Clients & Testimonials

Trusted by universities, national funders and third-sector partners

Selected clients & funders

I also hold ongoing Associate roles at Advance HE, The Brilliant Club, Skills for Inclusion and CooperGibson Consulting.

Selected projects

Research Supervision Programme (RSVP) Evaluation
Principal Investigator, leading design and delivery of a UK-wide doctoral supervision evaluation before moving into independent consultancy in 2025
Research England, 2023–2025
Yorkshire Consortium for Equity in Doctoral Education (YCEDE) Evaluation
Principal Investigator, leading a mixed-methods evaluation of postgraduate research access and progression before moving into independent consultancy in 2025
OfS / Research England, 2021–2025
Theory of Change for the Athena Swan Charter: development
Led development of the Theory of Change and logic model, including facilitation of consultative stakeholder workshops
Advance HE, 2024
Theory of Change for the Athena Swan Charter: refresh
Led an update to the Theory of Change in light of impact evaluation findings
Advance HE, 2026
Teacher Development Programmes: Theory of Change
Principal Investigator and project manager
Department for Education, 2025
HeppSY Uni Connect Programme Evaluation
Evaluation and Data Manager and Principal Investigator, monitoring, impact and process evaluation of a £30m widening participation programme
DfE / OfS, 2017–2020
Summer Active Reading Programme & TextNow Transition
Project Manager, EEF-funded RCTs on reading engagement and transitions
Education Endowment Foundation, 2014
Bookbuzz & Booked Up reading-for-pleasure evaluations
Evaluation lead, published as Lucy Shipton
Booktrust, 2012–2013

News

Forthcoming book chapter: co-authoring a chapter on evaluating curriculum-embedded academic literacy interventions with Liz McGrath and Lisa Austen, in N. Murray (ed.) Embedding Academic Literacies in Higher Education
Cambridge University Press
2026

What clients say

“Lucy brings structure, clarity and calm to complex initiatives, guiding teams with confidence and purpose.”

— Dr Stuart Bevins, Principal Research Fellow, Sheffield Hallam University

“Organised, proactive and creative, Lucy ensured the Theory of Change process stayed on track while adapting to our context.”

— Sally Baden, Senior Adviser Inclusive Institutions, Advance HE

“Extremely knowledgeable in evaluation, Lucy continually improves data collection and develops our theory of change with great leadership.”

— Raj Mann, Project Manager, YCEDE

“Her expertise in monitoring and evaluation created a lasting impact, establishing a robust foundation that continues to benefit the project.”

— Chuanyan Zhu, HE researcher and evaluator

“Calm, methodical and a strong project manager, Lucy helped get the ASPIRE project back on track and supported our team throughout.”

— Dr Ifedapo Francis Awolowo, Senior Lecturer, Sheffield Hallam University