EPI is seeking a Senior Researcher to join the Post 16 and Vulnerable Learners team. The postholder will contribute to, and at times lead, priority projects across the post 16 landscape, supporting work on education pathways, access, skills, and learner outcomes. This includes projects with a particular focus on the needs and outcomes of vulnerable learners.

As part of their remit, the postholder will also have ongoing responsibility for EPI’s HE research programme, continuing to shape and expand EPI’s HE agenda. Higher education remains a central component of the education policy debate, particularly in the context of cost-of-living pressures, fees and funding, and persistent inequalities in access for disadvantaged groups.

In their first six months in post, the Senior Researcher will support work to strengthen the evidence base on the experiences and challenges faced by young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in post 16 education. They will also contribute to projects examining post 16 drivers of student outcomes, qualification clustering and pathways, and EPI’s flagship annual report.

The postholder will have line management responsibility for a Researcher and will report to Sam Tuckett, Associate Director for 16–19 education.

Key responsibilities

Priorities will typically include:

• Undertaking quantitative analysis, using large administrative datasets
• Developing, testing and collaborating on the identification of policy solutions
• Communicating findings to policymakers, the education sector and mainstream media
• Leading the project management of research
• Building EPI’s HE research funding stream over time
• Maintaining and developing EPI’s HE network and leading on EPI’s commentary on HE policy
• The postholder will also develop expertise in matched education and employment outcome data, including Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO), to inform research on the longer-term outcomes associated with different higher and further education pathways.

Please see further information here: https://epi.org.uk/jobs/senior-researcher-vulnerable-learners-and-post-16-april-2026/