I started ResearchED in 2013, after an online challenge to stop people complaining about the lack of evidence used in edu-policy and pedagogy, and in an attempt to do something about it. The first conference was a hit, and since then we’ve taken the idea to Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden, the US and venues across the UK. We’ve focused on literacy, maths, science, primary English and technology, but never further education - until now. I’m delighted to say that on 3 December we’ll hold our inaugural ResearchED FE event in the BSix Brooke House Sixth Form College in Hackney.

The vision behind a ResearchED event is pretty simple. We hold it on a Saturday so that as many people can come as possible without having to clear it with a line manager. We invite anyone and everyone with something interesting or valuable to say about research or evidence use in education - be they a teacher, an academic or a minister. As long as they’re affected by evidence use in some way (and who isn’t?) they have a right to talk about their perspective. Because we’re a non-profit, we can keep ticket costs as low as possible to enable access (and we offer discounts on trust - if you need one, it’s yours). And we try to assemble an Olympiad of brilliant, unpaid voices, experts and practitioners to talk about how the use of evidence can make the world a better place for students, teachers and managers. Everyone speaks for free, because they care about their subject and the profession.

‘FE deserves a chance to celebrate itself’

Early in my career, it struck me how easy it was to claim that something was true in education. I saw how much time was wasted in classrooms by junk methods sold to us by rag-and-bone consultants, gatekeepers and well-meaning spoon-benders and astrologers. From the classroom to the Cabinet, education has the budget of Nasa but the empirical credibility of a carnival psychic. I thought it was time to do something about that.

I’ve been planning an FE ResearchED for a long time. But if ever a sector deserved the chance to celebrate itself, to share good practice, evidence and research, it’s the Cinderella sector of FE. In secondary and primary, we complain about funding and scrabble for political focus, but FE survives on what seems like thin air by comparison. Looked at in this way, maybe other sectors should be turning to FE for tips. And on budgets shaved to the bone and beyond, working smart becomes even more important. And trying to determine what working smarter looks like is right up the ResearchEd road.

So we’re bringing together people like David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, Sarah Simons of the fantastic #UKFECHAT gang, Crispin Weston, Dan Williams, Geoff Petty, and loads more to present fascinating sessions designed to start conversations about what we do and why we do it in FE. It’s for everyone who teaches FE, or helps to make teaching happen for millions of students in the UK. I’d love to see you there.

Tickets for the ResearchED FE and Vocational event are available here. Enter rEDTES16 for 25 per cent off a regular ticket

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