Role
Dr Rolph is Associate Professor of Education Policy and Practice, and the Director of Nottingham Institute of Education - one of the country's foremost providers of initial teacher training, and a recognised centre for the study of education. He has taught on range of courses including: joint honours in education; secondary initial teacher education; MA education. He continues to supervise a number of doctoral students. He is keen to develop new partnerships with institutions at home and abroad, and is firmly committed to a collaborative approach to education at all levels, in which developments in teaching and learning are based on robust research.
Career overview
After completing a PhD in astrophysics and a post-doctoral post, Dr Rolph began teaching in secondary schools. Over 10 years in the classroom he achieved accreditation as an Advanced Skills Teacher before becoming a secondary headteacher, leading 3 schools over the next 13 years. During this time he carried out funded research projects for the TDA and NCSL, and published papers with SSAT. He joined NTU in 2016, becoming Director of Nottingham Institute of Education in 2019.
Research areas
Dr Rolph’s research interests include education policy, the education to employment transition, school leadership, accountability and performativity, change management, curriculum design, gender equity, and higher education.
Sponsors and collaborators
Dr Rolph works with a large number of colleagues around the world, including:
- Dr Alfred Kitawi, Strathmore University
- Prof Samson Ondigi, Kenyatta University
- Dr Mousumi Mukherjee, OP Jindal Global University
- Dr Melanie Nash, RMIT University
- Dr Doris Ittner, PH Bern
- Prof Lucian Ciolan, University of Bucharest
Publications
Books:
Rolph, C. (ed) (2024) Supervising Doctoral Candidates. Leeds: Emerald.
Rolph, C. (2023) Understanding Education Policy. London: Sage.
Other selected publications:
Rolph, C. and Kitawi, A. (2025) Neoliberal metrics and a curriculum for competence. BERA Blog 14 March 2025. https://www.bera.ac.uk/blog/neoliberal-metrics-and-a-curriculum-for-competence
Rolph, C., Williams, S. and Varley, M. (2024) Grit Evaluation: Report on NTU’s evaluation of a Grit approach to Local Authority training for social work teams. Nottingham: NTU. https://www.ntu.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0032/2477642/NTU-Grit-Evaluation.pdf
Rolph, C. (2024) The orthodoxy of English education. BERA Research Intelligence 160, 24-25.
Rolph, C. and Wood, P. (2024) Democracy and education (editorial). BERA Research Intelligence 160, 17.
Rolph, C. D. (2023) RAAC in schools: how poor funding and missing data led to closures. The Conversation 6 September 2023. https://theconversation.com/raac-in-uk-schools-how-poor-funding-and-missing-data-led-to-closures-212812
Rolph, C.D. (2023) Exam results 2023: how to make sense of 'grade deflation' as A grades fall. The Conversation 17 August 2023. https://theconversation.com/exam-results-2023-how-to-make-sense-of-grade-deflation-as-a-grades-fall-211708
Rolph, C.D. (2022) What the autumn statement means for financially struggling schools. The Conversation 23 November 2022. https://theconversation.com/what-the-autumn-statement-means-for-financially-struggling-schools-195029
Vare, P., Oberholzer, L., Ahmad, M.S., Durham, H., James, J., Lee, H., Linse, C., Lofthouse, R., McGrath, S., Meehan, U., Ovenden-Hope, T., Price, L., Rolph, C.D., Sampson Chappell, L., Seymour, M., Smith, R., Sturrock, S., & Watson, K. (2022) Golden thread or gilded cage? An analysis of DfE support for the continuing professional development of teachers. UCET Position Paper. London: UCET.
Rolph, C.D. (2022) Schools in England are facing bankruptcy—here’s what the government could do to help. The Conversation 28 October 2022 https://theconversation.com/schools-in-england-are-facing-bankruptcy-heres-what-the-government-could-do-to-help-193142
Rolph, C.D. (2022) The cost of living crisis will hit schools hard. The Conversation 12 September 2022 https://theconversation.com/the-cost-of-living-crisis-will-hit-schools-hard-190186
Rolph, C.D. (2022) Post-pandemic: return or reset? BERA Blog 16 February 2022 https://www.bera.ac.uk/blog/post-pandemic-return-or-reset
Rolph, C.D. (2021) Using school-level data to investigate the impact of a one-to-one mathematics teaching resource in English primary schools. Education Sciences, 11 (11): 740. DOI doi.org/10.3390/educsci11110740
Rolph, C.D. (2019) Conservative parliamentary majority: what it could mean for schools. The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/conservative-parliamentary-majority-what-it-could-mean-for-schools-128677
Rolph, C.D. (2019) Grammar school expansion: ideology or evidence-based? Public Sector Focus 20 68. https://flickread.com/edition/html/index.php?pdf=5c76bc1d23a89#70
Press expertise
- Education policy
- School leadership and accountability
- Teacher training
- Teacher recruitment
- Science education
- Higher Education
UN Sustainable Development Goals
Chris's work relates to UN Sustainable Development Goals 4 (Quality Education), 5 (Gender Equality) and 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).


