News
The latest Wise in 5 briefing from PolicyWISE reveals a patchwork of voting rights for 16 and 17-year-olds across the UK and Ireland. While young people can vote in devolved elections in Scotland and…
We are pleased to invite you to our upcoming webinar “A more collaborative form of governance? UK intergovernmental relations and the Council of Nations and Regions.” taking place on Tuesday, 13th…
April’s WISE in 5 is written by Andrew Sproul, a researcher at The Open University whose PhD explores the implementation of Housing First in Europe, focusing on Scotland and Finland through the lens…
A new Wise in 5 briefing is published today highlighting disparities in language education policies for refugees and migrants across the UK and Ireland. Wise in 5: Language Education for…
A little puppy with eyes that will melt your heart, a ball of fluff to be your companion, what’s not to love? Ok, we’ll ignore the barking, occasional messiness, and tantrums… But they can…
Since signing our Collaboration Charter last year, PolicyWISE has started working closely with a number of research projects from the OU’s Open Societal Challenges programme, in order to…
In this article, Dr Inge Hill from The Open University discusses her new research which investigates business support to craft, designer-makers, and visual artists in rural England and Scotland, with…
By Dewi Knight
Whether you think small is beautiful. Or the bigger the better. We know that size matters, right?
Well, wrong actually. Especially when it comes to smaller class sizes in…
PolicyWISE and the Bennett Institute for Public Policy at the University of Cambridge are collaborating on a new research project examining the recently established Council of the Nations &…
We have published the full report of the roundtable held in Belfast in November 2024 to examine cross-nation policy learning and challenges over the last 25 years, and to look forward to…
By Dewi Knight
A new comparative angle
Welcome to the first edition of The Comparative Angle. A new and regular blog from PolicyWISE which looks at issues from a cross-nation and…
To mark 25 years since the devolution of powers to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) today publishes Evolution of Devolution: How Higher Education…
For the second year running, PolicyWISE has delivered training for Devolution Learning Week, the annual UK-wide event for civil servants.
Our team led, and took part in sessions, to…
By Lucy Adams
This September, I started my internship with PolicyWISE, hoping to learn about the policy world and how research fits within it. To my surprise, I have found researchers often…
By Lucy Adams and Dewi Knight
Today, PolicyWISE has published an updated WISE in 5 briefing on Relationships and Sex Education (RSE).
RSE policy changes, with national differences, are expected…
By Lucy Adams and Catherine May.
Today, PolicyWISE publishes an updated WISE in 5 briefing to highlight the evolving landscape of teenage vaping policy across the UK and Ireland. Following our…
A briefing published today highlights the potential for cross-nation learning to address the decline in language learning in the UK and Ireland. This could be improved through convening key…
As the world marks International Geodiversity Day, PolicyWISE releases a new briefing on geodiversity, highlighting the stark contrast between the attention given to geodiversity and its more…
“That a life lasts longer than the actual body through which it moves.”
Raymond Williams, Border Country
To reach the ‘pen’ in Welsh is to reach the end, or the summit if you’re being positive. To…
This full report follows the roundtable held in Cardiff in July 2024 to examine cross- nation policy learning and challenges over the last 25 years, and to look forward to improved comparative policy…
The summary and full reports following the roundtable convened in Edinburgh in May 2024 to examine cross- nation policy learning and challenges over the last 25 years, and to look…
With the Olympics on the horizon, Sir Keir Starmer will now be swapping his England football shirt for a Team GB vest. The new UK government’s mantra of “hitting the ground running” may be good…
What connects Scottish children, Welsh speakers of all ages, and the victims and survivors of the Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’?
They may be very different in their concerns and lived experiences, but…
At PolicyWISE we create and nurture cross-nation spaces. We welcome improved relations, structures, and exchanges, so that citizens and communities across the nations benefit from comparative and…
Dewi Knight and Catherine May
At PolicyWISE we create and nurture cross-nation spaces. We welcome improved relations, structures, and exchanges, so that citizens and communities across the nations…
This first period of the UK election has got me thinking less about policy, and more about parachutes and patriotism. Yes really. And what they mean for cross-nation understanding and knowledge.
It’…
On 29th April 2024, PolicyWISE and Resolution Foundation hosted an event to reflect on 25 years of devolution, considering the economic lessons and to explore avenues for the future.
We were joined…
Government “ditches” or misses target is hardly man bites dog or Elvis and Lord Lucan caught together on top of Shergar.
But the recent Scottish Government announcement does give us policy wonks an…
Your chance to attend a unique event (in person or online) to hear our panel share their experiences of how the governments in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, and Westminster have used economic policy…
This was originally a blog for the Policy profession
2024 is set to be a bumper year for elections – with a new Welsh First Minister in March, local government elections for England in May, and a UK…
Botox, belly button rings and sunbeds – the beauty and cosmetic interventions business is thriving. Whether it’s getting a sleeve tattoo, topping up the tan before a holiday or injections into faces…
The purpose of our Research Plan is to ensure that we have a robust evidence base that can be used to expand policy engagement, policy learning and knowledge exchange across the four nations. Our…
We are advertising three fixed-term roles to join our PolicyWISE team – a Communications Support Assistant, a Research Associate and a Support Officer. Please share with your networks, forward to…
Thinking comparatively –Sunshine Stats and Tourist Taxes
Readers of our February newsletter will have started bulk buying their sunscreen as we revealed the sunniest destinations across Britain and…
At PolicyWISE, one of our aims is to encourage and support research and researchers to think comparatively from the outset, broadening the impact of their work and the benefit they can bring to…
Readers of our January newsletter will have spotted what we described as a Generally Depressing Picture (to differentiate from the December newsletter GPP - Greggs Per Population). …
As the weather turns ever colder, the PolicyWISE team have been looking at the issues around rough sleeping and what respective governments are doing to address it. Wise in 5: Rough sleeping and…
Both the Welsh and Scottish Governments are publishing their draft budgets on Tuesday, 19th December, with consultations and debates to follow in the New Year. There will be keen interest in where…
PolicyWISE works in collaboration with The Open University’s Open Societal Challenges (OSC) Programme to support research teams to mature their ideas in tackling some of the key societal…
On November 15th 2023, academics from The Open University joined forces with renowned writer and broadcaster Professor David Olusoga for a landmark event to celebrate the launch of PolicyWISE…
PolicyWISE brought together an expert panel to explore “Influencing Government Policy across the UK and Ireland” at the Festival of Higher Education. The festival, hosted by Wonkhe and the University…
Wise in 5 is the only regular snapshot comparative guide to public policy issues across the nations of the UK and Ireland.
Each Wise in 5 guides you, in an easy-to-read format, through the different…
A core pillar of PolicyWISE’s vision is the need to produce a robust evidence base that can be used to expand policy engagement and knowledge exchange across the four nations of the UK.
In order to…
Dewi sat down with Catherine May, PolicyWISE’s Senior External Affairs and Communications Manager to discuss his background, ambitions and passion for comparative research and policy development, and…
In August 2023, we submitted evidence to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee at the House of Commons for their Devolution Capability in Whitehall inquiry.