Reform special guardianship to protect and support children and their carers

A call for significant changes to Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs) includes ensuring family members who might become carers have direct experience of looking after the child before the court order is made.

A new research review shows that SGOs provide children with a safe, permanent home with family members when the court decides they cannot live with their birth parents.

What else do we need to know to effectively support the development of numeracy?

Ruth Maisey explores what further research is required to help practitioners and policy makers support the development of numeracy with a focus on the early years and primary phases of education.

New £15 million fund for ambitious research projects to change society

We are calling for applications to our new £15m Strategic Fund for ambitious, interdisciplinary research projects that will address some of the most important challenges facing UK society and the public policy agenda in the next decade.

This is a rare opportunity for researchers to develop original and challenging ideas, to work collaboratively across disciplines, and to influence social policy in a period of rapid change and uncertainty for our society.

Use of technology in schools does not on its own improve students’ digital literacy or prepare them for the workplace

New research published today by the Nuffield Foundation finds that computer use in schools does not on its own boost digital literacy or exam results. While personal ownership of digital devices by pupils continues to grow and starts at an increasingly earlier age, there is relatively little use of digital technologies in schools beyond the study of computing itself as a subject.

Early intervention and child development: A parenting pilot in Peterborough

A home-visiting programme that supports parents to provide a nurturing and stimulating home learning environment for their children could complement existing early years services in England.

The new IFS feasibility study funded by the Nuffield Foundation and the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account, concludes that it would be possible to implement and evaluate a new programme targeted at very young children in disadvantaged families. The report also provides a blueprint for what the programme and evaluation could look like.

Tuition fee rises mean children are less likely to aspire to go to university

The rise in university tuition fees in 2010 had an impact on whether children aged 10 to 15 in England aspired to study for A-levels or attend university, according to a new report from Royal Holloway, funded by the Nuffield Foundation.

Data visualisation has huge potential to improve decision-making and performance in children’s social care

While local authorities are producing some good quality analysis about children's social care from the vast amount of data that is collected, data visualisation could help make predictions about the future, particularly in smaller local authorities. This is according to new Nuffield-funded research published by Coram.

New good practice guide addresses shortfall in understanding of how to treat pensions on divorce

An essential guide to the treatment of pensions on divorce has been published today by the Pension Advisory Group (PAG). The long awaited report brings guidance to family judges, lawyers and pension experts encouraging fairer settlements and helping to manage liability.

Nuffield Foundation's Maths Showcase

The Nuffield Foundation is convening an event to showcase and explore the findings from some of the key maths and numeracy projects that the Foundation has funded over recent years. This showcase will include presentations from six Nuffield-funded studies that have been investigating maths and numeracy in the early years and primary phases of education.

Societies take four to eight years to adjust to religious diversity

A new study from the University of Oxford and the University of Newcastle, Australia has found that while changes to religious diversity may lead to a short-term decrease in quality of life for communities, this is reversed in the long term as societies adjust to multiculturalism.

The most in-depth analysis to date of religious diversity’s effect on societal wellbeing, the Nuffield-funded report uses survey data from more than 100 countries collected over 22 years and finds that: