News and Publications

Below we summarise current information on 
  • Current Issues
  • News
  • Completed Projects and Published reports
  • Corporate and Policy area brochures

Current Issues
 
Academies: The answer to driving up standards and reducing bureaucracy? The coalition’s Academies Bill aims to give school’s more freedom over finance, curriculum, teachers’ pay and conditions thereby “liberating [schools] from bureaucracy” (Michael Gove). YCL has an established reputation in this arena having provided research and consultancy support on:
  • School improvement – we know what helps to accelerate school improvement based on the learning from our research for National Strategies on National Challenge; and for central government and its agencies in relation to School Self-Evaluation; School Improvement Partners; RaiseOnline and; effective management and leadership;
  • Curriculum planning – we understand the importance of curriculum planning and flexible pathways in order to ensure the learning pathway best meets the needs of individuals;
  • Teaching and learning – having collated many examples of good practice from our research in the field, we recognise what works both in the classroom and in terms of line management functions to improve the accountability of teacher performance in schools
  • We have proven methods of consulting with pupils, parents, staff, LAs, government and the community to ensure a range of voices/opinions are heard.
  • Contact: Louise Starks
     
What next for 'Think Family' practice with Public Sector spending cuts? York Consulting has evaluated a range of interventions focusing on providing more coordinated and integrated responses (across adult and children's services and the voluntary sector) to meet the needs of families with multiple problems. This includes our three year longitudinal evaluation of the Family Pathfinder programme; and our evaluation of Families Do Matter, focusing on family focused support with prisoners and their families. With the removal of ringfencing for 'Think Family' funding our research aims to identify commissioning and spending decisions.
Contact: Sally Kendall


Want to measure the social and environmental costs, as well as the economic costs and benefits of your activities? York Consulting can help. We have established techniques for measuring Social Return on Investment (SROI) and have pioneered the use of Fiscal Return on Investment (FROI) analysis. Our techniques have been tried and tested with a number of government initiatives and pilot programmes including the government’s Family Pathfinder programme. We can also assist with cost benefit and value-added assessments.
Contact: John Rodger
 
Be a part of the Big Society: "If you want people to play a bigger part in society you have to give them power…" said the Prime Minister as he set out his ‘Big Society’ policy ideas. York Consulting has a long tradition of research and evaluation exploring community empowerment and people’s voice including:
  • An evaluation of the Community Transformation Programme for Youth at Risk, exploring the impact of coaches on young people. 
  • An evaluation of pathways2success, exploring the impact of Bolton Lads and Girls Club’s mentoring programme.
  • The national evaluation of the Generations Together Demonstrator programme. Generations Together focused on the establishment of innovative projects that aim to bring older and younger people together in meaningful intergenerational activity. Much of the activity was led by voluntary and community organisations. Generations Together aimed to generate wider interest in and thinking about intergenerational work, to increase the number of older and younger people volunteering and to contribute to changing negative perceptions between older and younger generations.
  • Contact: Louise Starks 

Teach First receives £4m government grant. Following its success in attracting some of the country's most impressive graduates into teaching, the Teach First Charity is given a £4m grant to increase graduate teacher numbers. York Consulting evaluated the Teach First Primary Modern Foreign Languages pilot in primary schools. Our evaluation of Teach First is just one of several projects examining the issue of teacher recruitment including:
  • Evaluation of the Accelerated Route to QTS (TDA)
  • Review of Successful Strategies for the recruitment of males onto primary and BME groups onto ITT programmes (TDA)
  • Evaluation of the Career Exploration Programmes (TDA)
  • Contact: Louise Starks

News

Aimhigher Delivery and Effectiveness: More for Less? We completed an evaluation of the Aimhigher Associate Scheme for the Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE) and we also reviewed the operation of Aimhigher in Hertfordshire. All studies focused on the critical element of cost effectiveness. Contact: John Rodger


What is the value of Vocational Qualifications? We undertook a DfE study to explore Vocational Qualification progression routes and in particular accessibility to Higher Education. Contact: John Rodger 


Delivering Better Guidance in Schools: We completed a study for the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) which exploring potential for using school support staff to deliver enhanced guidance in schools. Contact: John Rodger
 

Think Family. Think Cost. We evaluated Family Pathfinders on behalf of the Department for Education (DfE). A key dimension of the study was the development and application of a Social Return on Investment (the SROI cost-benefit Model). Contact: John Rodger


Home Education in the spotlight. The serious case review of Khyra Ishaq concluded that gaps in home education laws were partly to blame for Khyra’s death by starvation. A Guardian article highlights the concerns of Home Educators of conflating welfare issues with education and the presumption of guilt on loving families who choose to exercise their right to educate their children at home. In the UK, there is no reliable data on the number of children educated at home. York Consulting was commissioned to conduct a feasibility study to ascertain whether a national survey on the prevalence of home education would be possible using local authority data. The report also contained information on the reasons why parents opt for Home Education.
All our published reports can be found by clicking here.
 

Corporate and Policy Area Brochures

The most recent corporate brochures which provide an overview of work areas and assignments we have undertaken can be downloaded using the links below:

Our capabilities and understanding in key policy areas are profiled in the following documents:
Improving Outcomes for Young People       click here to downloadEducation                         
 
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