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Gill Wyness.

Gill Wyness

Associate

Expertise: economics of education, higher education finance

Email:
g.wyness@lse.ac.uk
g.wyness@ucl.ac.uk
Links:
CEP Education and Skills

Biography

Professor Gill Wyness is Professor of Economics, and Deputy Director of the Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities (CEPEO) at the UCL Institute of Education.

Current areas of research include:

  • My main research area is the economics of higher education in the UK. I am currently working on a project investigating the impact of university bursaries on completion and performance using a unique dataset collected from UK universities.
  • Other research includes estimating the impact of higher education finance (fees, grants and loans) on university participation using quasi-experimental methods.
  • I have also been involved in a randomized control trial looking examining the effects of providing information on the costs and benefits of higher education on pupils' attitudes towards university. We find that providing simple information can improve knowledge and attitudes towards higher education finance.

Publications

Blog
The UK must invest in further and higher education

Education has not been a prominent part of the election debates, and further education even less so. But as Sandra McNally, Guglielmo Ventura and Gill Wyness argue, economic growth depends on paying much more attention t... Read more...

Sandra McNally, Guglielmo Ventura and Gill Wyness

03 July 2024

CEP election analysis papers
Further and higher education

There are not enough graduates for sectors in which the UK has a comparative advantage and there are too few people educated to sub-degree level compared to other countries.... Read more...

Sandra McNally, Guglielmo Ventura and Gill Wyness

01 July 2024

Blog
University degrees: how should we assess their value?

Evaluating university degrees on the basis of the job prospects they provide for graduates has led to some being seen as 'low value' or 'low quality'. But, in reality, their worth is hard to measure. Closing such courses... Read more...

Gill Wyness

11 June 2024

Blog
How could the UK's education system be reformed to equalise opportunities?

Nine out of ten respondents to a recent UK poll by More in Common for the Sutton Trust agreed that it is important for young people to have equal opportunities, regardless of their background. While recent YouGov pollin... Read more...

Jake Anders, Lindsey Macmillan and Gill Wyness

05 June 2024

Journal article
The path increasingly travelled: Vocational entry qualifications, socioeconomic status and university outcomes

Many countries have introduced flexibility in their admissions equivalents for tertiary education, allowing students to apply with vocational rather than academic qualifications at upper secondary level. However, entrant... Read more...

Catherine Dilnot, Lindsey Macmillan and Gill Wyness

01 December 2023

Journal article
Testing means-tested aid

We estimate the effect of an unexpected institutional financial aid (IFA) award on student outcomes using administrative data collected from nine universities, exploiting variation in IFA schedules within and across univ... Read more...

Richard Murphy and Gill Wyness

01 July 2023

Blog
Which educational policies are most effective for equalising opportunities?

Against a backdrop of poor productivity growth, severe skill shortages and increasing educational inequalities in the UK since the pandemic, investment in education and skills is essential. It requires policies that span... Read more...

Lindsey Macmillan and Gill Wyness

15 June 2023

Blog
Judging affirmative action

With the American Supreme Court preparing to hear two cases on the use of race-based affirmative action in university admissions, the stage is set for a landmark opinion that would prevent race from being considered in a... Read more...

Richard Murphy and Gill Wyness

14 November 2022

Journal article - forthcoming
Inequalities in late adolescents' educational experiences and wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic

While the health risks of Covid-19 for young people are low, they have borne a heavy cost of the pandemic through intense disruption to their education and social lives. These effects have not been experienced equally ac... Read more...

Jake Anders, Lindsey Macmillan, Patrick Sturgis and Gill Wyness

13 October 2022

Blog
US student debt forgiveness: should the UK follow suit?

A recently announced policy package will ease the burden of student debt for millions of Americans. Richard Murphy, Stuart Campbell, Gill Wyness and Lindsey Macmillan contend that, due to differences between the national... Read more...

Stuart Campbell, Lindsey Macmillan, Richard Murphy and Gill Wyness

26 September 2022

Journal article
Grade expectations: how well can past performance predict future grades?

Students in the UK apply to university with teacher-predicted examination grades, rather than actual results. These predictions have been shown to be inaccurate, and to favour certain groups, leading to concerns about te... Read more...

Jake Anders, Catherine Dilnot, Lindsey Macmillan and Gill Wyness

19 September 2022

Blog
How would minimum entry grades affect opportunities in higher education?

The UK government is consulting on the introduction of minimum eligibility requirements for access to student loans. Claire Crawford and Gill Wyness argue that if such a reform is introduced, it is likely to prevent many... Read more...

Claire Crawford and Gill Wyness

14 March 2022

Blog
Inequalities in student to degree match

Researchers find students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to be undermatched to their degree courses both academically and in terms of earnings potential. Women are more likely than men to be underma... Read more...

Stuart Campbell, Lindsey Macmillan, Richard Murphy and Gill Wyness

13 February 2022

Journal article - forthcoming
Matching in the dark? Inequalities in student to degree match

This paper examines inequalities in the match between student and degree quality using linked administrative data from schools, universities, and tax authorities. We analyze two measures of match at the university subjec... Read more...

Stuart Campbell, Lindsey Macmillan, Richard Murphy and Gill Wyness

01 August 2021

Blog
Pupils with graduate parents received an unfair advantage in their A-level results last year

Following a disastrous attempt to assign pupil grades using a controversial algorithm, last year's GCSE and A-level grades were eventually determined using Centre Assessed Grades. New survey evidence finds that some pupi... Read more...

Jake Anders, Lindsey Macmillan, Patrick Sturgis and Gill Wyness

10 June 2021

Journal article
Who teaches the teachers? A RCT of peer-to-peer observation and feedback in 181 schools

This paper evaluates a widely used, low stakes, teacher peer-to-peer observation and feedback program under Randomized Control Trial (RCT) conditions. Half of 181 volunteer primary schools in England were randomly select... Read more...

Richard Murphy, Felix Weinhardt and Gill Wyness

01 June 2021

Blog
Almost two-thirds of Black British young people would be reluctant to get a Covid vaccine

We may need to vaccinate under-18s to get the pandemic under control. Patrick Sturgis (LSE), Lindsey Macmillan, Jake Anders and Gill Wyness (UCL Institute of Education) on the findings of a UCL CEPEO / LSE COVID-19 surve... Read more...

Jake Anders, Lindsey Macmillan, Patrick Sturgis and Gill Wyness

17 March 2021

Journal article
Minority report: the impact of predicted grades on university admissions of disadvantaged groups

We study the UK's university application system, in which students apply based on predicted examination grades, rather than actual results. Using three years of UK university applications data we find that only 16% of ap... Read more...

Richard Murphy and Gill Wyness

03 July 2020

CentrePiece - The magazine of the Centre for Economic Performance
In brief... Mismatched students and universities

Higher education has long been thought of as a tool to equalise opportunities. But according to research by Gill Wyness and colleagues, if we really want to improve the life chances of disadvantaged students, we need to ... Read more...

Gill Wyness

02 March 2020

CEP election analysis papers
Education and skills

Debates about how to improve education and skills are likely to be an important theme in the run-up to the general election. This briefing summarises evidence on education and skills from the Centre for Economic Performa... Read more...

Jo Blanden, Sandra McNally and Gill Wyness

27 November 2019

CEP discussion papers
Inequalities in student to course match: evidence from linked administrative data

This paper examines inequalities in the match between student quality and university quality using linked administrative data from schools, universities and tax authorities. We analyse two measures of match at the univer... Read more...

Stuart Campbell, Lindsey Macmillan, Richard Murphy and Gill Wyness

28 August 2019

Journal article
The end of free college in England: Implications for enrolments, equity, and quality

Despite increasing financial pressures on higher education systems throughout the world, many governments remain resolutely opposed to the introduction of tuition fees, and some countries and states where tuition fees ha... Read more...

Richard Murphy, Judith Scott-Clayton and Gill Wyness

01 August 2019

CentrePiece - The magazine of the Centre for Economic Performance
Universities and industrial strategy in the UK

The UK’s higher education sector is a source of national strength with the potential to contribute to all areas of the government’s industrial strategy. Anna Valero and colleagues review the evidence on how the positive ... Read more...

Ghazala Azmat, Richard Murphy, Anna Valero and Gill Wyness

02 November 2018

CEP industrial strategy
Universities and industrial strategy in the UK: review of evidence and implications for policy

As producers of human capital, innovation and as large institutions in their own right, UK universities can make important contributions across the five foundations that underpin the government's Industrial Strategy: peo... Read more...

Ghazala Azmat, Richard Murphy, Anna Valero and Gill Wyness

04 October 2018

CEP discussion papers
Who teaches the teachers? A RCT of peer-to-peer observation and feedback in 181 schools

It is well established that teachers are the most important in-school factor in determining student outcomes. However, to date there is scant robust quantitative research demonstrating that teacher training programs can ... Read more...

Richard Murphy, Felix Weinhardt and Gill Wyness

14 August 2018

CEP discussion papers
The end of free college in England: implications for quality, enrolments and equity

Despite increasing financial pressures on higher education systems throughout the world, many governments remain resolutely opposed to the introduction of tuition fees, and some countries and states where tuition fees ha... Read more...

Richard Murphy, Judith Scott-Clayton and Gill Wyness

09 October 2017

CentrePiece - The magazine of the Centre for Economic Performance
The end of free college in England

A growing movement in the United States is promoting 'free college' for young people. Richard Murphy, Judith Scott Clayton and Gill Wyness ask what can be learned about the likely outcomes from England's move in the oppo... Read more...

Richard Murphy, Judith Scott-Clayton and Gill Wyness

03 July 2017

CEP election analysis papers
Education and Skills: The UK Policy Agenda

The UK’s overall school budget has been protected in real terms but does not provide for funding per pupil to increase in line with inflation. Because pupil numbers are increasing, large falls in expenditure per pupil ar... Read more...

Sandra McNally and Gill Wyness

01 June 2017

Journal article
Student awareness of costs and benefits of educational decisions: effects of an information campaign

Many students appear to leave full-time education too soon, despite the possibility of high returns from further investment in their education. One contributory factor may be insufficient information about the potential ... Read more...

Martin McGuigan, Sandra McNally and Gill Wyness

01 December 2016

Journal article
Benchmarking London in the PISA rankings

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an important international study of 15-year-olds’ academic achievement. Although PISA has traditionally been used to draw comparisons across countries, there i... Read more...

John Jerrim and Gill Wyness

01 September 2016

Journal article
Higher education, career opportunities, and intergenerational inequality

The UK government has expressed a desire to increase social mobility, with policies to help achieve this aim focused on reducing inequalities in educational attainment. This paper draws together established and new infor... Read more...

Claire Crawford, Paul Gregg, Lindsey Macmillan, Anna Vignoles and Gill Wyness

01 January 2016

CEP discussion papers
Testing means-tested aid

Inequalities do not end once students enter higher education. Yet, the majority of papers on the effectiveness of higher education aid examine its impact on college enrolment. In this paper, we provide evidence on the ca... Read more...

Richard Murphy and Gill Wyness

17 December 2015

CEP election analysis papers
#ElectionEconomics: The Research Evidence on Key Issues for Voters in the 2015 UK General Election

Please see the CEP #ElectionEconomics report(Paper 1)and the Executive Summary (Paper 2) that cover all the election 2015 briefings, discussing the research evidence on 15 of the UK's key policy battlegrounds: immigratio... Read more...

Ghazala Azmat, Brian Bell, Jonathan Colmer, Antoine Dechezleprêtre, Swati Dhingra, Christian A. L. Hilber, Stephen Machin, Alan Manning, Ralf Martin, Alistair McGuire, Sandra McNally, Gianmarco I. P. Ottaviano, Henry G. Overman, Isabelle Roland, Thomas Sampson, Anna Valero, John Van Reenen, Jonathan Wadsworth, Gill Wyness and Gabriel Zucman

30 April 2015

CEP election analysis papers
Paying for Higher Education

The UK Higher Education sector has changed radically as a result of Coalition Policies – most obviously through the dramatic increase in the tuition fee cap from £3,375 to £9,000 per year. However, the greatest issue ari... Read more...

Gill Wyness

27 March 2015

CentrePiece - The magazine of the Centre for Economic Performance
Economics of higher education

In brief: Economics of higher education... Read more...

Richard Murphy and Gill Wyness

05 February 2014

CentrePiece - The magazine of the Centre for Economic Performance
Education in Scotland: performance in a devolved policy area

As the people of Scotland consider their vote in next year's referendum, what evidence is there that the nation can succeed 'on its own'? Gill Wyness and colleagues explore how Scotland compares with the rest of the UK i... Read more...

Stephen Machin, Sandra McNally and Gill Wyness

27 June 2013

Journal article
Educational attainment across the UK nations: performance, inequality and evidence

Political devolution occurred in the UK in 1998-99, following many years in which some degree of policy administration had been devolved to the four nations. Since devolution, all four countries of the UK have pursued in... Read more...

Stephen Machin, Sandra McNally and Gill Wyness

03 June 2013

CEP reports
Education in a Devolved Scotland: A Quantitative Analysis

Education is an area that is highly devolved in the UK, and the fact that all four constituent countries have pursued very different policies in the recent past provides a good testing ground to undertake a comparative r... Read more...

Stephen Machin, Sandra McNally and Gill Wyness

21 May 2013

CentrePiece - The magazine of the Centre for Economic Performance
Student awareness of the costs and benefits of higher education

Sandra McNally and colleagues report the results of a 'light-touch' information campaign about the value and affordability of going to university.... Read more...

Martin McGuigan, Sandra McNally and Gill Wyness

20 September 2012

CEE discussion papers
Student Awareness of Costs and Benefits of Educational Decisions: Effects of an Information Campaign

University fees have recently trebled in England and there are fears that many young people may be put off from participating in further and higher education – especially those from low income backgrounds. This could exa... Read more...

Martin McGuigan, Sandra McNally and Gill Wyness

24 August 2012

CEE discussion papers
The Impact of Tuition Fees and Support on University Participation in the UK

Understanding how policy can affect university participation is important for understanding how governments can promote human capital accumulation. In this paper, we estimate the separate impacts of tuition fees and main... Read more...

Lorraine Dearden, Emla Fitzsimons and Gill Wyness

08 August 2011

CentrePiece - The magazine of the Centre for Economic Performance
Fees and loathing: higher education finance and university participation

With the UK's cap on tuition fees due to rise to £9,000, Gill Wyness looks at the impact of past fee increases on young people's decisions to go to university.... Read more...

Gill Wyness

21 June 2011

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