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James Zuccollo

Director for School Workforce

About James

James joined the EPI as Director for School Workforce in 2018.

Before joining the EPI he led the economic research programme for the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the macroeconomic research for the think tank Reform and worked as a consulting economist in New Zealand. His work has encompassed the measurement of graduates’ wellbeing, development of value-added and teaching intensity measures in higher education, and evaluation of large public investments. He has written for publications such as The FT, The Guardian, City AM, New Statesman and Prospect and has discussed his work on the BBC’s Today programme among others.

Recent Publications

Reporting

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

Article

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

Reporting

Educational psychologists in England

Educational psychologists (EP) support the wellbeing and development of young people up to age 25. Working alongside parents, teachers, and other professionals, they identify and address learning or behavioural barriers - ensuring that children facing difficulties get the support they…

By James Zuccollo and Jo Hutchinson

Reporting

Closing the Workforce Quality Gap.

The new report by the Education Policy Institute (EPI), funded by The Sequoia Trust, examines differences between the teaching workforces at schools with the most and least disadvantaged pupils. It finds a substantial and persistent gap in teacher experience, as…

By James Zuccollo and Education Policy Institute

Reporting

What pensions do teachers want?

The latest report by the Education Policy Institute (EPI), explores whether providing more flexibility over teachers' pensions and remuneration could support improved recruitment and retention in the profession. EPI collaborated with Teacher Tapp to survey nearly 6,000 teachers to find…

By James Zuccollo

Reporting

Networks of Headteachers and Schools

A new report by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) , funded by the Nuffield Foundation, explores headteachers’ and future headteachers’ movements throughout their careers. It shows that some schools, particularly in the North West, West Midlands, East of England and…

By James Zuccollo and Education Policy Institute

Reporting

Incentives to recruit and retain teachers in Wales

A new report by the Education Policy Institute (EPI), commissioned by the Welsh Government, reviews the existing literature to identify policies that might attract and retain teachers in challenging schools across Wales. The report focuses on schools with high socio-economic…

By James Zuccollo, Jo Hutchinson, Joni Kelly, and Education Policy Institute

Article

Do teachers want pension flexibility?

A central commitment of the new government is to recruit an additional 6,500 expert teachers to England’s schools. The question is how to do it? One of the main levers available to the government is teachers’ pay. The new Secretary…

By James Zuccollo

Article

Blog: The workforce challenges facing an incoming government

The Department for Education last week released its  annual snapshot  of the state of the teaching workforce in England and it is sober reading for the incoming government. Last year's statistics showed the recruitment and retention boost of the pandemic…

By James Zuccollo