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
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
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
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
GCSE English and Maths
Cambridge OCR wanted to conduct foundational research into the current landscape of GCSE English and Maths delivery. The work’s scope included the challenges faced by educators, their attitudes towards Awarding Organisations and the current GCSE curriculum, and their views around potential curriculum reform. It was completed ahead of the UK government Curriculum and Assessment Review and any subsequent reforms.
Awarding organisations, Schools
Revision Research
HarperCollins UK wanted to explore the use of online resources for GCSE revision, before developing their own offer in the area. The research objectives focused on how students currently engage with a wide range of online revision resources, what factors they consider when deciding which resource to use and also their preferences around revision resources.
Publishing, media and EdTech, Schools
FIRST® LEGO® League Sage Evaluation
Shift was commissioned by the IET to evaluate the impact of their whole-school FIRST® LEGO® League in the North East, sponsored by Sage. This programme particularly focuses on supporting schools in higher deprivation areas, who would not otherwise get access to these opportunities.
Public sector and not-for-profit, Schools
Primary teacher survey
Pentatonic are a sustainability consultancy that specialise in working with big brands and Fortune 500 companies to implement sustainable products and services. They were working with a client to develop new classroom storage solutions for UK primary schools. As part of this product development, they needed to conduct research with teachers to understand more about their classroom storage challenges and requirements.
Schools
Schools insight
PGL Beyond were looking to update and consolidate their knowledge of the education sector. They wanted research exploring current key trends in education, and a ‘state of the nation’ overview to understand factors that may impact demand for educational visits, or influence marketing of school trips to target audiences.
Schools
Understanding primary school leaders’ priorities
Shift carried out quantitative and qualitative research with primary SLT to explore the key areas schools are focusing on this year and how this has changed from last year.
Publishing, media and EdTech, Schools
Media Literacy
We conducted qualitative research for Internet Matters to enable them to understand the needs of secondary schools in relation to online safety, providing insights into what tools and resources could support them in these challenge areas.
Public sector and not-for-profit, Schools
FIRST® LEGO® League longitudinal impact study
The IET commissioned Shift to conduct an impact study on a number of seasons of FIRST® LEGO® League involving research with teachers and a survey with 400 children
Public sector and not-for-profit, Schools
Piloting a Secondary School History Product
ALCS wanted to test a new educational resource for teachers. We developed a survey to test its appeal and provide insights into what features were favorable.
Publishing, media and EdTech, Schools