Robyn Long

Robyn Long is a DPhil student in the Department of Social Policy and Intervention at the University of Oxford. She completed the MSc in Evidence-Based Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation, receiving the 2026 Teresa Smith Award for the course’s best thesis. Robyn's research asks whether Access and Participation Plans, the main policy used in England to reduce inequality in higher education, achieve what they set out to do. Her project examines what universities can reasonably be expected to change, whether outcomes for students from disadvantaged backgrounds have improved since the policy was introduced, and whether the investment offers good value.

Alongside her part-time studies, Robyn is Head of Access and Participation Plan Research and Evaluation at the University of Sussex, where she leads numerous evaluations each year. She sits on the NERUPI Steering Group and chairs its APP Working Group. She works with and feeds into numerous sector bodies and organisations, including NEON, FACE, QAA, and the TASO Sector Network. Robyn is a trustee of the charity EduBoost, supporting schools, colleges and universities to build, test and scale evidence-based solutions to educational inequalities.