The way an autism diagnosis is disclosed to parents has been found to play a crucial role in their acceptance of, and the way they cope with, their child's diagnosis. Yet, research into parents' subsequent experiences of disclosing a diagnosis to their children, and talking to their families about autism more generally, is limited. Using an online…

Students transitioning from colleges to universities in the United Kingdom (UK) into the second or third year of an undergraduate programme must quickly adapt to a new learning environment and new expectations. The process of transition includes intense demands on their time and, for many, a requirement to commute. The consequence can be a limited…

This small-scale convergent parallel mixed-methods study aims to explore loneliness in an international student population in a single university. An online de Jong Gierveld loneliness scale (DJGLS) with additional demographics provided the quantitative data on loneliness in international student population. The qualitative semi-structured…

Student mental health is an issue of great concern for universities, with rising numbers of mental health problems being reported and students reporting issues with accessing support. The current study, using a participatory research framework, investigated the possible barriers preventing students from accessing support, in terms of help-seeking…

Many overseas students in Higher Education in the UK struggle to understand the compulsory texts for their course, and obtain lower scores for their modules than their monolingual peers. While the existence of this achievement gap is well established in the literature, little is known about the ways in which overseas students in HE with limited…

This paper explores the experiences of eight Muslim women academics (MWA) within a range of sciences and humanities disciplines. The data draws from my doctoral study which examined the experiences of men and women Muslim academics at UK universities. Findings from in-depth interviews with participants highlight the intersectionality of…

In this paper, we examine the use of creative methods for understanding the experience of young adults aged between 16 and 30 years over a year following a cancer diagnosis. Exploring the renegotiation of identity, the narrative, longitudinal research design of the study demonstrated the unfolding process of the narrative work between participants…

In 2019, AdvanceHE reported that there were just 25 UK Black female full professors in British universities. Black women are less likely to occupy a role at this level than their male and White counterparts. Despite this, Black women remain relatively absent in institutional initiatives to advance gender equality, and there is little commitment…

Background and aims: Children with Language Disorders (LDs) can exhibit increased levels of social withdrawal, aggression and problems managing social conflicts. The reasons underlying this pattern of social interaction profiles remain unclear. This qualitative study aimed to document the nature of social interactions between children with LDs and…

This study explored the secondary school transition experiences of children with cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P). Data were collected via semi-structured interviews and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Participants were recruited from a National Health Service (NHS) specialist cleft service covering a large…

The aim of this research was to assess how the COVID-19 global pandemic impacted overseas school partnerships in 2020, through to January 2021. It was undertaken with teachers involved in the British Council Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning (CCGL) programme to provide insight into how and why partnerships have been impacted. It also…

This post script to an article originally written in 2011 takes account of changes that have occurred since then in the ways that children and young people use the social media. Although the fundamental message of the original article remains the same, the post script discusses key ways in which the article would differ if it were being written…

The teacher retention crisis has led to a strong discourse around the need for teachers to 'build their resilience', which places the responsibility for coping at the feet of the individual teacher. Contemporary research, however, supports a social-ecological approach, which takes account of environmental influences within the resilience process.…

It is well established that having a parent with any illness or disability can have an adverse effect on individuals' experiences of education and on their educational progress. Advances in medical knowledge are leading to more people under 65 being diagnosed with young onset dementias and, concomitantly, to more children and young people who are…

Previous research exploring the role of nurture group practitioners (NGPs) has highlighted the complexities of the skilled work undertaken by these educators working with some of the most vulnerable pupils in schools, however, little research has been dedicated to investigating the demographics of this workforce and their perceptions of the…