What’s the gain?

Progress is finally being made on measuring learning gain, but it’s still not clear what should be done with it.

Measuring learning gain—the improvements in knowledge, skills, work readiness and personal development that students make during their time in higher education—was never going to be easy. Or cheap.

Deemed the ‘holy grail’ of education research, it has been the subject of a pilot programme since 2014, kickstarted by then universities minister David Willetts as part of his higher education reforms. Conclusions from the programme, now led by the Office for Students, will be presented at a final closing conference in Birmingham on 12 March.