Summary of the impact

This body of regional, national and internationally commissioned research, alongside the development of outputs designed specifically for user groups, has resulted in: changes to training interventions with those who are long-term unemployed regionally and trans-nationally, including refugees; changes to policy and practice to enhance success in accessing higher education of refugees and asylum seekers regionally and nationally; development of a set of `guiding principles' adopted by the Higher Education Academy in their funding of Strategic Development Grants focussed on enhancing ethnic minority student degree attainment; critical debate in national press and via other public platforms.

Summary of the impact

We have influenced the development and implementation of national higher education policies and educational practices in Scotland as well as international policies through the development of a distinctive approach to evaluation based on social practice theory. Using a novel way of conceptualising and conducting evaluative research, we have:

• Changed policy makers' conceptions of how policies impact on practices;
• Improved the management of national teaching and learning policy initiatives;
• Influenced practices at an institutional level;
• Shaped international policy debates about how to develop useable and socially just evaluation.

Summary of the impact

PAM-INA was a multilateral project funded by the European Commission's Lifelong Learning programme with a consortium of eight European universities. It led to one international symposium, one international conference, the publication of peer-reviewed articles, two peer-reviewed book volumes in English, a multilingual educational toolkit on the dimension of Europe in post-primary education syllabi (based on research results), a website (www.pam-ina.eu) and a training unit for in-service teachers and teacher education students. Close-working contacts were established between project participants and educational practitioners using the project material throughout the project's lifespan and beyond. The main impact has been achieved by the toolkit.

Summary of the impact

As a direct result of methodological research led by Professor Ray Pawson at Leeds, `realist evaluation' has provided a new lens through which to assess and develop social programmes. It has critically changed the apparatus of evidenced-based policy and the way in which policy research is commissioned and utilised. Through advisory work, training package provision, partnership-research and professional exchange, this `realist' perspective has formed a new standard in social programme evaluation, and is used by commissioners in the UK and internationally to frame their interventions across policy domains, including education, environment, criminal justice, and health and social care.

Summary of the impact

1.1Through the development of national Research Development Fellowships (RDFs) and the national Exploratory Research programme, SUNCETT has worked in collaboration with policy professionals from the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS), (now the Education and Training Foundation, ETF) to contribute to changes to public service practices and policy guidelines for the sector. Through the same work, SUNCETT has improved standards of teaching, learning and practitioner research across the sector using a model for educational improvement, originally applied in schools by Fielding et al (2005),described as `Joint Practice Development' (JPD). Through JDP, SUNCETT has enabled policy professionals and practitioners to incrementally improve practice across the FAVE sector in research-informed, realistic and sustainable ways. These applications of JPD have been led nationally by SUNCETT and the improvements in practice achieved as a result of this approach have been recognised externally in the form of the LSIS Legacy Report (2013) (Source 1), in various OFSTED inspection reports (Source 2) and by the British Education Research Association in, Why Educational Research Matters (BERA, 2013) (Source 3).

Summary of the impact

This case study focuses on the reach and significance of the impact achieved particularly by a body of research conducted from within the Centre for Society, Religion and Belief, and especially involving the work of Weller and Cheruvallil-Contractor. This has especially informed policy development in the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC); the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU); and the Department of Communities and Local Government. Finally, it has equipped broader users of research in public, private, voluntary and community, and religion or belief sector organisations to develop their policy development and practice in a more evidence-based way.

Summary of the impact

Almost everything about Islamophobia is contested, from the very phenomenon and name, to its attendant facts and the responses it calls for. This case study focuses on a research-based intervention which has impacted how key stakeholders frame the discussion of Islamophobia at critical junctures of the grassroots-media-policy continuum. Specifically, for those most actively affected by and engaged with the issue, it has opened up more robust critical modes of intervention and argumentation. The research was conceived and informed by a commitment to public engagement envisaged as a two way and participatory process with communities and stakeholders, and has influenced public debate and benefited community relations in the UK, Europe and beyond.

Summary of the impact

The Lecturer Self-efficacy Project is a national and international collaboration led by Professor John Sharp at Bishop Grosseteste University (UK) and Dr Brian Hemmings at Charles Sturt University (Australia). The project was initiated to develop a diagnostic instrument or resource to measure confidence in core academic function (research, teaching, other) with a view to enhancing professional practice across the UK Higher Education sector. The Project claims reach and significance in impact on practitioners and the development of professional services at organisational and departmental levels. This was achieved by stimulating debate and challenging conventional wisdom, thereby influencing the management of professional standards and guidelines on recruitment and training and by using research findings to define best practice and formulate policy towards research capacity building and strategic decision-making.

Summary of the impact

One of the main impacts of Bradford's ethnicity research is its influence on how the Substantive Equality Unit (SEU) was set up and continues to operate within the Equal Opportunities Commission of Western Australia. The SEU was established to address the challenge of creating equal and inclusive services, and ensuring their delivery, by all the departments of the Western Australian government for a diverse population. Its central role in promoting equality in the region is on-going and long-term. The beneficiaries of this impact are the government and minorities in the region, particularly Aboriginals and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Summary of the impact

This longstanding research and development programme on teaching and learning conceptual scientific content has resulted in beneficial impacts on the day-to-day teaching practices of secondary school science teachers within and beyond the UK. The programme has resulted in three broad areas of impact:

1. the content of curriculum materials used by teachers of physics, chemistry and biology in their practice;
2. the initial training of science teachers;
3. professional development programmes for science teachers.