British Curriculum Forum
The British Curriculum Forum aims to bring together all those with an interest in collaborative curriculum, research and development. Through events, awards and grants, the BCF supports...
Award
The BCF Curriculum Investigation Grant is intended to support research led by schools and colleges with a focus on curriculum inquiry and investigation. The theme for the 2024-2025 grant is "Meeting the challenge of Artificial Intelligence for teaching and learning"
The BCF Curriculum Investigation Grant is intended to support research led by schools and colleges’ with a focus on curriculum inquiry and investigation. Normally, the grant is worth up to £5,000 for the winner. This prize, awarded annually, acknowledges the importance of research led by schools and colleges.
In addition to the £5,000 award, the recipient will be able to claim support to attend the BERA annual conference, if they are presenting their research.
The theme for the 2024-2025 grant is
The grant supports innovative projects that aim to redefine educational practices, enhance learning experiences, and improve outcomes for learners with a strong focus on AI. We are particularly interested in applications that focus on one of the following sub-themes:
The BCF Curriculum Investigation Grant is for applicants who are based within schools and colleges.
While it is possible that the applications will include collaborative partnerships with HE institutions we are keen to support schools and colleges led research and therefore ask the primary applicant to be based in a school or college.
Applications must also include a detailed budget of how the funds will be spent.
Rigour can be defined as the accuracy and quality of research particularly in relation to the data collection tools, analysis and interpretation of findings. This might include ensuring that data collection tools are appropriate and consistent given the aim and research question/s, that data analysis methods have been used consistently and that conclusions drawn from data are reasonable.
Transparency relates to the need for clear, complete and explicit presentation of the research design, participants, data collected, findings, and of the researcher’s beliefs and role in relation to participants. Transparency enables readers to gain a clear view of the research process and how the findings were reached.
Validity assesses the extent to which the research design and study addresses the issue that the research was intended to explore. In other words, to what extent does the research design measure what it set out to, or reflect the particular phenomena it claims to represent?
BERA and BCF support and opportunities:
Application Details
Application for the award should consist of
The British Curriculum Forum aims to bring together all those with an interest in collaborative curriculum, research and development. Through events, awards and grants, the BCF supports...
Here you will find the public-facing final reports from each successful BCF Curriculum Investigation Grant, detailing key findings from the research project and how these findings might be taken...
Associate Lecturer at The Open University
Di Swift is chair of Stoke and Staffordshire Teacher Education Collective (SSTEC), which is made up of providers who support both initial and continuing education. She is a fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching and an international...
This report shares the work of four primary teachers from the West Midlands of England involved in a curriculum investigation project funded by the British Curriculum Forum. The project aimed to...
Lecturer in Education at University College London
Nasreen Majid is a Lecturer in Education and teaches on the MA in Education programme at UCL. She is an Associate Fellow of UCL's Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Education (CCCSE).
Teacher & Art Leader at West Lodge Primary School
Lucy Taylor is a teacher and art leader at West Lodge Primary School.
Headteacher at West Lodge Primary School
Jim Dees is the headteacher of West Lodge Primary School.
Co-creating a curriculum to support pupil wellbeing in primary schools
Group Head of Research, Innovation and Scholarship Engagement at Bedford College
Dr M. Mahruf C. Shohel is currently working as the group head of research, innovation and scholarship engagement at the Bedford College Group and a visiting faculty at the University of Roehampton, UK. Prior to this, Dr Shohel worked for several...
Developing an introductory course on climate change, social justice & sustainability
Professional Tutor, Teacher of English at Longsands College
Susannah Prabhu-Naik is a teacher of English at Longsands Academy.
Funded by the 2021–2022 British Curriculum Forum Curriculum Investigation Grant, this project aimed to investigate the degree to which a secondary school in England included a multitude of...
Deputy Headteacher at Llanwern High School
Siân Smith is a Deputy Headteacher at Llanwern High School in Newport, Wales. She began her teaching career in London, but also taught in Auckland before returning to the green green grass of home! She has worked within Welsh Government on...
This project, funded by the 2021–2022 British Curriculum Forum (BCF) Curriculum Investigation Grant, involved finding ways to celebrate diversity within a Welsh school and its school curriculum....
Neurodiversity Support Manager at Ministry of Justice
Claire Ellis started working in education in 2014 in London before moving to Manchester where she spent five years teaching English across KS3, KS4 and KS5. In that role, her interests were centred around Curriculum Decolonisation and Critical...
Senior Lecturer in Critical Applied Linguistics at Manchester Metropolitan University
Ian Cushing is Senior Lecturer in Critical Applied Linguistics at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.
Funded by the British Curriculum Forum Curriculum Investigation Grant 2021–2022, this project explored the impact of offering lower KS3 pupils a curriculum that contrasted significantly with the...
Teacher at St. Josephs RC Primary School
Charlotte Bowes has been teaching Primary 1 for six years in Edinburgh, leading the implementation of a play-based approach to the curriculum within her school. Whilst teaching, she completed a Masters of Education (Leading Learning and Teaching)...
This report provides evidence from the Sharing the Ambition project, which investigates parents' perceptions of early years education in Scotland, what their priorities are in terms of settings'...
Chartered Teacher at Falkirk High School
Scott Doyle is a teacher of history and social studies at Falkirk High School.
Lecturer in Education at University of Stirling
Dr Joseph Smith is a Lecturer in Education at the University of Stirling. His research interests concern the politics of the history curriculum and teachers’ identities as curriculum makers. He has published in The British Educational Research...
This research project assessed the impact on pupils and staff of a school-designed integrated social studies curriculum, aiming to apply insights from Big History and Big Questions to offer pupils...
PhD Research Student at University of Aberdeen
Claire Needler is an ethnology PhD student in the Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen. Her current research area is contemporary use of the Scots language among young people in the north east of Scotland. She is particularly interested...
PT Humanities at Banff Academy
Dr Jamie Fairbairn is principal teacher of the Faculty of Humanities at Banff Academy, leading the subject areas of geography, history, modern studies, religious, moral and philosophical studies (RMPS), Scottish studies, Scots language, travel...
An investigation of how schools can, by working in and with local languages and dialects, raise pupils' educational attainment, cultural awareness and self-esteem.
Primary Maths Adviser at Babcock L D P
Dr Ruth Trundley has developed and led action-research projects, most recently ‘Supporting children to be active and influential participants in maths lesson through the use of pre-teaching and assigning competence’; this project has been...
Independent Researcher at N/A
Dr Helen Williams specialises in the teaching and learning of Early Years and KS1 mathematics. Currently she is running the Early Years work groups for the CODE Maths Hub. She was a member of the team for Brunel University’s research project...
How can variation theory can be applied to the use of manipulatives to support understanding of early number? This report makes an important contribution to the existing literature on how to teach...
Senior Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University
Lorna Shires is senior lecturer in initial teacher education at the School of Education, Oxford Brookes University.
Headteacher & Governor at Icknield Community College
Mat Hunter has served as both headteacher and governor of Icknield Community College in Watlington, Oxfordshire, since September 2011.
This investigation of how theories of task design can support teaching offers tools to help teachers to develop pupils’ motivation and agency in relation to their subject.
Diversity and Resolving the Digital Skills Crisis
Project Leads: Vladlena Benson and Stylianos Hatzipanagos, University of West London
Read about the project here