Research
Examples of research work undertaken using SafePod Network Services are detailed below, catalogued by Data Centre. If you would like to add your research to this page, please click the button below and complete the form.
Researcher testimonials for the SafePod Network are also available here. This page was started on the 18th February 2026. Last updated on the 23rd February 2026.
OFFICE FOR NATIONAL STATISTICS
Research title: All-cancer incidence and mortality in Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, and their descendants in England and Wales.
Research summary: This paper uses the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study of England and Wales. It studies first cancer incidence and subsequent mortality between1971 and 2016. We show that lower incidence of cancer and not better survival is the driver of the low cancer mortality previously found for Pakistani and Bangladeshis in the UK. This apparent advantage persists across immigrant generations, but we note that all-cancer mortality following incidence may be elevated for the descendants of Pakistani and Bangladeshi immigrants.
Research data used: Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study of England and Wales.
Research status: Published.
Publication: Available from here.
Year published: 2024.
Researcher: Joseph Harrison.
Research Organisation: University of Salford.
SPN Service used: University of Dundee SafePod
Research title: The Effects of Childhood Exposure to Housing Provision: Evidence from A Radical Reform in Britain.
Research summary: Right to Buy (RTB), a largescale housing policy by which incumbent tenants in public housing could buy their properties at heavily subsidised prices, increased the homeownership rate in the UK by over 10 per cent between 1980 and the late 1990s. Using the ONS Longitudinal Study, this project will study the impact of childhood exposure to RTB on their educational and professional trajectories. The research will provide evidence of a potential novel means by which gentrification, and housing provision, may contribute to increase human capital accumulation and improve the educational and professional trajectories of children born in low income settings.
Research data used: Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study.
Research status: Currently active.
Researcher: Yifan Li.
Research Organisation: University of Nottingham.
SPN Service used: University of Nottingham SafePod.
Research title: The trajectories of excluded school pupils into (and out of) the criminal justice system.
Research summary: I am using the deidentified Ministry of Justice and Department for Education linked dataset. Drawing on a range of school- and offence-related factors, I am tracing the offending patterns of excluded school children who were born between 1st September 2000 and 31st August 2003 with at least one criminal record or caution until the end of 2021. I’m exploring how different types of school exclusions (temporary or permanent), and how often they happen, might influence the paths young people take into offending. I also want to understand if where a child lives impacts these trajectories, as well as whether there are differences in the severity and frequency of offending between those who stay in mainstream education after being permanently excluded and those who move to Pupil Referral Units.
Research data used: Ministry of Justice and Department for Education linked dataset.
Research status: Currently active.
Publication: Research article available from here.
Year published: 2025.
Researcher: Dr Vickie Barrett.
Research Organisation: University of Huddersfield.
SPN Service used: University of Sheffield SafePod.
Research title: Educational Pathways: Equality gaps in earnings and employment.
Research summary: This research examined the long-term outcomes of higher education compared with other post-16 pathways, with a particular focus on disadvantaged learners. Working in partnership with State of Life, we securely accessed the National Pupil Database (NPD) and the Longitudinal Educational Outcomes (LEO) dataset, enabling us to track the educational and labour-market journeys of over one million young people from school through further and higher education and into employment. We followed two cohorts of Key Stage 4 pupils, analysing their labour-market outcomes nine and sixteen years after GCSEs, capturing their trajectories into their early thirties. Using a series of multivariate regression models, we estimated the size and statistical significance of the effects of different educational pathways on earnings and employment, while controlling for prior attainment, demographic characteristics, and geographic factors. This large-scale longitudinal analysis, and the novel linked dataset we constructed, generated new evidence on how post-16 educational choices shape long-term economic outcomes, shedding light on the relative benefits of different pathways and their implications for social mobility.
Research data used: National Pupil Database; Longitudinal Education Outcomes.
Research status: Published.
Publication: Research article available from here.
Year published: 2024.
Researcher: MIME Research Team.
Research Organisation: MIME.
SPN Service used: London School of Economics and Political Science SafePod.
Research title: Social integration of UK immigrants: The role of English language skill.
Research summary: In an increasingly diverse UK society, understanding the barriers to immigrant integration is crucial for effective policy design. While a substantial literature examines the link between language proficiency and labour market outcomes, there is limited causal evidence on how English skills affect broader dimensions of social integration. This study addresses this gap by estimating the causal effects of English proficiency on residential location, education, health, and fertility among UK immigrants.
We find that poorer English skills lead migrants to reside in areas with higher concentrations of speakers of their native language (language enclaves), whereas better English skills lead to residence in ethnic enclaves. These results suggest that improving English proficiency may reduce linguistic segregation, but increase ethnic clustering. This pattern indicates that factors beyond language—such as employment opportunities and protection from discrimination—also shape residential choices. We further show that higher English proficiency improves educational attainment and adult health, although we find no causal effect on child health. In contrast, limited English proficiency increases the likelihood of teenage motherhood. Overall, our findings highlight the multifaceted role of language in immigrant integration and suggest that policies promoting English acquisition can yield benefits beyond the labour market.
Research data used: ONS Longitudinal Study of England and Wales.
Research status: Published.
Publication: Research article 1 available from here. Research article 2 available from here.
Year published: 2024 (Research article 1). 2018 (Research article 2).
Researcher: Yu Aoki-Beattie.
Research Organisation: University of Aberdeen.
SPN Service used: University of Aberdeen SafePod.
Research title: The link between characteristics of school pupils and labour market outcomes.
Research summary: Using the Longitudinal Education Outcomes dataset, we investigate how socioeconomic disadvantage, ethnic background, qualification, local authority area, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), gender, and the interaction of these factors affect a young person's likelihood of being not in education, employment, or training (NEET). Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are approximately twice as likely to be NEET as their better-off peers, but qualifications continue to be a major protective factor. The factors that influence young people's life chances are not uniform: they are interconnected, complex and compounding. Crucially, we find the likelihood of being NEET is particularly acute for young people facing multiple forms of disadvantage. The effect of this combines, with young people with SEND and low qualifications, who are also eligible for free school meals, nearly three times more likely to be NEET than average.
Research data used: Longitudinal Education Outcomes.
Research status: Published.
Publication: Research article available from here.
Researcher: Janine Boshoff.
Research Organisation: University of Manchester.
SPN Service used: University of Manchester SafePod.
UK DATA SERVICE
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Research title: Using risk profiling to help address the £81 billion cost of illiteracy in the UK.
Research summary: This study is analysing the relative importance of a range of personal and socio-economic characteristics identified as being associated with why some children achieve low literacy scores in school using multiple regression analysis of the Millenium Cohort Study. A longitudinal analysis is also being carried out to understand the long-term outcomes of individuals who had received low literacy scores during primary school.
Research data used: Millennium Cohort Study.
Research status: Currently active.
Researcher: Katherine Collier.
Research Organisation: Durham University.
SPN Service used: Durham University SafePod.
SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT
Research title: Sustainable School Leadership ESRC Research – Secondary Analysis of the Scottish Senior Leadership Workforce.
Research summary: This research forms part of a UK-wide ESRC-funded project examining the sustainability, diversity, equity and future fitness of the school senior leadership workforce. The Scottish strand analyses the composition, recruitment, retention and career trajectories of headteachers and depute headteachers. The study examines:
- The demographic and professional composition of the senior leadership workforce (e.g. gender, ethnicity, age, experience, qualifications.
- How this composition has changed over time.
- Patterns of recruitment, promotion, retention and turnover.
- The relationship between leadership characteristics and school and local area context.
- Leadership career pathways and trajectories.
The analysis uses longitudinal and multivariate statistical approaches, including regression models, time series analysis and career sequence analysis, to provide a detailed evidence base to inform policy and practice in Scotland and across the UK. The research contributes to national discussions about leadership supply, equity, and sustainability in education and will produce academic publications, reports and policy-relevant outputs later this year.
Research data used: Scottish Government linked administrative workforce and school-level data (2010–2023).
Research status: Currently active.
Researcher: Dr Thomas Perry.
Research Organisation: University of Warwick.
SPN Service used: University of Warwick SafePod.