Ellie Harris

Principal research fellow and head of children and young people

Ellie is a principal research fellow and head of children and young people's policy at IPPR. 

At IPPR, Ellie works on a range of topics across public services, focused on how services deliver for children and young people. This includes education, early years, family and youth policy. Ellie is an experienced policy maker who specialises in turning evidence into actionable recommendations and uses her skills as an evaluator and qualitative researcher to build evidence-based policy.

Before joining IPPR in 2026, Ellie was Director of Policy and Evidence at an education charity, Head of Policy at the What Works Centre for Children and Families, and a senior policy advisor at the Department for Education.  

More from this author:

  1. A group of primary school aged children using ipads around a table, a little girl smiles at the camera

    "Primary is what comes first": How end of key stage 2 exams impact disadvantaged children

    End of primary school tests need reform to work better for the children who need the most support at school.

  2. Britain’s broken social contract: Young people have lost faith in their future

    Drawing on new evidence, this blog examines the decline in young people’s optimism about work, success and social mobility, and argues for a new deal to rebuild trust in Britain’s social contract.
  3. Rear view of unrecognizable people walking together on the street

    A tough hand: Why rising youth inactivity demands urgent action

    On Thursday, new data will likely show the number of young people who will be out of education, employment or training (NEET) will surpass 1 million for the first time since 2013.