Between Classrooms and Clinics (V1.0)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Between Classrooms and Clinics: Exploring the Learning Capabilities of Frequently Absent Students with Cystic Fibrosis.
IRAS ID
369551
Contact name
Kathy Chandler
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Lancaster University, Head of Research Quality and Policy
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
EdRes-2025-5799-EdAp-2, Lancaster University REAMS ethics application (approved)
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
Provision for students who frequently miss school/college due to hospitalisation and chronic illness is under-researched, and is likely to be highly inequitable in the UK due to the sporadic nature of hospital schooling. This study aims to conduct semi-structured narrative online interviews via Microsoft Teams with children aged 11-18 with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) to learn their stories of how absences due to CF have affected their education and learning capabilities. CF has been chosen to add a consistent variable to the sample. It is also a disease the student researcher has personal experience with and has been researched very little in an educational context. This research hopes to identify what strategies have been employed to support students with CF from their education settings, hospitals and home support systems. Ideally, participants will be interviewed who do and do not have access to hospital schooling so that the research can analyse the effects of different approaches to education support. East Lancashire Hospital Trust and Great Ormond Street Hospital have agreed to support recruitment as Participant Identification Centres. The aim is to recruit 6-12 participants in total. To help participants in interviews, they will have the option of generating a creative visual method (such as a storyboard or collage) to tell the story of their educational journey which they will use as a stimulus for discussion in our interview. For participants in the younger age range (approximately 11-13) or any with pre-disclosed additional needs, the interview schedule will be adapted accordingly to streamline and simplify the questions. An indicative streamlined interview schedule is provided with this application. Findings aim to be of use to schools, colleges and hospitals that support students with chronic illnesses. This research is receiving no funding.
REC name
West of Scotland REC 5
REC reference
26/WS/0088
Date of REC Opinion
22 Jun 2026
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion