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
- Has gender balance in A-Level physics improved?
on October 23, 2025 at 6:40 am - Making sense of school performance data in 2025
on October 16, 2025 at 1:15 pm - How many pupils really are severely absent?
on October 14, 2025 at 6:29 am - What will be the impact of the Curriculum and Assessment Review on subject take-up at Key Stage 4?
on October 9, 2025 at 6:35 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.
