NFER’s Ambition 2009 - 2012

Who we are and what we do

We are the UK’s largest independent provider of research, assessment and information services for education, training and children’s services. Our work enables policy makers and practitioners to make better, more informed decisions, drawing on sound evidence and accurate information.

Our clients include UK government departments and agencies at both national and local levels, who benefit from our full range of expert and professional services including access to international networks and data sources. We also invest NFER’s own resources to fund research and development activities that we believe will have a positive impact on society and improve the services we offer our clients.

Our purpose is to make a difference to learners of all ages, especially to the lives of children and young people, by ensuring its work improves the practice and understanding of those who work with and for learners.
Independent research and assessment » Informing policy and practice » Improving life chances

Our business goals - three specific business goals for the period to 2012:

• To be recognised as a leading UK research and assessment organisation for those who wish to make a positive difference to learners
• To continue to grow in impact and in income, ensuring a healthy annual surplus for reinvestment in our own research programme
• At the same time, for staff to confirm that NFER is a great place to work.

New emphases for this period include the maintenance of mutually beneficial relationships with schools, the development of our contribution in areas beyond schools eg in FE, HE and Skills, and more work on international comparisons.

Our success factors - things at which we need to ensure we excel:

• Generate and communicate a strong vision and strategy for the Foundation
• Attract, motivate, develop and retain high calibre staff
• Build long term strategic relationships with clients and schools
• Win and deliver excellent projects - which meet customer needs more effectively than do those of our competitors
• Demonstrate and increase impact on policy and practice - and hence on outcomes for learners - from our work
• Manage finance, risks and change effectively so that NFER can meet its ambitions and goals.

Our strategy - how we will achieve our business goals and success factors

• Continuing to win and deliver excellent projects across a wide range of aspects of education and children’s services, being clear that to do so we must maintain mutually beneficial relationships with schools and others who help us with our work
  
• Expanding our profile in two key directions - to demonstrate and enhance our contribution beyond schools related research eg in FE and Skills and to become a leading provider of e-assessment products and expertise
• Increasing the impact of our own and others’ research on practice and policy
• Securing new clients and ensure that existing clients take up the full range of NFER services of relevance to them
• Recruiting, retaining, developing and rewarding well-motivated and skilled staff.

Our strategy in more detail is available here.