Professor Peter Urwin from Westminster Business School kicked off the SPE’s Continuing Professional Development series in January with a two-day seminar on using data for the purposes of quantitative evaluation. The aim of the course was to help attendees better understand data analysis to inform strategic policy-making. Peter’s approach is highly example-based, helping to explain how macro models and cost benefit analysis can be used to judge the economic impact of policy decisions.

The student feedback on the course was very positive – including both the pace of learning and the type of material covered, the latter being a combination of both new material and a refresh of students’ existing knowledge. There was a good mix of professional versus academic context to the course and attendees appreciated the ability to update their statistics skills through worked examples.