Institute of Education merges with UCL

Today the Institute of Education (IOE) will join UCL as a single Faculty School, to be known as the UCL Institute of Education.

One advantage of the merger is that all five UK birth cohort studies will be housed together for the first time in history. The IOE’s Centre of Longitudinal Studies (CLS) currently manages the 1958 National Child Development Study, the 1970 British Cohort Study and the Millennium Cohort Study. UCL currently houses the oldest and youngest birth cohorts – the 1946 National Survey of Health and Development and Life Study, which starting recruiting participants this year.

CLS is also home to Next Steps (previously known as the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England), which follows 16,000 people born in England in 1989-90. Next Steps is often seen as covering the ‘missing generation’ between the 1970 and millennium cohorts.

Findings from these studies have contributed to many of the most important social and medical insights of recent decades. They have also shaped government policy in education, employment, housing and health.

Professor Michael Arthur, UCL President & Provost, said: “This is an exciting moment and one of the most significant events in UCL’s history. There is genuine excitement within both institutions as we believe this planned merger will deliver significant advances in the fields of social science and education.”

Professor Chris Husbands, Director of the UCL Institute of Education, said: “For over a century, the IOE has been leading education and social research and development in the UK and internationally. The merger with UCL offers the IOE huge prizes: the opportunity to extend global influence, to work with our traditional stakeholders in schools and colleges in new and more imaginative ways, and the chance to build cross-disciplinary work across the full range of higher education. The merger will help to secure the IOE’s lasting influence and mission.”

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, said: “This bold move by one of the world’s greatest universities and an international leader in education and social science will ensure they continue to lead the way on the world’s higher education stage. With international competition to attract the brightest students from around the world this significant merger will also further reinforce London’s status as a global leader in higher education.”

Are you a cohort study member?

Collecting and storing study members’ personal information safely and securely will always be a top priority. The reasons why we collect your data will not change, and the measures we take to make sure that your information is held securely will not be compromised as a result of the merger.

Study members’ personal information will continue to be in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, and will also be subject to the UCL Data Protection Policy.

For more information on how we keep your data safe, check out the study members’ websites:

• 1958 National Child Development Study
• 1970 British Cohort Study
• Next Steps
• Child of the New Century