The influential education data expert Becky Allen is leaving the UCL Institute of Education, only a year after rejoining.

Dr Allen was announced as the founding director of the new Centre for Education Improvement Science (CEIS) policy research centre at the IoE a year ago, taking up the post in January.

She was previously director of Education Datalab, which carries out statistical analysis of key school-related issues such as accountability measures and exclusions, but had begun her academic career at the IoE.

The institute said Dr Allen was standing down to spend more time with her young family. 

Becky Francis, director of the UCL IoE, said: “I am very grateful to Becky for having progressed the work of CEIS over the past year.

“In the meantime we are advertising for a new director for CEIS to drive forward this important strand of research for the IoE”.

This year, Dr Allen chaired a DfE advisory group on teacher workload, which reported its recommendations earlier this month.

The DfE accepted all of its recommendations, which included advising schools to simplify methods of recording poor behaviour and engaging with parents, and calling for the DfE to limit the amount of data it demands of schools.

The CEIS aims to improve the understanding of teaching and learning, using methods ranging from laboratory experiments through to classroom observation research, with the aim of developing our scientific understanding of education.