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• This study estimates the effect of education on trust with a RD design. • Education and trust are positively and significantly correlated. • The OLS estimates may suffer from omitted variable bias. • RD estimates imply the effects of education on trust may be small. • We need to interpret the relationship between education and trust with caution. Although many studies document that education and trust are positively correlated, few studies examine whether this correlation represents a causal effect. This paper fills in the gap with data from the British Social Attitudes Survey. Firstly, using the OLS method, this paper finds that education and the three measures of trust—trust in people, trust in politicians, and trust in government—are all positively and significantly correlated. Secondly, to examine whether this correlation represents a causal effect, this paper exploits exogenous variation in educational attainment induced by the compulsory schooling reform in 1972. The regression discontinuity estimates suggest that the effects of education on the three measures of trust are all small and statistically insignificant. The findings imply that the OLS estimates may suffer from omitted variable bias and the effects of education on trust may be small. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The causal effect of education on household financial behaviours is explored. • UK micro data is used in conjunction with a range of exogenous education reforms. • More education, due to the reforms, has limited impact on financial behaviours. • We argue that desirable financial behaviours require targeted education policies. This paper uses a range of exogenous schooling reforms in the UK to explore the relationship between education and a range of financial behaviours. Initially, we exploit two compulsory schooling reforms in Britain (1947 and 1972) and employ a regression discontinuity design to analyse nationally representative data. We find limited evidence that one extra year of schooling led to systematically different financial behaviours. One exception is the promotion of more positive saving behaviours amongst females affected by the 1947 reform. We then go on to explore a large expansion of the higher education sector in the UK, which occurred during the 1980s and 1990s, and confirm that general education does not appear to affect financial behaviours systematically. We argue that, despite clear positive spill-overs of educational reforms, desirable financial behaviours require specific and targeted education policies and we point to the growing research in this field to support this conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Education Reform Act 1988 in England proposed by the Conservative Party caused over 1100 public schools to "opt out" of local school authority control by becoming autonomous grant-maintained schools. Using a regression discontinuity design, this paper finds a causal effect of party control on school autonomy with British local election dataset. That is, a Labour party (not a Conservative party) win would consequently stimulate a considerable increase in local schools opting for autonomy. This could be the first empirical evidence of a remarkable cross-party consensus in education policy, which has so far been stressed only on theoretical grounds. Our findings not only improve the understanding of current government education policy but also suggest the role that government would play in future policy-making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Development NGOs in the global North undergo complex processes of professionalisation. • Top-down neoliberal professionalisation isn't the only driver of professionalisation. • A form of self-legitimating professionalisation profoundly shaped UK education NGOs. • For UK development education NGOs the driver was education to enable change. This article explores the complex ways in which development NGOs become professional development actors. It offers a uniquely holistic understanding of professionalisation that draws on extensive new research data. It challenges the accepted narrative, presented by development scholars, of neoliberalism as the fundamental driver of professionalisation. Instead, it offers a more nuanced theorisation that recognises that professionalisation from outside, driven by neoliberalism, is often preceded by a professionalisation from within. Here the paper develops the concept of self-legitimising professionalisation as part of a 'two stage process' through a case study of international development practice delivered by UK based development education actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of parental education on child health outcomes. To identify the causal effect we explore exogenous variation in parental education induced by a schooling reform in 1947, which raised the minimum school leaving age in the UK. Findings based on data from the National Child Development Study suggest that increasing the school leaving age by 1 year had little effect on the health of their offspring. Schooling did however improve economic opportunities by reducing financial difficulties among households. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article reports on attempts to initiate multi-point e-conferencing between English teacher education students on school placements, their host teachers and their university tutors. A sociocultural perspective is adopted in analysing the project, using the metaphor of a ‘professional knowledge landscape’ [Clandinin, D. J., & Connelly, F. M. (1995). Teachers’ professional knowledge landscapes. New York: Teachers College Press] to make sense of participants’ experiences. Findings suggest that considerable difficulties exist not just in terms of technical challenges, but also in terms of ethics, values, complexity and communications in schools. A similar project undertaken in Singapore [Sharpe, L., Hu, C., Crawford, L., Gopinathan, S., Khine, M. S., Moo, S. N., et al. (2003). Enhancing multi-point desktop video conferencing (MDVC) with lesson video clips: Recent developments in pre-service teaching practice in Singapore. Teaching and Teacher Education, 19(5), 529–541] is used to highlight the contextual nature of these challenges. The paper concludes that the promotion of new technologies as a key part of current education planning in the UK is questionable with insufficient attention being given to the sociocultural implications of such change. Implications are drawn for universities, schools and for future policy development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

As the impacts of climate change become increasingly visible across the globe, awareness of the need for cleaner energy and demand reduction is growing. Energy literacy offers a strong potential for explaining and predicting energy-related behaviours, yet research and policies focused on this topic remain limited. In this study, energy literacy was measured in a sample of 2806 university students in the United Kingdom and China, in addition to their wider environmental attitudes using the New Ecological Paradigm scale. Findings indicate that energy literacy was relatively high overall, but there were significant differences between the knowledge, attitudes and behavioural intentions of participants in the two countries. Whilst the UK respondents rated themselves significantly more highly on perceived knowledge of energy issues, Chinese respondents provided significantly more correct answers in a knowledge test. UK respondents demonstrated more positive attitudes towards energy conservation than those from China, and were more likely to report energy-saving behaviours. However, Chinese respondents exhibited higher levels of trust in government and businesses to take action on energy issues. This paper provides a novel insight into cultural differences which may be crucial to policy and practice, and evidences the potential benefits of utilising a combination of educational and structural change to support transition to a cleaner, low-energy society. Image 1 • Significant differences in energy literacy arose in 1806 students in UK and China. • Chinese respondents demonstrated more knowledge about energy than UK respondents. • UK respondents demonstrated more positive attitudes and energy saving behaviours. • Cultural context, including trust in government impacts on energy-saving behaviours. • Combining educational and structural change will aid transition to a cleaner world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]