There's more to learning than earnings

The Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning (WBL) investigates the benefits that learning brings to the individual and to society as a whole. WBL's main objectives are to clarify, model and quantify the outcomes of all forms of intentional learning so as to inform the funding, implementation and practice of educational provision through the life course.  It is funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).

Our research looks to inform policy, to deepen understanding of the complex ways in which learning can benefit individuals, and to provide robust evidence about the scale of these effects and the returns they represent.

New WBL Flagship Report:
The social and personal benefits of learning: A summary of key research findings
 

(2008) Compiled and edited by Leon Feinstein, David Budge, John Vorhaus and Kathryn Duckworth

 

This report reveals what researchers have discovered about how education affects individual well-being, family dynamics and community cohesion.


Flagship Publications

New WBL Compendium Report:
Young people, their social networks and school support: exploratory analyses of friendships, well-being and multi-agency working in two secondary schools
 

(2008)

This is a compendium of three short, exploratory reports. These focus on the development of young people’s social capital in secondary school, in terms of their friendship networks and psychological well-being. We also consider the experience of the school and local authority in supporting students’ well-being through multi-agency working.

Compendium report