Professor Susan James Relly

Head of School

School of Education

Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.


Susan completed a B.Ed at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia, and read for a MSc in Comparative and International Education and a DPhil in Education at the University of Oxford. Susan’s entire career has been in education in various forms: she taught in secondary schools in Australia and England before starting her academic career.

Susan’s research interests are in the following areas:

Technical and vocational education and training policy
Vocational excellence
Apprenticeship
Work based and professional learning
Quality and esteem in FE
Territory landscape
Skills economy

Susan is an Honorary Research Fellow and former Deputy Director of the Department of Education at the University of Oxford.

  • Journals

    Year Citation
    2022 James Relly, S., & Laczik, A. (2022). Apprenticeship, employer engagement and vocational formation: a process of collaboration. Journal of Education and Work, 35(1), 1-15.
    DOI Scopus8
    2022 Relly, S. J., & Robson, J. (2022). Unpacking the tensions between local and national skills policy: employers, colleges and Local Enterprise Partnerships as collaborative anchors. London Review of Education, 20(1), 12 pages.
    DOI
    2021 James Relly, S. (2021). The political rhetoric of parity of esteem. Oxford Review of Education, 47(4), 513-528.
    DOI Scopus8
    2021 James Relly, S. (2021). Moving from competence to excellence: the role of training managers in providing pedagogical leadership in UK further education. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 45(5), 704-716.
    DOI Scopus4
    2016 Chankseliani, M., & Relly, S. J. (2016). Three-capital approach to the study of young people who excel in vocational occupations: A case of worldskills competitors and entrepreneurship. International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training, 3(1), 46-65.
    DOI Scopus4
    2016 Tholen, G., Relly, S. J., Warhurst, C., & Commander, J. (2016). Higher education, graduate skills and the skills of graduates: the case of graduates as residential sales estate agents. British Educational Research Journal, 42(3), 508-523.
    DOI Scopus32
    2016 Chankseliani, M., James Relly, S., & Laczik, A. (2016). Overcoming vocational prejudice: how can skills competitions improve the attractiveness of vocational education and training in the UK?. British Educational Research Journal, 42(4), 582-599.
    DOI Scopus28
    2015 Chankseliani, M., & James Relly, S. (2015). From the provider-led to an employer-led system: implications of apprenticeship reform on the private training market. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 67(4), 515-528.
    DOI Scopus6
    2015 Wilde, S., & Relly, S. J. (2015). WorldSkills UK training managers: Midas touch or fool's gold?. International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training, 2(2), 85-98.
    DOI Scopus3
    2013 James, S., Warhurst, C., Tholen, G., & Commander, J. (2013). What we know and what we need to know about graduate skills. Work, Employment and Society, 27(6), 952-963.
    DOI
    2012 Keep, E., & James, S. (2012). A Bermuda triangle of policy? 'Bad jobs', skills policy and incentives to learn at the bottom end of the labour market. JOURNAL OF EDUCATION POLICY, 27(2), 211-230.
    DOI
  • Book Chapters

    Year Citation
    2022 Relly, S. J. (2022). Understanding the Purpose and Standing of Technical and Vocational Education and Training. In S. Billett, E. Stalder, V. Aarkrog, S. Choy, S. Hodge, & A. H. Le (Eds.), The Standing of Vocational Education and the Occupations It Serves. Current Concerns and Strategies For Enhancing That Standing (Vol. 32, pp. 49-62). Springer International Publishing.
    DOI Scopus3
  • Position: Head of School
  • Phone: 83135692
  • Email: susan.jamesrelly@adelaide.edu.au
  • Campus: North Terrace
  • Building: 10 Pulteney Street - Nexus 10 Tower, floor Eighth Floor
  • Org Unit: School of Education

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