Dr Andrew Thomas’s social policy research helped pave the way for major changes in the way the British state operates, ranging from the development of HMRC’s web-based tax returns to the ending of statutory retirement ages.
Yet Andrew (OE 1966-1971), who is now fully retired himself, started his working life in a very different field, going into retail banking when he left QE after his first term of A-levels.
“Although I enjoyed school enormously and made many friends, I did not enjoy lessons – at the time I was not very academic,” he said. He was a choirboy during his QE years at St Mary’s Church, East Barnet, where both choirmasters were QE Physics teachers! Pictured here are Mr ARW ‘Gabby’ Hayes (third from the left in the second row) and Mr Donald Fairbairn (sixth from the left, also second row), with Andrew, aged about 12 or 13 (back row, second from the right).
He left banking after three years to attend Barnet College of FE (1974 – 1976) to take A-levels, and then went on to read Psychology at York University. There he was offered a Social Science Research Council grant to pursue his undergraduate research. He later gained his doctorate, also at York, and was awarded the KM Stott prize for distinguished post-graduate research.
Andrew initially worked as a Research Fellow for St Marys Hospital Medical School and Charing Cross Medical School exploring, with a consultant paediatrician and a speech therapist, The transition to adulthood for young people with physical and learning disabilities (1983 – 1988) – research that was published in a number medical and scientific publications, including the British Medical Journal. He even published one academic article jointly with his brother, Roger Thomas (who was featured in the Summer Term edition of QE Connect), on how to prevent children from smoking.
Subsequently moving into social policy research, using qualitative methods, he worked for eight years for the National Centre for Social Research. He left to set up a new Social Policy Research Centre at BMRB/Kantar, where he was promoted to Director after a year.
In all, he spent 19 years with BMRB/Kantar, undertaking and managing some 350 social policy research projects. “While I undertook research for the majority of Government departments, my main clients were the Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue & Customs and the Department of Employment. 90% of the research is in the public domain.”
He retired from the company in 2015 and went freelance. Fully retired since COVID-19 hit in 2020, he maintains an interest in social policy issues, but his focus in retirement is more community-orientated: he is a church warden, treasurer for two church councils, and chair of his local parish council. He is pictured, top with his wife, Mona.
Director of Music Ruth Partington: “It was lovely to hear from Indrajit and I am so pleased that he has secured this scholarship. During his senior years as a pupil here, he was a mainstay of our concert support and was much valued within the Music department!
The award is sponsored by AIR studios in Hampstead, established by Beatles producer Sir George Martin.
His A-level Music composition, Sonata for Live Piano and Electronics, broke new ground at QE with its blend of digital technology and live performance.
“My role at School has been fundamental in gaining knowledge and experience. I’ve been able to push the boundaries and use new techniques,” he said in the summer. “I go into my degree feeling very confident and a step ahead.”
QE also came second (just behind Henrietta Barnett) among state-funded schools in the overall Sunday Times Parent Power rankings for the year, which are based on both A-level and GCSE results. This year’s A-level cohort performed very strongly indeed at the highest grades – 52.9% of A-levels taken were at A* – while the story was similar at GCSE, with 87% gaining grades 8-9.
“Since we are a selective school, it is true that our boys are very bright, but the evidence shows QE brings out the very best from them. Our Progress 8 value-added measure at GCSE was +1.22, which means that pupils here achieved on average more than a grade higher in their GCSEs than would have been expected based on their attainment at primary school.
His light-hearted attempt to flee – an action which could once have resulted in him being shot – came part-way through the busy trip, during which the group of senior pupils focused on Berlin’s history over the past 100 years or more.
Visiting the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and the Jewish Museum
The groups formed from those staying in each room at the hotel had to deliver a presentation in German about a cultural highlight. Pictured is one group delivering theirs on a visit to the Treptower Park, a popular spot with Berliners, which houses the Soviet War Memorial. Each room also prepared a round for the party’s quiz night.