Lucy Blackburn (PhD student)

Thesis title: Factors affecting the distribution of student borrowing in Scotland: From universal entitlements to unequal outcomes

Background

I have two decades' experience working in local and central government, the largest part of that as a senior civil servant in Scotland, working on education policy, local government funding, the establishment of the Scottish Parliament, higher education policy and student funding,  criminal justice policy and as a Director at Historic Scotland. Between leaving the civil service and beginning my research at Edinburgh, I worked freelance and have published extensively on aspects of student funding and higher education more generally.

Qualifications

MSc in Educational Research, University of Edinburgh (with distinction)

ESRC doctoral scholarship

Research summary

I research student funding, with a particular interest in student debt and cross- UK comparisons. I have a related interest in widening access to higher education.  My PhD, funded by an award from the ESRC, is on student loans and the reproduction of inequality, and will compare the distribution of student debt in Scotland and Wales.