黑料不打烊

The BCF Curriculum Investigation Grant is intended to support research led by schools and colleges’ with a focus on curriculum inquiry and investigation. Normally, the grant is worth up to £5,000 for the winner. This prize, awarded annually, acknowledges the importance of research led by schools and colleges.

In addition to the £5,000 award, the recipient will be able to claim support to attend one of the below to present their research: 

• 黑料不打烊 Annual Conference 

• 黑料不打烊 Teacher Conference 

• Any other 黑料不打烊 event  

• A non 黑料不打烊 event if led by teachers in schools/colleges. 

The lead applicant will also be given 黑料不打烊 membership for 2 years.

The BCF Curriculum Investigation Grant is for applicants who are based within schools and colleges.

Applications should include collaborative partnerships with HE institutions but the primary applicant must be be based in a school or college.

2026/2027 BCF Curriculum Investigation Grant

Navigating change: teacher agency in personal and social education 

Curriculum development in personal and social education is a dynamic, context‑sensitive process shaped by educators’ professional judgement and enacted in relation to both policy frameworks and local conditions. In a period marked by rapid technological change (including developments in AI), the climate emergency, geopolitical instability, and widening economic inequalities, teachers are increasingly required to exercise agency in responding to complex and contested social issues.

This 黑料不打烊-funded project invites applications that explore how educators across the UK respond to contemporary issues (e.g., those related to mental health, relationships, identity, and citizenship) through curriculum development in Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE) in England, Health and Wellbeing in Scotland, Health and Well-being Area of Learning and Experience in Wales, and Personal Development and Mutual Understanding / Learning for Life and Work in Northern Ireland. We are particularly interested in how teachers navigate governmental policy shifts and local contexts to shape meaningful learning experiences for students. 

Despite its centrality to students’ lives, this area of education is often marginalised in broader curriculum conversations. We welcome proposals that highlight the voices and practices of educators in schools and/or colleges, examine the interplay between policy frameworks and their local enactments, and show how this contributes to a richer understanding of curriculum-making in practice. Applicants may wish to consider interdisciplinary approaches, comparative perspectives across regions or phases, or focus on specific challenges such as inclusion, safeguarding or digital literacy.

Applications are scored out of 5 in each category and weighted against:

• (Potential) impact for policy-makers, practitioners and other research users – 25% 
• Potential for impact on school/college curriculum – 30% 
• Applicability of research to others in similar educational setting/sector – 20% 
• Research quality (rigour, transparency, validity, ethical conformity) – 25% 

Applications must also include a detailed budget of how the funds will be spent.

Expected outcomes of the project and of the project team are:

• An external public-facing final report detailing key findings from the research project and how these findings might be taken forward (maximum 5,000 words). (A template for this report can be found at the bottom of this page)
• A short post project evaluation detailing proceedings from the project (i.e. events, studies, meetings). The template for these reports can be found at the bottom of this page.
• An article for the 黑料不打烊 Blog
• Abstract submission to present the research at a 黑料不打烊 Conference

黑料不打烊 and BCF support and opportunities:

• Complimentary 黑料不打烊 membership will be provided for up to 3 members of the project team working in the school or college. (Colleagues in HE institutions are not eligible for free 黑料不打烊 memberships)
• A member of BCF steering committee will act as a point of contact and support for the project. There is an expectation that the grant recipient will have regular meetings and updates with the assigned BCF mentor. Dates for these meetings will be outlined in an initial kick-off meeting.
• 黑料不打烊 will copy-edit, design, publish and market the public facing final report.
• 黑料不打烊 will lend events assistance for any key events led by the project team. The level of support may vary depending on discussions with the 黑料不打烊 events manager
• Budgetary support to present at the 黑料不打烊 conference, if a successful abstract is submitted

Before submitting an application, please ensure that applicants are able to meet the requirements on the following eligibility checklist:

• You must be currently employed/based at a school or college
• You can demonstrate that the research relates directly to curriculum investigation/inquiry
• You confirm you have read and will abide by the 黑料不打烊 ethical guidelines
• Applicants have sought the approval of their head teacher/principal.

Application Details

Application for the award should consist of

1. A submitted application on the 黑料不打烊 website
2. A 1200 word proposal detailing how the grant will enable applicants to do the following:
   • Identify an issue impacting on the theme
   • Design, implement and evaluate a response to the issue identified;
   • Disseminate the processes and outcomes of the inquiry/investigation within the school/college;
   • Develop a strategy to sustain curriculum investigation/inquiry within the school/college;
   • Contribute to research and scholarship in the study of the curriculum;
3. A budget detailing how the funds will be spent.

Funded Projects

2025/2026

Community PE for Girls

2024/2025

Secondary school teachers’ preparedness to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) technologies into their practice

2022/2023

Nature connectedness through the Arts: Co creating a curriculum to support pupil wellbeing in primary schools

Towards Curriculum Design Coherence (CDC) in primary geography education for sustainability

Students as the Co-creators of the Sustainability Curriculum: Developing an Introductory Course on Climate Change, Social Justice and Sustainability

2021/22

‘Diversifying our narrative voices’ – decolonising our curriculum on three tiers

Can a whole school curriculum focus on Celebrating Diversity reduce the volume of racist incidents?

Sounding white, sounding right: interrogating language, race and curriculum in secondary education.

2020/2021

Play at the Heart of Scottish Early Years’ Family Learning

An empirical evaluation of ‘Big Questions’ as an organisational framework for interdisciplinary social studies in a Scottish high school

2018/2019 

Local language, school and community: curricular innovation towards closing the attainment gap.

Learning from Variation: How can variation theory can be applied to the use of manipulatives to support understanding of early number?

Exploring task design as an enabler of leading teaching in secondary schools

2016/2017

Diversity and Resolving the Digital Skills Crisis