A growing number of teachers, researchers, and policy makers are arguing for the development of an evidence based education system. How can research techniques, such as randomly controlled trials, and recent advances in technology be harnessed to improve the educational experience? And how can policy facilitate these changes?

Join the Cambridge University Science & Policy Exchange to debate this topical and fascinating policy. The lecture will be followed by a wine reception. Students working in a relevant area to the policy debate can apply to attend the post-lecture dinner with the speakers and will be notified if they have a place prior to the event date.

Speakers for this policy debate include:

Professor Anna Vignoles
Professor of Education at the University of Cambridge and Visiting Professor at the Institute of Education
Professor Anna Vignoles is Professor of Education and Director of Research at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. Her research interests include issues pertaining to equity in education, school choice, school efficiency and finance and the economic value of schooling. Anna is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Fiscal Studies and a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Education. She has provided advice to the Browne Review of Higher Education Funding, the House of Commons Education and Skills Committee investigation of higher education funding and Lord Leitch’s Review of Skills.

Professor Angela McFarlane
Chief Executive of the College of Teachers
Angela McFarlane is currently Chief Executive and Registrar at The College of Teachers. As a Professor at the University of Bristol she was head of the Graduate School of Education. She has designed and directed a number of highly successful educational development projects and the resulting interactive resources all became commercially successful products. Her research has investigated the role of digital technologies in education, including addressing misconceptions through dynamic representation, and has included work with national evaluation projects in the UK, an international review with the OECD and consultancy at government level in Chile, Brasil and Singapore. She has been a school science teacher, a director of the UK government agency for educational technology and served on the boards of Teachers’ TV and Futurelab. Her latest book, Authentic Learning for the Digital Generation was published by Taylor and Francis (Routledge) in August 2014.

Mr Mark Anderson
Managing Director, Pearson UK
Mark Anderson is an international manager with 25 years’ experience of running small to medium sized businesses in the UK and overseas, with a special focus on Asia. He has worked primarily in education, but also in consumer goods and healthcare. His focus areas are strategic development, operational effectiveness and change management. In 2014, he was appointed to to lead Pearson’s UK education business, which includes the Edexcel and BTEC qualifications brands and Pearson College. He previously led Pearson’s international Schools and Higher Education business units as well as international strategy and business development. Mark was a Governor of DeMontfort University 2012-14, he is also a Cambridge Fellow in Science & Policy.

Mr Ross Neilson
Head of Policy – Higher Education and Professions at Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission
Ross Neilson is currently Head of Policy at the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission. He leads on its higher education and access to the professions work. Until mid-2014, Ross was a Senior Policy Adviser within the Cabinet Office’s Implementation Group in the Open Public Services (OPS) team, tasked with implementing the Government’s programme of public services reform. He led the development and implementation of the Government’s new ‘What Works’ evidence network, which aims to gather assess and share the most robust evidence to inform policy and service delivery in a number of policy areas. Prior to joining the civil service, Ross worked in public policy consultancy, leading research and evaluation studies for a wide range of UK Government and EU clients.

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