UKCES

Email: debra.dhillon@ukces.org.uk

Tel: 02078818948

Biography

Debra joined the UK Commission for Employment and Skills as a Research Manager in June 2010.  Her research background spans a number of years, beginning as a post-graduate working in a variety of Applied Psychology research areas and later becoming more firmly involved in education and skills research.  Prior to joining the Commission, Debra was a Senior Research Officer and then Principal Research Manager at the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) for four years, working in assessment research.  More recently she was a Senior Consultant with GHK Consulting, working in the areas of qualifications, education and skills, on projects at the UK and the European Union level.  Debra has a first degree in Psychology from the University of Leicester and an MPhil in Criminology from Cambridge University.

Areas of Expertise and Interest

• Standard setting and quality assurance methods in qualifications;
• Assessment and qualification design and delivery;
• International comparative research;
• Quantitative research methodologies, research design and statistics.

Current Responsibilities

• Migration and Skills research;
• Working Futures Interim (2009-19)and Comprehensive (2010-20) projects;
• UK Employment and Skills Almanac and the Almanac Online.

Previous Projects (selected)

• Quality assurance and VET certification in EU member states (GHK for DG EAC / Cedefop: now published as a Cedefop report available at http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/EN/Files/5196_en.pdf);
• Development of a process for the SSC approval of vocational qualifications (GHK for UKCES);
• Expert examiner judgements of standards (Assessment and Qualifications Alliance).

Publications (selected)

• Dhillon, D. (2005).  Teachers’ estimates of candidates’ grades: Curriculum 2000 Advanced Level Qualifications.  British Journal of Educational Research, 31 (1), 69-88. See http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a713991732~frm=abslink
• Dhillon, D & Richardson, M. (2005).  Another difficult question? An investigation of problem solving and question difficulty issues concerning gifted and talented students. Educating Able Children, 8 (1), 1-14.