Simon Burgess and Dave Thomson, Author at FFT Education Datalab

About Simon Burgess and Dave Thomson

Simon Burgess is a professor of economics at the University of Bristol and a research fellow at the Institute of Labor Economics. Dave Thomson is chief statistician at FFT with over fifteen years’ experience working with educational attainment data to raise attainment in local government, higher education and the commercial sector.

Differences in school performance are local not regional (mostly)

The north/south divide in school performance is mostly a distraction. Most of the variation in school performance is very local, between nearby schools.

By Simon Burgess and Dave Thomson|2023-11-02T09:28:15+00:0019th October 2023|School accountability|

What’s Progress 8 good for? Lower-attaining pupils

Progress 8 might not reveal much about the effectiveness of schools but it has reduced the incentive for schools to focus their efforts on pupils at the borderline of grade C/D (4/3 nowadays)

By Simon Burgess and Dave Thomson|2022-10-13T17:25:58+01:0018th October 2022|School accountability|

What can we learn about Covid transmission in schools from teacher absence figures?

Exploring the relationship between teacher absence and pupil absence figures, and more

By Simon Burgess and Dave Thomson|2021-01-25T09:55:06+00:0022nd January 2021|Teachers|

School accountability and fairness: Does ‘Progress 8’ encourage schools to work more equitably?

The change in headline KS4 accountability measure saw the results of pupils with lower attainment increase, new research suggests

By Simon Burgess and Dave Thomson|2020-12-16T09:44:39+00:0017th December 2020|Exams and assessment|

Crying Wolf? Part two

What impact did Wolf review reforms have on post-16 choices and attainment?

By Simon Burgess and Dave Thomson|2019-04-29T12:19:49+01:001st May 2019|Post-16 provision, School accountability|

Crying Wolf? Part one

What impact did Wolf review reforms have on exam entries and attainment?

By Simon Burgess and Dave Thomson|2019-04-29T12:20:15+01:001st May 2019|School accountability|