partner schools, a gap in knowledge was pupils’ and parents’ perspectives of school breakfast provision and experiences of poverty and hunger. We were commissioned to conduct a national piece of multi-method research to gath

In recent years, public opinion regarding the utilisation of patient data within the NHS has become a salient topic, particularly following the suspension of key health data initiatives due to insufficient public support. While various studies have explored public perceptions of patient data usage in the NHS, there was a notable gap in research focusing specifically on the use of patient data for planning and population health. Understanding Patient Data, an independent initi

Ickworth Estate is a National Trust property located in Suffolk. It is an iconic Italianate palace, set within 725 hectares of parkland and formal gardens. Visitor numbers were strong and increasing year on year, but there was a belief that the property had even greater potential to attract different groups of visitors. The National Trust already had a good understanding of existing visitors but wanted to learn more about non-visitors and lapsed visitors (living within a 60

We were commissioned to be a data collection partner for the Behavioural Insights Team for an independent evaluation of FFT Literacy’s Reciprocal Reading Programme – an intervention focussed on improving Key Stage 2 and 3 children’s reading comprehension skills. The trial of the programme and the independent evaluation was commissioned and funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF). We were tasked with completing baseline and follow-up assessments with pupils across

We conducted baseline and follow-up surveys with children aged 3-5 to trial the efficacy of the University of Oxford and University College London’s Talking Time programme. The trial, which was funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), was designed to explore how Talking Time supported young children’s oral language skills and contributed to education recovery efforts following the COVID-19 pandemic. The trial spanned five regions and included both intervention and

We were commissioned to explore the impact and future implications of Covid-19 for dental professionals and dental businesses. The aim of this study was to see how dental professionals’ perceptions, experiences, and impact of Covid-19 were evolving. Specific objectives were to understand the ongoing nature and evolution of Covid-19’s impact on registrants’ financial circumstances, mental health, ability to provide public services, perceptions on what the public’s use of denta

In partnership with the Westminster Foundation, Young Enterprise set out to deliver funded enterprise and financial education opportunities to schools in three geographical areas where the Foundation had a strong base: the city of Westminster, Chester and Cheshire West, and Lancashire. These funded opportunities aimed to unlock potential, enhance workforce readiness, support professional development, and track outcomes for programme improvement. In June 2024, Young Enterprise

In spring 2023, we undertook a Labour Market Intelligence (LMI) study in the electrotechnical sector for TESP. This study sought to provide an updated picture of the sector in the wake of significant changes in the past few years (including the Covid-19 pandemic, and the continuing impact of EU Exit, among others). This research provided refreshed intelligence to update LMI gathered in our previous studies in 2018 and 2020. The research provided an up-to-date estimate of the

Trussell commissioned us to conduct an external evaluation of one of their pilot partnership projects, Help through Hardship local. This pilot project was co-designed to explore how partnership working between Local Citizens Advice, local Minds’ and Trussell food banks could work and be tested at a local level, with the ultimate aim of exploring how people facing both financial hardship and mental health problems could be supported through a ’no wrong door’ approach. The proj

A connected place uses technologies such as a system of sensors, networks and applications to collect data to improve its operation. These technologies also help to develop public spaces by allowing managers of connected places to understand and evaluate changing demands and needs in infrastructure. In 2023, DSIT commissioned us to explore and understand public knowledge, attitudes and confidence levels relating to connected places technologies. Our work involved exploring pu

In 2021 Essex County Council commissioned us to conduct some pilot research with recipients of adult social care (and their families if appropriate) to explore their lived experiences of adult social care. The commission is set in context of ECC identifying co-production as an area for development, to ensure the lived experience of adult social care users feeds into performance management and continuous service improvement work. ECC is committed to delivering a long-term appr

NIHR's 20 Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs) are networks of experts that work collaboratively between NHS trusts and internationally renowned universities. They facilitate early-stage experimental medicine research and support the translation of scientific discoveries. BRCs have received over £2.5 billion in overall investment since their creation in 2007. To prepare for the next funding cycle, NIHR commissioned us to undertake an evaluation of the BRC scheme, to understand