Shift Learning Case Studies
While some of Shift’s work was confidential, we are grateful to have received client permission to share the following case studies of projects we completed.
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- Awarding organisations
- English Language Learning and International Education
- Public sector and not-for-profit
- Publishing, media and EdTech
- Schools
- Universities, HE and FE
Digital Learning Insights
A national museum was undergoing an extensive modernisation project – influencing the transformation of its digital services for learners and educators. As a part of this process, the museum wanted to gauge how schools currently use digital resources to engage with cultural institution offers, how the museum and its offering are perceived, and how the museum can better meet educators’ and learners’ needs.
Public sector and not-for-profit
Brand Tracker
Gateway Qualifications wanted to conduct an annual brand tracking survey to assess awareness, perception and association with key attributes of their brand. As part of this survey, they particularly wanted to measure brand loyalty and satisfaction, as well as benchmarking their brand against competitors.
Awarding organisations, Universities, HE and FE
KS2 and KS3 Product Development
An outdoor education provider delivering outdoor learning and fieldwork courses wanted to test their internal hypothesis that there is demand for a new 3-day residential school trip offer, comprised of a blended programme of adventure and outdoor activities, based around outcomes, e.g. increased resilience.
Schools
Stackable qualifications
The University of London (UoL) is exploring the development of a new portfolio of stackable, online, self-paced postgraduate programmes.
Universities, HE and FE
PGR recruitment journeys and experiences
The University of Southampton wanted to better understand current Post Graduate Research (PGR) students’ recruitment journeys for both those studying at Southampton and those at other UK universities. The Research Enterprise Marketing team sought greater insight on motivations to study for a PhD, and the criteria prospective students used when deciding to apply to Southampton and other institutions.
Universities, HE and FE
Alumni research
Durham University wanted to conduct an alumni survey to support the development of their communications and engagement strategies.
Universities, HE and FE
GCSE History Textbooks
A major educational publisher wanted to learn more about what secondary school History teachers think about the current range of textbooks published for GCSE, and what they’d like to see produced when new qualifications are introduced in the next few years.
Publishing, media and EdTech, Schools
Employer engagement in technical education
The Science Council wanted to increase engagement with science-based employers around technical education, supporting the link between the classroom-based and work-based elements of apprenticeships and T Levels. They aimed to build stronger connections between employers and technical education more broadly. Shift was commissioned to engage with a representative group of these employers.
Public sector and not-for-profit
protocols.io research
Springer Nature offers a variety of resources and services related to research protocols, particularly through Springer Protocols and Nature Protocols. Having recently acquired protocols.io, a secure open access platform for sharing reproducible methods, they wanted to consolidate their publishing in the area – making all protocols published in their peer-reviewed publications available on the platform. As part of this transition, they wished to explore the attitudes of authors and users towards any changes.
Publishing, media and EdTech
Cognitive testing for the School Sports Survey
In preparation for their 2026 survey, Sport Wales commissioned Shift to undertake a series of cognitive testing and qualitative research activities with pupils aged 7-16. The aim was to explore the key constructs, questions, response options and sports included within the participation component of the survey.
Public sector and not-for-profit, Schools
Perceptions of Technicians
MI TALENT were looking to conduct primary research to understand the perception of technicians by higher education staff and students. This research was conducted to complement the results from the technical community survey, which explored whether participants felt valued by key groups in higher education.
Universities, HE and FE
Health and Safety Survey
Following on from work Shift completed as part of the Technical Community survey in 2021, MI Talent wanted to gain a deeper understanding of the role of technical staff in health and safety. Results from this research would serve as a call to action for those in leadership to continue to recognise and support the work of technical staff.
Universities, HE and FE