Emma Pollard

Principal Research Fellow

BA, MA

Emma joined the Institute in 1996. During her time at IES she has worked for a wide range of clients including employers, educational establishments and policy bodies; and has a solid grounding in both policy-focused research and consultancy. She has over 20 years’ experience of researching education and employment issues and now leads the Institute’s work on higher education (HE). Her key research interests include student choices and decisions about undergraduate and postgraduate study, diversity in students’ HE experiences including the experiences of minority groups in HE and the labour market, graduate transitions to the labour market and their early careers, the workings of higher education and further direction of the sector.

Emma is an experienced project manager – leading teams within the Institute; working in partnership with other research organisations, survey houses and academics; and working with sub-contractors to guide research from the development stage through to dissemination. Emma has extensive experience of qualitative research methods and has conducted and managed telephone and face-to-face interviews, and focus group discussions with a range of senior managers, employees, young people, students, undergraduates, graduates, and training providers. She has considerable experience and understanding in collecting quantitative primary data through postal, telephone and online surveys including national large scale surveys, longitudinal surveys, and surveys requiring liaison with a number of organisations to draw a representative sample. She is also very experienced in using large data sets; organising and conducting complex analysis; and working with secondary data sources such as national student or destinations data, sector performance data, and organisational personnel data and records.

Education

2001 University of Sussex MA, Applied Policy Studies
1993 University of Brighton BA, Business Studies

Career

1994‑1996 Research Assistant, Career Development Unit, University of Sussex

 

CV Details

A brief review of policy and practice for careers education, Emma Pollard, Kate Alexander, Claudia Plowden Roberts, Arundhati Dave, Louisa Illidge, Daniel Mason, Institute for Employment Studies , Jan 2026

Language programmes evaluation: interim report, Beatrice Rosolin, Ceri Williams, Clare Huxley, Daniel Mason, Emma Pollard, Jade Talbot, Kate Alexander, Louisa Illidge, Department for Education (DfE) / Government Social Research, Sep 2025

Evaluation of the national roll-out of the early career framework induction programme: evaluation summary report, Emma Pollard, Joy Williams, Institute for Employment Studies & BMG Research, May 2025

Research into careers in construction 2023 to 2024, Kate Alexander, Emma Pollard, CITB, May 2025

Student income and expenditure survey, 2021 to 2022: Welsh report, Emma Pollard, Clare Huxley, Matthew Williams, Daniel Muir, Rachel Cetera, Zoe Gallagher, Welsh Government / Government Social Research, Dec 2024

The Careers Adviser Workforce 2024: A report for the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, Matthew Williams, Emma Pollard, Gatsby Charitable Foundation, Nov 2024

Teachers' professional development journeys, Emma Pollard, Ceri Williams, Alexandra Nancarrow, Jade Talbot, Joseph Cook, Joy Williams, Zofia Bajorek, Louisa Illidge, Department for Education (DfE), May 2024

Teachers’ professional development journeys, Emma Pollard, Ceri Williams, Alexandra Nancarrow, Jade Talbot, Joseph Cook, Joy Williams, Zofia Bajorek, Louisa Illidge, Department for Education (DfE), Apr 2024

Mentor Training Programme Evaluation 2021 2022, Joy Williams, Emma Pollard, Miguel Subosa, Billy Campbell, Education & Training Foundation, Apr 2022

Enhancing creative education, Joy Williams, Emma Pollard, Joseph Cook, Morwenna Byford, Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre / Arts Council England, Feb 2022

Career Deflection, Matthew Williams, Emma Pollard, Olivia Garner, Joseph Cook, James Cockett, Atkins/Good Relations, Nov 2021

From early years to adult learning: IES research to support education and life chances, Anneka Dawson, Becci Newton, Emma Pollard, Department for Work and Pensions, Jun 2021

The professional careers adviser workforce, Emma Pollard, Matthew Williams, James Cockett, Institute for Employment Studies, Mar 2021

Moving out to move on, Dafni Papoutsaki, Jonathan Buzzeo, Helen Gray, Matthew Williams, Georgie Akehurst, Kate Alexander, Becci Newton, Emma Pollard, James Cockett, Social Mobility Commission, Jul 2020

Impact of the student finance system on participation, experience and outcomes of disadvantaged young people, Emma Pollard, Clare Huxley, Alex Martin, Helena Takala, Morwenna Byford, Department for Education, May 2019

Royal Society Research Fellowships: Career Pathway Tracker, Emma Pollard, The Royal Society, Sep 2018

The customer journey to initial teacher training: Research brief, Joy Williams, Emma Pollard, IES, Jul 2016

Adult Career Decision-Making, Rosie Gloster, Emma Pollard, Joy Williams, Wendy Hirsh, Jonathan Buzzeo, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), Aug 2013

Expanding and Improving Part-time Higher Education, Emma Pollard, Becci Newton, Jim Hillage, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Jun 2012

University is Not Just for Young People, Emma Pollard, IES, Jul 2008

Exploring e-Learning, Emma Pollard, Jim Hillage, IES, Apr 2001

Free, Fair and Efficient? Open internal job advertising, Wendy Hirsh, Emma Pollard, Private: Penny Tamkin, IES, Jul 2000

Employability: developing a framework for policy analysis, Jim Hillage, Emma Pollard, Equal Opportunities Commission, Oct 1998

Evaluation of Access to Work, Jim Hillage, Matthew Williams, Emma Pollard, Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, Jul 1998

Career pathway tracking of British Academy early-career award alumni

Youth policy journeys

WYCA All Age Careers Blueprint

Focus Groups for Teacher's CPD

ETF Evaluation of mentor training 2

Research into careers in construction

GLA Working Integration Network Academies

YEUK Evaluation of youth employment frameworks

Career Deflection: Research to explore diversity in the engineering sector/profession

Sutton Trust Impact Analysis

UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships fund - Evaluation scoping and feasibility study

Evaluation of the Sir Henry Dale Fellowship scheme

Sutton Trust Evaluation

Moving out to move up: Using a mixed-methods approach to understand the link between migration and disadvantage

Evaluation of the Careers Leader Training: Qualitative Research

Survey of EU staff at higher education providers

Developing a survey of postgraduate taught students

Scoping longitudinal data sources on school to work transitions

Modes of study in Higher Education: Literature Review and Qualitative Research

Review of the National Careers Service area-based contract funding model

Evaluation of the University of Oxford's outreach work

Evidence on employment practice for the Teachers’ Longer Working Review

Understanding the Customer Journey to Initial Teacher Training

Student Income and Expenditure Survey 2014-15

A review of the National Student Survey (NSS)

Review of the Higher Education Performance Indicators 2013

Understanding mature entrants’ transitions to postgraduate study

Understanding employers’ graduate recruitment practices

Qualitative follow-up to the Student Income and Expenditure Survey 2013

Doctoral Graduates Destinations Digest

Assessment of National Employer Skills and Government Business Support Programmes

Research into the feasibility of developing a student satisfaction survey of taught postgraduate higher education courses

Student Income and Expenditure Survey 2011/12

Expanding and improving part-time undergraduate higher education: the feasibility of increasing the numbers of young people in HE studying part-time

Career Patterns of Arts and Crafts Graduates

Analysis of Longitudinal Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (LDLHE)

New Student Support Arrangements: Follow-up to Institutional Case Studies

Understanding Doctoral Graduate Destinations

Creative Graduates - Creative Futures: Survey of the Career Patterns of UK Graduates in Art, Design and Media

Discretionary Learner Support Funds evaluation

Mapping Postgraduate Art and Design Provision

Making the Decision to Enter Higher Education

The Brighton Factor: Graduates Who Stay

The Regional Impact of Graduate Employment Decisions

  • National Institute for Career Education and Counselling Fellow (2016 - Present)
  • Associate of the International Centre for Guidance Studies (2016 - Present)
  • Associate of the Education and Training Foundation (2015 - Present)
  • Member of the Research Advisory Group for the Postgraduate Experience Project (2015 - 2016)
  • Associate Researcher for the Department for Education (2014 - Present)

Early Careers and Skills: Equipping the Workforce for What’s Next

Corporate Research Forum conference, 8 July 2026

WREN workshop

4 March 2026

How do we know what's going on in the labour market?

CDI/NICEC, April 2022

Student wellbeing and what it means for recruiters

Graduate Recruitment Network seminar on student wellbeing and what it means for recruiters, Graduate Recruitment Network, London, June 2018

Creative graduates: leading the way with new forms of work

ICeGS international conference: Imagining new perspectives on work - the role of career development in shaping futures, International Centre for Guidance Studies, Derby, May 2018

Showcasing research findings, discussing opportunities, challenges and trends

Universities UK conference: Accelerated degrees: understanding the opportunities, Universities UK, London, June 2017

Rethinking the traditional approach to Level 7 study: if we build it will they come?

SRHE Post-Compulsory and Higher Education Network event: In whose interests? Access, participation and progression in a context of changing configuration of HE, Society for Research into Higher Education, London, May 2017

Challenges and changing practices in graduate recruitment: the real experiences of employers

CIPD Applied Research Conference 2016, CIPD, London, December 2016

Influencing recruitment: changing employer practices in graduate recruitment

AGCAS Annual Conference for HE Careers and Employability Professionals, AGCAS, Chester, September 2016

Expert panel

Review of part-time and mature higher education, Universities UK, London, May 2013

What Do Researchers Do? What Do We Understand About Researchers’ Careers?

Vitae Researcher Development International Conference, Vitae, London, September 2012

'Creative Career Stories: the reality of Creative Careers'

Creative Journeys, Plymouth University, Plymouth, September 2011

Labour Market Information

Vitae researcher development international conference 2011: realising the potential of researchers, Vitae, Manchester, September 2011

Creative Graduate Stories

Culturing Growth: The contribution of specialist arts education to the UK economy and society. ukadia conference 2011, ukadia, London, February 2011

Doctoral Graduate Destinations: 3.5 years on: Analysis of the Longitudinal Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey

Sixth Postgraduate Careers Symposium, College of Medicine, Biological Sciences and Psychology, University of Leicester, Leicester, January 2011

Creative Graduates Creative Futures

Regional Careers Advisors Forum, Coventry University, September 2010

What Do Researchers Do?

Vitae Researcher Development Conference 2010, Vitae, Manchester, September 2010

What can Creative Graduates Creative Futures tell us about the role of placements, internships and volunteering for new graduates

Playing at Work: Education Briefing, Futurising Conference, London, June 2010

The impact of HE financial arrangements: student perspectives

At what cost? The Impact of Finance on Access to HE, Educational Access Research Network, London, April 2010

The Role of Finance in the Decision-making of HE Applicants and Students

Universities, education and student demand in the post-recession economy, Universities UK Longer Term Strategy Group, Brighton, April 2010

Challenges for creative careers in the 21st century

HE and the Creative Economy, University of Southampton, University of Southampton, March 2010

Going into HE

Department of Business, Innovation and Skills Research Seminar, Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, London, February 2010

Creative Graduates Creative Futures: The challenges for creative careers in the 21st century

Moving Forward: 4th Annual National Arts Learning Network conference, United Kingdom Art and Design Institutions' Association, London, February 2010

Student Income and Expenditure: Results from SIES 2007/08

DIUS Customer Insight Event: Students' financial well-being, Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, London, April 2009

Income and Expenditure Among Welsh-Domiciled Students: Results from SIES 2007/08

Welsh Assembly Seminar, Cardiff, April 2009

What graduates really want (and how do they expect to get there)?

The Tough Guide to Graduate Recruitment, AGR Graduate Development Conference, AGR, London, March 2009

Participation in Postgraduate Study: a look at creative arts and design

What Now for Widening Participation in the Arts, 3rd National Arts Learning Network Annual Conference, NALN, London, February 2009

Provision and participation in postgraduate creative arts and design: what do we need to know and why?

The Postgraduate Landscape in Art and Design, National Arts Learning Network, Royal College of Art, London, June 2008

University is not just for young people

Participation Research Group, School of Education, University of Southampton, School of Education, University of Southampton, June 2008

Graduate Choices: University, Living and Working

Universities, Graduates and Innovation – The Regional Impact of Higher Education, ESRC Impact of Higher Education Institutions on Regional Economies Initiative, Cardiff, June 2008

(Widening) routes to postgraduate study: what does the data tell us?

Widening Participation in the Arts: What Next?, National Arts Learning Network, Royal Institute of British Architects, London, February 2008

Welsh graduates and their jobs

Careers Information Conference, Careers Wales West, Carmarthen, June 2007

Evaluating delivery and impact of adult advice and guidance

NICEC seminar, National Institute for Career Education and Counselling, Brighton, May 2007

The under-representation of Black and Minority Ethnic students in postgraduate creative arts and design

Widening participation in the arts - what works?, National Arts Learning Network, London, February 2007

Graduate Employment Choices in the East Midlands

Graduate Employment Choices, East Midlands Development Agency, EMDA Conference Centre, January 2005

Choices and transitions: studying and working in the SW

The South West Graduate Labour Market: Unlocking the Potential, University of West of England, University of West of England, March 2003

Schools Access Funds Evaluation

LEA Awards Officer Conference, DfES, Birmingham, June 2001

Open Internal Job Markets

HR Network Seminar, for IES Scottish members, Scottish Executive, Edinburgh, September 2000

Institutional Racism: Where’s the Prejudice in Organisations?

British Psychological Society Occupational Psychology Conference, British Psychological Society, Brighton, January 2000

Heard it on the grapevine

CVCP conference, CVCP, London, June 1999