What Will Education Look Like in the Future? Becky Francis, Joshua Stubbs, Michelle Codrington-Rogers and Zoe Handley

Professor Becky Francis CBE, FBA is CEO of the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF). She was recently seconded to lead the UK Government’s independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, which published its final report in November 2025. Prior to her EEF role, Becky was Director of the UCL Institute of Education (IOE), which is ranked #1 in the world for education in the international QS rankings. Her prior roles include Professor of Education and Social Justice at King’s College London and Standing Advisor to the Parliamentary Education Select Committee. Throughout her career, Becky has sought to maximise the impact of research by working closely with teachers and policymakers. She has spearheaded high-profile national policy and research programmes in the English school system, focused on system improvement and addressing educational inequalities. And she is sought out internationally as an advisor to Governments on education policy. Becky was the inaugural Charles Yidan Global Fellow at Harvard University. Her academic expertise and extensive publications centre on social identities and inequalities in educational contexts.

Dr Joshua Stubbs is Head of Research at the PSHE Association, the national body and subject association for personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education. As a Knowledge Transfer Partnership Associate at the PSHE Association and the University of York, he contributed to the development of Foundations for Wellbeing, an evidence-based mental health and wellbeing curriculum for primary schools. Previously, he worked as a mental health nurse on a child and adolescent mental health ward in Birmingham, before studying Education at the Universities of York and Oxford. He has lectured on the University of York’s MSc in Mental Health and Wellbeing in Education and published research in international journals. He is also passionate about communicating, and discussing, research in clear and engaging ways.

Michelle Codrington-Rogers is the policy officer for anti racism in the equalities department at the TUC.  She was the first Black president of the NASUWT teacher union, is a citizenship educator and works on anti-racism and decolonial practice in education and with youth.  

Dr Zoe Handley is a Senior Lecturer in Language Education and Program Leader for the MA in Artificial Intelligence & Technology-Enhanced Learning at The University of York, UK. Her research focuses on supporting teachers to harness technology to create the conditions and engage learners in processes that facilitate language acquisition. She is particularly interested in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Her work in this area includes evaluations of speech technology for use in language learning as well as research on teachers' practical pedagogical knowledge for the use of generative AI in language learning and teaching.