On 24th March 2025, the Education Policy Institute (EPI) held our 2025 Annual Lecture. We were delighted to welcome Professor Anna Vignoles CBE FBA, Director of the Leverhulme Trust, to deliver the lecture.
Please find the recording below:
Education Policy Institute’s Annual Lecture 2025
Professor Vignoles shared her thoughts and expertise on what is needed from government policy to close disadvantage gaps:
Stark inequalities in education and skills persist in the UK. The education achievement gap between rich and poor students remains substantial, limiting individuals’ prospects and constraining our economy. Regional disparities in skills are also pronounced, with some areas benefiting from a highly skilled workforce that attracts investment and high-wage jobs, while others face lower productivity and economic stagnation.
To address these challenges, policy must focus on where the need is greatest, namely education to employment pathways for those not pursuing a degree route and reskilling the millions already in the workforce who will need to adapt to a rapidly evolving labour market. Policy solutions will need to be geographically targeted, narrow socio-economic achievement gaps and create incentives for businesses to invest in skill development outside of already prosperous regions.
We are very grateful to the British Academy for kindly hosting this event.
Speakers
Professor Anna Vignoles CBE FBA
Director, The Leverhulme Trust
Sarah Cowan
Head of Policy, The British Academy
Natalie Perera
CEO, Education Policy Institute
Stay connected
Subscribe to our newsletter
Stay up to date with our most recent publications, reports, briefings and events on education and young people’s wellbeing.
Further reading
We may have another opportunity to get school inspection right – let’s not waste it
I’ve spent the best part of two decades working in and around education policy. During that time we’ve had eight prime ministers, thirteen education secretaries and four Ofsted chief inspectors. Goodness knows how many conversations I’ve been involved in over…
By Julie McCulloch
How can we empower teachers to use AI without undermining their professionalism or relationships with students?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly embedded in our everyday lives. In their ‘ Generative AI in education ’ guidance, the Department for Education (DfE) committed to explore the safe use of new AI technology and maximise the benefits for…
By Education Policy Institute
Retrain or recruit? Comparing routes to more specialist teachers
The government's Every Child Achieving and Thriving white paper set out plans to recruit 6,500 additional teachers, and its response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review emphasised strengthening maths provision and tackling ongoing teacher shortages in physics, including through the…
By James Zuccollo
Level 2 Results Day 2026
Introduction Today thousands of young people in England are receiving their results in GCSEs and level 1 and 2 technical qualifications. As ever we will be publishing an initial analysis of the results that we will be adding to through…
By Jon Andrews
Level 3 Results Day 2026
Young people across England have today received their A level, vocational and other applied Level 3 qualification results, and should be applauded for their hard work and commitment. While A levels are often perceived as the default post 16 route, fewer than half…
By Maxime Perrott and Sam Tuckett
Policy and Practice: Exploring the use of classroom removal and how it varies by school-level disadvantage
Introduction All pupils have a legal right to a continuous education, yet many pupils spend substantial amounts of time moving in and out of the mainstream classroom. In the 2024/25 academic year alone, 94,400 pupils missed the equivalent of more…
By Lily Wielar
If the new Prime Minister is serious about the next generation, it starts with the disadvantage gap
When the new Prime Minister walks through the famous black door next week, he won't be short of things to do. One of the more ambitious commitments he'll inherit from his predecessor is the target, set out in the recent…
By Julie McCulloch
A borrowed recovery: the 2025 school workforce data
Last month, the Department for Education released its annual snapshot of the teaching workforce in England, and the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) recently followed with its 36th report on teacher pay. The two tell a coherent story of a…
By James Zuccollo
Persistent disadvantage – further analysis for Teach First
Pupils experiencing persistent disadvantage consistently demonstrate some of the lowest educational outcomes in the system - falling, on average, nearly two years of learning behind their peers by the time they sit their GCSEs. Yet identifying and targeting this group…
By Jon Andrews