Dani Payne

How do we know if it works?: Evaluating higher education regulation Higher education has no shortage of criticisms. Is better evaluation the key to evidence-based change that lasts?

Higher education is often lauded as education’s ‘jewel in the crown’ – but there are no shortage of criticisms about the sector.

Nicola Dandridge writes for the SMF about the role of evaluation, and how best to encourage long-term, evidence-based policy.

Read the full briefing:
buff.ly/Ak4THUm

We're looking for case studies! 📢

The @suttontrust.bsky.social and @smfthinktank.bsky.social are researching school based nurseries - and we're looking far and wide for schools and early years settings with strong partnerships....

If you're attending, pleasingly it'll be relatively hard to avoid the @smfthinktank.bsky.social - our Head of Education and Social Mobility @danihpayne.bsky.social will be on this panel on the future of access and participation ⤵️

Ahead of tonight's Smart Thinking Awards, we're delighted that @danihpayne.bsky.social has been nominated for Think Tanker of the Year!🎉

We're so proud that our own @danihpayne.bsky.social is a finalist for the Smart Thinking Awards' Researcher of the Year!🎉

Dani is our fantastic Head of Education and Social Mobility - working to find policy solutions to make sure everyone has the best start in life.

Higher Education Access and Participation Task and Finish Group This group creates proposals to help more students from disadvantaged backgrounds access higher education.

We're delighted that our Head of Education & Social Mobility @danihpayne.bsky.social will join the Govt's Higher Education Access and Participation Task and Finish Group, which aims to help more students from disadvantaged backgrounds access higher education.

buff.ly/JfwInFI

Out of office: on.

The SMF welcomes the new V Level qualifications announced by the Government, as a way of making vocational training more accessable and improving social mobility.

Read @danihpayne.bsky.social's full analysis:
buff.ly/gQgB20H

Not just other people’s children: what the public thinks about vocational education - Social Market Foundation. In this briefing, we present the results of a nationally representative survey which shows that the general public believe vocational qualifications to be just as useful and desirable as a university ...

Previous SMF research highlighted that FE was often ignored in policy conversations and that, despite parents holding similar esteem for FE as HE routes (www.smf.co.uk/publications... ), young people are often pushed to HE through inertia (www.smf.co.uk/wp-content/u...).

A new combined FE/HE target is a great step forwards. HE can be a vital route to social mobility for many, it won’t be right for all. Apprenticeships can also provide pathways into high skilled jobs & we should be ensuring disadvantaged young people access high quality provision across all pathways

A new combined FE/HE target is a great step forwards. HE can be a vital route to social mobility for many, it won’t be right for all. Apprenticeships can also provide pathways into high skilled jobs & we should be ensuring disadvantaged young people access high quality provision across all pathways

Labour to bring back maintenance grants for students on ‘priority’ courses Education secretary says means-tested grants for ‘those who need them most’ will be funded by new international student levy

Social Market Foundation Head of Education and Social Mobility @danihpayne.bsky.social on yesterday's maintenance grant announcement -

www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Hoozle is unhappy about the other man in my life (Larry).

‘Really transitional moment’: what should we do about declining fertility rates? As fertility rate hits all-time low in England and Wales, is there cause for concern for the economy and services?

I'm in the Guardian on the economic challenges posed by falling fertility rates -

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Everyday I'm reshuffling | SMF analysis of past reshuffles Could as many as 2 in 5 frontbenchers face the chop this reshuffle? SMF analysis looks at the evidence from previous reshuffles.

As rumours of a reshuffle abound, we take a look at the history of frontbench churn and reshuffles.

Can historical trends tell us anything about how Starmer might approach a potential reshuffle?

SMF's @jamiegollings.bsky.social takes a deep dive.
www.smf.co.uk/commentary_p...

GCSE Results day 2025 – Social Market Foundation analysis - Social Market Foundation. Today’s results show persistent attainment gaps by region and school type, with much more to do to level the playing field for all pupils.

Year after year, we continue to see large regional gaps in the grades young people achieve at GCSE.

While potential is spread evenly across the country, opportunity is not.

@danihpayne.bsky.social and I on today's GCSE results day -

www.smf.co.uk/commentary_p...

🧵SMF analysis of #GCSEResultsDay2025

Regional inequalities in attainment persist:
🟡72% of GCSEs taken by London pupils were graded at 4/C or above, vs just 63% in the West Midlands
🟡 London benefits from the highest % of grade 7s+ - while the North East has the lowest

#ResultsDay2025

📻ICYMI, Research Director @beckymontacute.bsky.social speaking to @tomswarbrick.bsky.social on @lbc.co.uk
this morning

👇"...throughout their time at school, those gaps between the richest and poorest widen as they go through the school system and into the workplace."

The other outcome of this of course is that lower tariff providers response by trying to inch into the FE market, destabilising local FE provision

Head of Education and Social Mobility @danihpayne.bsky.social on the @telegraphnews.bsky.social's front page today

With top unis accepting record amounts of applicants, she warned that it could result in overcrowding...

...while lower-ranking institutions ultimately lose out.

This chart from @smfthinktank.bsky.social shows the problem. The most selective unis are hoovering up students to manage their finances, leaving others at risk of closure. The market needs managing.

Results day 2025 – Social Market Foundation analysis - Social Market Foundation. Results day and university admissions data offers insight into how the HE sector is performing under growing financial and structural pressures.

SMF analysis of Level 3 #ResultsDay2025

Regional divides widen and gaps between students from the most & least deprived areas persist, amidst record results.

👇Education experts @danihpayne.bsky.social and
@beckymontacute.bsky.social breakdown the data
www.smf.co.uk/commentary_p...

Results day 2025 – Social Market Foundation analysis - Social Market Foundation. Results day and university admissions data offers insight into how the HE sector is performing under growing financial and structural pressures.

Blog up on the major take aways from today's results day from @danihpayne.bsky.social and me -

www.smf.co.uk/commentary_p...

Many students today will be celebrating as more are getting into their first choice uni, even if they missed their grades

But universities continue to fail to tackle gaps between students from the most & least deprived areas, & regional inequalities are widening #ResultsDay2025

📚Level 3 Results Day analysis📚

Key points:
🔵Regional gaps in university entry continue to widen
🔵Progress on widening access has stalled
🔵Lower tariff unis still squeezed as higher and medium tariff institutions expand to plug budget gaps

🧵for details

📚#Level3ResultsDay

Regional inequalities are worsening over time: the gap between the highest and lowest access regions (London & North East) has now grown to 18.5pp (vs 7.4pp in 2016)

London participation continues to grow whilst entry actually fell from the NE this year @smfthinktank.bsky.social

🚨 #ALevelResultsDay : Breaking @smfthinktank.bsky.social analysis reveals stark regional uni inequalities - and these are widening over time 🚨

Students in London and the South East are far more likely to be receiving acceptances today, whilst lowest rates are seen in the NE and SW

Ahead of Level 3 (A Level and T level) results day tomorrow - what trends have we seen in access over the last few years, and what should we be looking out for on the day?

Analysis from the SMF's Head of Education and Social Mobility @danihpayne.bsky.social in the thread below -

For policymakers and the HE sector, #ResultsDay reveals a great deal about
- how the higher education system is functioning
- who it is reaching
- how well it is navigating a turbulent financial environment.

4️⃣ trends to keep in mind when the results and UCAS data land tomorrow🧵

The gambling industry is a licence to print money. Tax it properly – and turbocharge the fight against child poverty | Gordon Brown New thinking is urgent now. I have not seen such deep poverty since I grew up in a mining and textiles town blighted by unemployment, says former prime minister Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown has called for taxes on the gambling industry (citing recent Social Market Foundation @smfthinktank.bsky.social research on gambling taxes) to raise funds to allow the government to tackle child poverty -

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...