Professor Chris Taylor

: Media commentator
: Available for postgraduate supervision

Teams and roles for Chris Taylor

Academic Director, SPARK
Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

Chris is Professor of Social Sciences at Cardiff University and is the Academic Director of the Cardiff University Social Science Research Park (SPARK). Prior to this he was a Co-Director of the Wales Institute of Social & Economic Research & Data (WISERD).

Chris has published extensively on a wide range of educational and social issues and has undertaken research across all education sectors, from early years to higher education. This has included government-funded evaluations of the Foundation Phase for all 3-7 year olds in Wales, the Pupil Development Grant and the Welsh Baccalaureate qualification, an ESRC Fellowship studying the geography of growing up in the UK and an ESRC Large Grant on the political economy of school exclusions across the UK. He recently established the WISERD Education Data Lab, utilising education administrative data to support education priorities in Wales and helps convene the annual WISERDEducation Multi-Cohort Study (WMCS). He is also part of the PISA 2021 team for England and Wales, working with the University of Oxford and Pearson. Chris is also a member of the ESRC Large Centre on Civil Society in WISERD, leading on a number of work packages on civil society including the impact of graduates on civil society, the intergenerational transmission of civic attitudes and engagement, the role of grandparents in children’s formative years and the opportunities and barriers to children’s participation in civil society.

Chris was formerly the editor of Teaching and Teacher Education and the British Educational Research Journal and is currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Education Policy, the British Journal of Sociology of Education and the British Journal of Educational Studies. He is a member of the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) Student Opportunities and Achievement Committee and is the independent chair of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies, UCL, Strategic Advisory Board.

Date
Type

2008

Bannan-Ritland, B. et al., 2008. The "compleat" design experiment: from soup to nuts. In: Kelly, A. E. , Lesh, R. A. and Baek, J. Y. eds. Handbook of design research methods in education: innovations in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics learning and teaching. London: Routledge. , pp.21-46.
Freedman, E. et al., 2008. The 2008 BERA charter for research staff: Promoting quality conditions for conducting quality research. Macclesfield, UK: British Educational Research Association (BERA). Available at: http://www.bera.ac.uk/publications/ethical-guidelines.
Power, S. A. R. et al. 2008. Out-of-school learning: variations in provision and participation in secondary schools: Final report to the Campaign For Real World Learning. Project Report.Shrewsbury: Field Studies Council.
Taylor, C. M. and CRG Research Limited, 2008. Assessment of capacity and viability of local authority outdoor education centres: Final report. Project Report.Cardiff: CRG Research Limited.

2007

Taylor, C. M. 2007. Geographical information systems (GIS) and school choice: the use of spatial research tools in studying educational policy. In: Gulson, K. N. and Symes, C. eds. Spatial Theories of Education: Policy and Geography Matters. Routledge Research in Education London: Routledge. , pp.77-93.
Taylor, C. M. et al. 2007. Formative evaluation of the applied educational research scheme (AERS). Project Report.[Online].Edinburgh: Education Information and Analytical Services, Scottish Government. Available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/01/07140223/0.

2005

Fitz, J. et al. 2005. Attitudes towards participation in higher education in Wales. Project Report.[Online].Cardiff University. Available at: https://www.bangor.ac.uk/finance/fo/RR5.pdf.

2002

Fitz, J. , Gorard, S. and Taylor, C. M. 2002. School Admissions after the School Standards and Framework Act: Bringing the LEAs Back In?. Oxford Review of Education 28 (2-3), pp.373-394. (10.1080/03054980220143487)
Fitz, J. , Taylor, C. M. and Gorard, S. 2002. Local Education Authorities and the regulation of educational markets: four case studies. Research Papers in Education 17 (2), pp.125-146. (10.1080/02671520210122900)
Taylor, C. M. 2002. Geography of the "new" education market: secondary school choice in England and Wales. Aldershot: Ashgate.

2001

Taylor, C. M. and Gorard, S. 2001. The role of residence in school segregation: placing the impact of parental choice in perspective. Environment and Planning A 33 (10), pp.1829-1852. (10.1068/a34123)
Taylor, C. M. 2001. Hierarchies and 'Local' Markets: the Geography of the 'Lived' Market Place in Secondary Education Provision. Journal of Education Policy 16 (3), pp.197-214. (10.1080/02680930110041024)

Research interests

The geography of education
Education and neighbourhoods
School choice and diversity
Social justice and education policy
Participation in Higher and Further Education
Evaluation of education policy
Inter-disciplinary research methods
Combining qualitative and quantitative research methods
Research capacity building

Recent and selected funded research

Apr 2022 - Mar 2026 Administrative Data Research Wales 2022 - 2026 (Part of ADR UK) (with Prof D Ford et al), ESRC (Grant Ref: ES/W012227/1) £13.2M
Apr 2021 - Mar 2022 WISERD Education Data Lab 2021-22, Welsh Government (with Dr Jen Hampton). £97k
Nov 2020 - Oct 2022 International Public Policy Observatory (IPPO), ESRC (with Prof Jo Chattaway et al) £2M
Aug 2020 – Jul 2021 Controlling COVID19 through enhanced population surveillance and intervention (Con-COV): a platform approach, UKRI COVID-19 Rapid Response Rolling Call (with Prof R Lyons et al). £1.03M
Sep 2020 – Jul 2022 WISERD Education Multi-Cohort Study (WMCS) (Sweeps 8 and 9), Welsh Government (with Prof S Power), £239k
Feb 2020 – Jan 2022 Comparisons of cognitive skills and educational attainment across the UK, Nuffield Foundation (with L Sibieta (Education Policy Institute) and J Jerrim (UCL)) £163k
Oct 2019 – Sep 2023 The political economies of school exclusion and their consequences, ESRC Large Grant (with Prof H Daniels, University of Oxford, et al) £2.5M
Oct 2019 – Sep 2024 WISERD/Civil Society: Changing perspectives on Civic Stratification and Civil Repair, ESRC Large Centre (with Prof I R Jones et al) £7.9M
Feb 2019 – Mar 2019 Top-line Analysis and Feasibility Study on More Able and Talented Pupils in Wales Using Millennium Cohort Study Data, funded by the Welsh Government (with Prof S Power), £5k
Dec 2018 – Apr 2021 Administrative Data Research Centre 2018, ESRC (with Prof D Ford et al), £5.9M
May 2018 – Feb 2019 Evidence review and research support for the Commissioner’s ‘What Now?’, funded by Children’s Commissioner for Wales (with R Barrance, S Power, G Rees), £25k
Oct 2018 – Apr 2020 Does local authority care make a difference to the lives of vulnerable children? Longitudinal analyses of a retrospective electronic cohort, funded by the ESRC (with S Long, D Farewell, G Moore, D Fone, J Scourfield, R Lyons), £192k
Dec 2017 – Feb 2018 Contract for the provision of public consultation services as part of Professor Graham Donaldson’s independent review of Estyn, funded by Estyn (with S Power), £14k
Aug 2017 – Mar 2019 Successful futures for all, funded by HEFCW and Welsh Government (with S Power), £125k
July 2017 – July 2018 The Political and Civic Engagement and Participation of Children in England and Wales, funded by WISERD (with S Fox, S Pearce and P Chaney), £40k
July 2017 – July 2018 Participation in the international Children’s World Survey, funded by WISERD and Welsh Government (with S Power), £15k
May 2017 – May 2018 Disparities in rates of permanent exclusion from schools across the UK, funded by the John Fell Fund (University of Oxford) (with I Thompson, H Daniels, A Gallacher, S Power, G McClusky, et al), £39k
Analysis of Destinations and Retention of Year 12 Students in Sixth Form Schools, funded by the Welsh Government (with R Davies), £25k
WISERD/Civil Society ESRC Large Centre, (with Prof I Jones, Cardiff University et al), £7M
Evaluation of Foundation Phase Flexibility Pilots, funded by the Welsh Government (with Dr M Rhys and Dr S Waldron), £119k
Centre for Administrative Data Research and Evaluation (CADRE) - an ESRC Administrative Data Research Centre (with Prof D Ford, Swansea University, et al), £10M
Evaluation of the Pupil Deprivation Grant, funded by the Welsh Government (with Ipsos-MORI), £119k (Extension awarded for 2015/16 £121k
Impact and Effectiveness of Widening Access to HE in Wales, funded by the ESRC Secondary Data Analysis Initiative and HEFCW (with Prof G Rees), £288k (ESRC: £187k; HEFCW: £101k)
WISERDEDUCATION, funded by HEFCW (with Prof S Power), £930k
Growing up in 21st Century Britain: spatial analysis of the Millennium Cohort Study (Mid-Career Fellowship), funded by the ESRC, £136k
Evaluating the Foundation Phase – tender to evaluate the Foundation Phase in Wales, funded by the Welsh Government (with Prof T Maynard, Canterbury Christchurch University, and WISERD), £990k
REAL-net, funded by the European Commission (with Prof S Power), €235k per annum
A Social and Professional Network for Early Career Researchers in Education, funded by the ESRC (with Dr P Carmichael, University of Cambridge), £79k
Welsh Institute of Social and Economic Data, Research and Methods (WISERD), funded by the ESRC and the Welsh Assembly Government (with Prof H Beynon et al), £4.8M
LINK-Wales: The Learning in Wales Network, funded by ESRC/HEFCW Wales Education Research Network (WERN) (with Prof S Power and Mr G Thomas, University of Wales, Aberystwyth), £39k
NCRM Networks for Methodological Innovation: Measuring segregation: methods, tools and data, funded by ESRC National Centre for Research Methods (with Dr R Harris, University of Bristol), £6.5k
Assessment of Capacity and Viability of Local Authority Outdoor Education Centres, funded by the Department of Children, Schools and Families (with CRG Research Ltd, Prof S Power and Prof G Rees), £62k
Formative Evaluation of the Applied Educational Research Scheme (AERS), funded by the Scottish Executive (with Prof S Power, Prof G Rees), £30k
Scoping Study to Identify Quantitative Methods Capacity Building Needs in Wales, funded by the ESRC and HEFCW (with Prof L Moore, Prof K Whitfield, Prof G Maio, Dr A Robinson), £30k

Research project links

Research supervision

Chris has supervised many Masters and PhD students and on a wide range of research topics including: school truancy, school vouchers, higher education participation, paid employment among undergraduates, the emotional geographies of museums (with the National Museum of Wales, intergenerational justice, wellbeing in the Foundation Phase (with the Welsh Government), schools and volunteering, citizenship education in Malaysia (with the Malaysian Government), the effectiveness of early family interventions (with Home-Start UK) and children's and young people's subjective wellbeing.

Chris is particularly keen to develop collaborative studentships with non-academic external partners.

Teaching

I do not currently convene any modules but I have taught on all of the following modules:

Dissertation (UG Year 3 module)
Conflict and Change in Education Policy (UG Year 3 module)
Education in Practice (UG Year 2 module)
Education and Society (UG Year 1 module)

Research Methods (Masters and Professional Doctorate modules)
Research and Evidence-Based Policy and Practice (Professional Doctorate module)
Social Context of Education (Professional Doctorate module)
Strategies of Applied Research (Masters module in MSc Social Science Research Methods (ESRC 1+3))

Education and qualifications

2000: PhD (Human Geography), University of Leicester, UK
1995: BA Geography (First), University of Leicester, UK

Career overview

2018 - Academic Director, Cardiff University Social Science Research Park (secondment)
2000 - present: Cardiff University, School of Social Sciences
1995 - 1999: University of Leicester, Geography Department

Awards and recognition

Research Fellow, Education Policy Institute, Oct 2021
Elected Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, Jne 2018
Awarded Hugh Owen Medal from the Learned Society of Wales in recognition of significant contributions to educational research, May 2017
Research Impact Award, Wales Social Research Awards in recognition of the impact of the Foundation Phase evaluation, Dec 2017

Honours and awards

2018: Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales
2017: Awarded the Hugh Owen Medal by the Learned Society of Wales in recognition of significant contributions to educational research
2017: Research Impact Award at the Wales Social Research Awards in recognition of the impact of the Foundation Phase three-year evaluation

Professional memberships

Society for Longitudinal and Lifecourse Studies
Society for Educational Studies
Former member of the British Educational Research Association
Former member of the American Educational Research Association

Academic positions

2019 – present: Academic Director, Cardiff University Social Science Research Park
2013 - 2019: Cardiff Co-Director of the Wales Institute of Social & Economic Research, Data & Methods, Cardiff University
2012 - present: Professor of Education, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University
2011 - present: Visiting Research Associate at the Institute of Education, University College London (UCL)
2009 - 2012: Reader in Education, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University
2006 - 2009: Senior Lecturer in Education, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University
2003 - 2006: Lecturer in Education, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University
2000 - 2003: Research Associate, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University
1997 - 1999: Lecturer in Human Geography, Department of Geography, University of Leicester

Committees and reviewing

2019 - present: Member of the AHRC/ESRC/MRC Research and Stakeholder Advisory Board for Adolescence, Mental Health and the Developing Mind
2015 - present: Member of the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) Student Opportunity and Achievement Committee (SOAC)
2015 - present: Chair of the ESRC Centre for Longitudinal Studies’ Strategic Advisory Group
2016 - 2019: Chair of the Institute of Welsh Affairs (IWA) Education Group
2015 - 2019: Member of the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) Age 17 Scientific Advisory Group
2010 - 2016: Member of the ESRC Capabilities Committee (formerly the Training and Skills Committee)
2015 - 2016: Member of the ESRC Infrastructure Working Group
2015 - 2016: Member of the Welsh Government Digital Competence Framework Quality Assurance Group