Research Digest September 2026
21 September 2026
The sixth issue of our Research Digest summarises recent reports and blogs, highlighting key findings and recommendations for policy makers and classroom practice.
Research includes:
- Measures to help with cost-of-living pressures
- Free School Meal eligibility changes
- Falling pupil numbers and SEND rates
- Pupil wellbeing and persistent absence
- The widening disadvantage divide
- Understanding the relationship between attendance, wellbeing and sense of belonging
- High-SEND schools
- Competition and cooperation in the FE sector
- The School Teacher Labour Market in England Annual Report 2026
- Investigating job roles in the further education workforce
- The Further Education Teacher Workforce in England Annual Report 2026
- The School Support Staff Workforce in England Annual Report 2026
- Can inclusion bases provide part of the solution to the SEND crisis
- The Early Years Workforce in England Annual Report 2026
- What helps to improve teacher retention? A pathway analysis of factors affecting retention
- Securing success from start to finish: Investigating factors associated with apprenticeship withdrawal
- What should happen to teachers’ pay from 2026? and What should STRB recommend for teachers’ pay from 2026?
- Tracking attainment without a counterfactual - Lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic
- Skills Imperative 2035: Creating a system of lifelong learning to provide the essential skills for tomorrow’s workforce