Nudge Unit to Set Up Adult Education Research Centre

In the UK, the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) set up by the government and commonly known as the 'nudge unit' has received a £2.9m grant from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to set up a research centre in England focused on improving adult literacy and numeracy levels.

Set up by Prime Minister David Cameron in 2010 after he had read Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein's book Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness, the unit's remit is to apply the authors' theory that people's habits can be changed without government regulation, instead nudging them in the direction they 'should' go. In February, the unit was spun off as a joint venture, with innovation charity Nesta, the unit's employees, and the government each owning a third.

The new unit will test interventions informed by behavioural science to help increase adult literacy and numeracy, while establishing a range of research programmes and randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that will test different ways of helping young adults to improve these skills. In its blog, BIT said it is interested in hearing from academics, learning providers, and employers that might wish to participate in the three-year research programme.

Skills Minister Matthew Hancock commented: 'This new centre will team world-leading academic researchers with our best and brightest policy makers to give scientific insights into how adults best gain skills in English and maths and the ways in which government can apply these methods to benefit the highest possible number of people.'

Web site: www.behaviouralinsights.co.uk .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.