FFT Education Datalab — at the forefront of education research
FFT's aim is to help schools make the best possible use of education data to improve education outcomes for all pupils.
That's why we set up FFT Education Datalab, an independent, cutting-edge research team examining the latest education policy, practice and statistics.
Latest blogposts
- Exploring the relationship between Year 11 absence and GCSE results
on December 3, 2025 at 6:14 am - Why one word can break your research – and why AI won’t help. A cautionary tale from PISA
on December 2, 2025 at 6:52 am - Contextualising attainment without Key Stage 2 baselines
on November 21, 2025 at 7:12 am - Who might take the new V-Levels?
on November 19, 2025 at 7:01 am
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Evidence
Data Impact Report
FFT's Tutoring with the Lightning Squad programme improves reading skills for pupils in Years 1 to 6. Read about the benefits in the Data Impact Report.
Public data
Regional Attendance Tracker
Using daily attendance figures from over 10,000 Aspire schools, FFT publishes a weekly picture of national and regional attendance in England.
FFT Education Datalab
We are proud to have celebrated 10 years of FFT Education Datalab, who produce independent, cutting-edge research on education policy and practice.
FFT Education Datalab brings together an expert team of academics, researchers and statisticians specialising in the analysis of large-scale administrative and survey datasets.
Led by FFT’s chief statistician, Dave Thomson, the team produce research and analysis that can be used by policymakers to inform education policy, and by schools to improve practice.
They complete commissioned research for organisations who wish to evaluate their impact, or who need quantitative analysis to supplement their own policy work.
The team also blog regularly, using data to explore the latest developments in education.
Schools Like Yours
Where YOU define the ‘similar’ in similar schools
Schools Like Yours, the comparison tool from FFT Education Datalab lets you identify schools similar to yours, but allows YOU to define what similar means. Similar size? Similar pupil-teacher ratios? Similar funding? Similar staffing profile? Or a combination of all of these factors and many more.
