David joined the Education Policy Institute in June 2017. David’s background includes 6 years at the Department for Education, as the lead analyst first on school accountability and then on capital funding. David led on the analysis and research that informed the reforms to school accountability in Primary schools, Secondary schools and 16-19 settings; most notably the development of the Progress 8 measure. He also led the economic analysis of the department’s capital funding proposals during the 2015 Comprehensive Spending Review.
More recently David was the Associate Director for Policy, Research and Evaluation at the Education Partnership Group, an organisation that supports education system and policy reforms in developing countries.
David is a statistician by background, but has also led economic and research work programmes.
Recent publications
- Comparing inequality and outcomes across post-16 education in the UK (2025)
- English and Maths Resits: Drivers of Success (2025)
- A quantitative analysis of T level access and progression (2024)
- Comparing policies, participation and inequalities across UK post-16 Education and Training landscapes (2024)
- Access to extra-curricular provision and the association with outcomes (2024)