Education Market Research Experts
Researchers at the VoicED Education Community have years of experience in researching UK education and the wider learning and skills industry. In addition, all education market research experts keep up to date with the latest trends in education – including proposed curriculum changes, modifications to the structure of UK education and the emergence and potential impact of new resources, schools-of-thought and political shifts.
Our research team has worked with some of the biggest names in the education sector – including awarding bodies, government departments, resource suppliers, industry associations and individual universities and colleges. In addition, we also have vast experience of working with PR and Marketing companies to complete surveys on specific aspects of the education system, and with other market research agencies to help supply sample or to complete fieldwork.
Education Market Research Experts
Elliot Simmonds
Elliot is responsible for the managing the VoicED Panel on a day to day basis – including managing research projects and dealing with panelists first hand, as well as new business development. Elliot has worked in market research since 2007 and has carried out research on behalf of a number of well-known clients, including major universities, sixth form colleges and with charities such as Teacher Support Network. He has presented at a Russell Group university on the value of Higher Education and also works as a business mentor for students at the University of Manchester. Elliot also brings experience of other education systems, having studied at the University of Massachusetts.
Kate Slater
Kate acts as the overall quality director for research outputs delivered through VoicED, as well as having hands on involvement in research projects. She has worked in market research since 2000, having worked at some of the larger, international market research companies, including Ipsos (now Ipsos-MORI), and Harris Interactive, before joining DJS Research as a Research Manager in 2009. In the education sector, Kate has worked with a wide-range of clients, including major education charities (Save the Children, British Council), institutions (Birkenhead Sixth Form College, University of Nottingham and UEA), education resource suppliers and sector organisations such as NUS Services.
Alex McCluckie
Alex is an experienced and knowledgeable education sector market research practitioner, having carried out work for a wide range of clients, including the British Library, The British Council and the United World Colleges, as well as a range of FE Colleges and universities from across the UK. He has been widely published in a range of market research industry publications, including on Market Research World and Research Live. Alex has a BA (Hons.) and a Master’s Degree in Social Research Methods from the University of Durham, as well as the MRS Advanced Certificate in Social Research Methods.
Suzanne Fisher
Suzanne is a psychology graduate of Sheffield University and has specifically studied the effect of online advertising on children in an extended research paper, an interest which led on to the education sector. Suzanne was appointed to the VoicED team in early 2013, having gained experience of education sector market research working for full service research agencies such as B2B International as well as DJS Research Ltd. Suzanne has worked with a wide range of education sector clients, including Hackney Learning Trust, City & Guilds, The British Council and Wigan & Leigh College among others.
Additional Support
The main VoicED team is aided by a number of other DJS Research staff – particularly when a research project might benefit from a particular individual’s expertise. The Research Directors below all have over fifteen years’ experience in market research and have all carried out numerous projects in the education sector.
Alasdair started his research career in 1998 at Business & Market Research (now Harris Interactive) and in 2001 he moved to Ci Research to take up the post of Associate Director. Alasdair joined DJS Research seven years later as a Research Director. He works across a broad range of sectors, including vast experience in the following areas:
- Retail (Primark, Specsavers, Co-op)
- Healthcare and social marketing (NHS, DoH, NSMC, General Dental Council)
- Financial / professional services (Broker Network, Cunningham Lindsey, Towergate)
- Arts, Culture and Collections (MLA, Collections Trust, the British Council)
- Education (NCFE, learndirect, various Universities)
- Public sector (Central and Local Govt.).
He has extensive experience in the education sector for clients including: learndirect, Middlesex University, University of the West of England, Wigan & Leigh College, Blackburn College, and CCE. Since arriving at DJS he has travelled to a number of countries to manage various large scale programmes of research for the British Council to develop tailored propositions for a range of global markets, and has consulted with overseas agents on past projects.
He already holds a BA (Hons) in International Business and the MRS Advanced Certificate and is currently studying for a second degree in Astronomy.
Sharon started her market research career at Wolverhampton University and conducted both internal research for the university and also external research for private enterprises.
In 1997, Sharon joined Business & Market Research (now Harris Interactive) where she managed a team of five researchers working on both UK and international qualitative and quantitative research.
Sharon joined DJS Research Ltd in 2007 and continues to use her wide-range of market research skills. She has experience in a number of sectors, including Healthcare, Not-for-profit, telecommunications, travel and utilities.
Sharon’s experience in the education sector is wide-ranging, and she has conducted numerous research projects for leading names such as the Open University, OCR, Oxford Brookes University and the University of Derby.
After graduating from the University of Leeds with a degree in Psychology and Sociology, James joined B&MR where he managed research across a range of industry sectors.
Following the company’s acquisition by Harris Interactive, James was promoted to Associate Director and subsequently led a key account team – specialising in B2B market research. He joined DJS Research Ltd in 2008 and works across a range of sectors in addition to education, including healthcare, construction and heavy industry.
James is skilled in and comfortable with the full range of market research methodologies and has also managed numerous projects using specialised statistical tools such as segmentation, conjoint and modelling tools.
James is particularly experienced in new product development, customer satisfaction research, market sizing, PR and communications research and branding studies. His experience in the education and skills sector is enviable, having completed research projects for leading names such as Pearson, NCFE, learndirect, the University of Reading and the Engineering Council.
If you would like to get in touch with any of our education market research experts, or if you would like to find out more about them and their experience in the education sector, please visit our contact page.
