ADR UK funds 17 Research Fellowships to answer critical policy questions using linked administrative data
Categories: News, Research using linked data, ADR UK Research Fellows, ADR England, Office for National Statistics, ADR UK Partnership, Children, young people & education, Crime & justice, Health & wellbeing, Social mobility & inclusion, Employment & the economy
24 August 2026
ADR UK is delighted to announce funding for 17 new Research Fellows, who will use our flagship datasets to fill evidence gaps and answer pressing policy questions.
These fellowship projects span topics of significant public and policy interest, from impacts of unaffordable housing and the pay gap experienced by unpaid carers, through to changing experiences of children’s special educational needs provision, and the effectiveness of strategies to reduce reoffending.
By using ADR UK’s linked administrative data, these projects can generate new insights that would otherwise be impossible, to inform better decisions across policy and practice. Evidence generated will have the potential to help policymakers, local authorities, schools and public services understand where interventions and better-targeted support can improve outcomes and reduce inequalities for individuals, families and communities across the UK.
The cohort includes three fellows using the newly available RAPID: Population interactions with employment, benefits and pensions dataset, linking records held by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). They will investigate local trends in economic inactivity, patterns in health-related benefit claims, and the labour market experiences of older workers, generating new insights to support the government's ambitions to boost employment and tackle economic inactivity across the UK.
Fellows will also support the use and development of these datasets for future public good research. All ADR UK flagship datasets are de-identified and will be securely accessed by the fellows in trusted research environments.
About the fellowships
These fellowships are 18 months in duration and up to a maximum value of £200,000. Each fellowship is using an ADR UK flagship dataset for their project:
Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) linked to Census 2011 – England and Wales
Dr Maria Petrillo, Research Associate at the University of Sheffield:
The care pay gap in England: How much do unpaid carers lose in pay?
This project aims to produce the first population-scale estimate of the care pay gap in England — how much unpaid carers lose in pay compared to people without caring responsibilities — and to identify which carers, which places and which workplaces are worst affected.
Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) linked to Migrant Workers Scan – England, Scotland and Wales
Dr Ross McKenzie, Lecturer at the University of Dundee:
Why firms matter for immigrant pay gaps in the UK
This project aims to generate new UK evidence on how differences between employers, and movements between employers, contribute to the earnings gap between immigrant and UK-born workers.
Data First: Cross-Justice System – England and Wales
Dr Sam Grant, Research Associate at the University of Strathclyde:
The impact of Home Detention Curfews on reoffending
This project aims to use the Cross-Justice System dataset to determine whether releasing prisoners early under home curfew and electronic monitoring changes their chances of reoffending.
Dr Tim McSweeney, Dawes Chair of Public Protection at the International Policing and Public Protection Research Institute (IPPPRI), Anglia Ruskin University:
The criminal justice trajectories of perpetrators of violence against women and girls (VAWG) in England and Wales
This project aims to construct the first nationally comparative analysis of known VAWG perpetrator trajectories and outcomes in England and Wales, comparing outcomes across assessed ‘risk-of-harm’ categories.
Education and Child Health Outcomes from Linked Data (ECHILD) - England
Dr David Freyman, Research Economist at the London School of Economics Centre for Economic Performance:
Drivers and impacts of growth in SEND provision in England: Evidence for successful reform
This project aims to investigate whether rising SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) provision reflects changes in children's underlying health and educational needs, changes in how needs are identified and support is allocated, or a combination of these factors. It will also examine the effects of additional SEND funding on children's education and health outcomes, and explore the relationship between mental health, earlier support and SEND provision.
Dr Anna Leyland, Research Fellow at Manchester Metropolitan University:
Mapping educational pathways and health outcomes for children with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs in England using the ECHILD dataset
This project aims to map how SEMH identification, school support and experiences such as exclusion, absence and school moves unfold throughout childhood. It will examine how different educational pathways relate to children's use of hospital services and other health outcomes, and whether experiences differ according to different personal factors.
Dr Nikki Luke, Research Fellow at the Rees Centre, University of Oxford:
Siblings in contact with children's social care
This project aims to use ECHILD's mother–baby link to examine patterns of children’s social care involvement within families.
Dr Eliazar Luna, Research Fellow at UCL's Institute of Child Health:
Health visiting among children in contact with social care services in England
This project aims to investigate how health visiting and children's social care interact during children's early years, to help improve coordination of support.
Dr Angelina Nazarova, Senior Research Officer at the Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex:
SENLOSS: The effects of losing special educational needs support at educational transitions in England
This project aims to investigate how often children lose special educational needs support at key school transitions, and what happens afterwards.
Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) – England
Dr Johny Daniel, Associate Professor at Durham University:
Educational pathways and early adulthood outcomes for young people with special educational needs and disabilities in England
This project aims to provide population-level evidence about the education, employment and benefit outcomes of young people with different types of SEND.
Dr Daniel McArthur, Lecturer in Education at the University of York:
The impact of unaffordable housing on intergenerational mobility
This project aims to investigate whether growing up in an area where housing becomes less affordable affects children's educational and employment outcomes, and whether it widens inequalities between those from lower and higher-income families.
Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and Department for Education (DfE) linked dataset - England
Dr Pallavi Banerjee, Assistant Professor at the University of Cambridge:
Multiple disadvantages, offending and reoffending: an MoJ-DfE administrative data study
This project aims to investigate how disadvantages experienced during childhood and disruptions to education are associated with later offending and reoffending.
Dr Sarah Cattan, Research Fellow at the Institute for Fiscal Studies:
From early years to adolescence: How the sequencing of public investment shapes education and youth justice outcomes
This project aims to investigate how services – such as Sure Start centres and youth clubs – during early childhood and adolescence combine to shape young people's educational outcomes and involvement with the justice system.
Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Register linked to Census 2021 – England and Wales
Cidália das Neves Eusébio, Research Fellow at London South Bank University:
Understanding the characteristics of early registrant leavers from the NMC register using linked administrative data
This project aims to find out who is most likely to leave the nursing and midwifery register early, and when, by analysing linked national records rather than relying on voluntary surveys.
RAPID: Population interactions with employment, benefits and pensions – UK
Dr Eleni Karagiannaki, Assistant Professorial Research Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science:
Labour market dynamics of older working-age people: The role of caring, ill-health, disability and local conditions
This project aims to generate the first UK-wide evidence on the labour-market dynamics of adults aged 50–64 and how these vary across local authorities.
Eduin Latimer, Senior Research Economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies:
The economic determinants of health-related benefit claims and health-related inactivity
This project aims to use RAPID to examine patterns in who claims health-related benefits, how claimants interact with the labour market, and whether economic conditions can help explain why people make a claim.
Dr Van Phan, Senior Research Fellow at the University of the West of England:
Economic inactivity in the UK: a local lens
This project aims to generate place-based evidence on the drivers and dynamics of economic inactivity across the UK, using linked, de-identified administrative data to track individuals' interactions with employment and benefits over time.
