Welcome

The Institute of Education is the only college of the University of London dedicated entirely to teaching, research and consultancy in education and education-related areas of social science and professional practice. We’ve come a long way since 1902, when we were founded to deliver high quality training for teachers in London’s elementary schools. Now over 1,000 graduates train as teachers on our PGCE courses every year, and over 4,000 embark on studies leading to higher degrees.

Research

The Institute is widely recognised as a world leader in educational research, highly rated in each of the UK funding councils’ research assessment exercises. The range and depth of our expertise is unique in the UK, and the strength of our research culture has helped us attract and develop high calibre staff at the forefront of educational debate and enquiry. At any one time our academics are engaged in over 100 research projects funded by the research councils, charities, government departments and international agencies. Our income from research projects of about £11.5 million per annum makes us one of the largest centres of social science research in the UK. We are also partners in all four of the national research centres established by the DfES, three of which are based at the Institute.

Forum for debate

With such dynamic figures as Sydney Webb, Susan Isaacs and Basil Bernstein associated with the Institute over the years, it’s not surprising that we’ve become a high profile forum for educational debate. We host conferences and thought-provoking lectures on educational issues by leading politicians and academics and lively debates involving notable personalities in the world of education and politics. Institute staff are in great demand as speakers and consultants throughout the world and have advised parliamentary select committees, UN bodies including UNESCO and the World Health Organisation, and government departments in the UK and other countries.

Looking to the future

We have entered our second century with confidence that we will remain at the forefront of teaching and research in education, building on solid foundations and moving into those new areas of education that will be crucial to the success of knowledge-based societies in the twenty-first century. We are committed to generating and promoting new ideas in policy and professional practice – ideas grounded firmly in our world-class research, consultancy and teaching expertise.

Find out more

Find out more about us by reading our magazine, ioe life