Award-winning study into Scotland's most vulnerable children receives new funding
A new phase of research will track looked after children through adolescence and early adulthood.
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An award-winning University of Stirling-led study into the lives of Scotland's most vulnerable children has been awarded £700,000 in funding for a new phase of research.
Permanently Progressing?, the largest study of its kind in the UK, has received almost £500,000 in funding from the Nuffield Foundation and £200,000 from a philanthropic donor for the next phase of the project, which will run for four years.
Since 2014, social scientists from the University of Stirling and Lancaster University have been exploring the pathways, timeframes and experiences of children living with foster carers, kinship carers and adoptive parents. Focusing on all 1,836 children aged five and under who became looked after in Scotland in 2012 and 2013, it is the largest longitudinal cohort study in the UK into care-experienced children’s pathways to permanence.
Phase 1, conducted from 2014 to 2018, analysed children’s pre-care experiences and early outcomes. Phase 2 (2020-24) revisited children in middle childhood. Phases 1 and 2 found it took on average more than two years to find the children a permanent home, and that more than one in 10 were in temporary placements 10 years after becoming looked after.
In recognition of the impact of its findings on social care policy and practice, Phase 2 was named Research Project of the Year at the 2025 Herald Higher Education Awards.
Phase 3 will be another deep dive into the lives of the same cohort of young people, this time tracking them through adolescence and early adulthood. Running from 2026 to 2030, it will build on previous phases to give a dynamic and textured picture of their lives over time and provide a platform for future phases.
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Senior Lecturer in Social Work
Phases 1 and 2 of Permanently Progressing? have already had an impact on policy and practice and we are so pleased to have secured funding for a third phase of this important study.
Researchers will draw on administrative data, and surveys and interviews with young people, parents and caregivers, as well as focus groups with care professionals. The findings will make a difference to the lives of care-experienced children, young people, and their families by providing a robust evidence base for policy and practice, say the experts behind the study.
The study lead, Dr Helen Whincup of the University of Stirling, said: “Phases 1 and 2 of Permanently Progressing? have already had an impact on policy and practice and we are so pleased to have secured funding for a third phase of this important study. The team and I are really looking forward to revisiting the young people, parents, and caregivers who we previously met, and to recruiting new participants.”
Phase 1 of the study was funded by the same philanthropic donor who part-funded Phase 2 and is part-funding Phase 3. Phases 2 and 3 of the study have been part-funded by the Nuffield Foundation.
Permanently Progressing? is a collaboration between University of Stirling, Lancaster University and the Association for Fostering, Kinship and Adoption (AFKA).
UN Sustainable development goals
The University of Stirling is ranked among the top 200 institutions in the world for its contribution to meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The research or activity detailed above relates to the following SDGs.
