Although I realise I was extremely lucky to receive funding for these opportunities, I never wanted to pursue a traditional academic career and I soon found myself getting frustrated by the uncertainty of where my next scholarship would come from, or even where it would be. I had already moved from the UK to Canada and then to Germany and, although this may seem exciting to some, I began to fear where I would be setting my bags down next. I didn’t want to live out of a suitcase any longer. More...

In Britain, we have a ‘boarding-school model’ of higher education. Enrolling at university as a young full-time student usually means moving away from home for a full-on residential experience. Compared to other countries, this is odd. More...

Earlier this week, I spoke to a group of students at the University of Oxford on how I ended up working in education policy. There was high demand for the session, so I am posting the remarks here in case other people seeking policymaking roles are interested in what I said. Please forgive the excessively personal nature of the remarks, which is unavoidable given the theme. More...