What British Educational Research Association does

British Educational Research Association (BERA) is a UK-registered charity (Charity Number 1150237) founded in 1974 that functions as the national professional association for educational researchers. Its core activities span four peer-reviewed academic journals published in partnership with Wiley — the British Journal of Educational Technology (BJET), the British Educational Research Journal (BERJ), the Review of Education, and the Curriculum Journal — alongside the BERA Blog, the Research Intelligence magazine, the BERA Guides book series with Emerald Publishing, an annual conference, Special Interest Groups across research sub-fields, awards and grants programs, and research-funding administration in partnership with bodies such as the Kusuma Trust.

The association operates a community-led, membership-based business model. Revenue is generated through individual and institutional membership fees, journal subscription and article-processing income routed through Wiley, conference and event registration fees, book royalties via Emerald Publishing, and grant-administration fees. BERA serves educational researchers, academics, teacher practitioners, doctoral students, and education policy professionals primarily in the UK but with international reach through its journal portfolio and membership base. Operations are supported by a small secretariat of 1-10 employees headquartered in London, consistent with the lean organizational profile of a learned society.

As a registered charity, BERA does not publicly disclose revenue or engage in equity fundraising or M&A activity. Its strategic posture is that of a long-tenured incumbent professional body modernizing its governance, expanding its product and partnership footprint, and strengthening its editorial and funding-administration roles within the UK educational research ecosystem.

Name

British Educational Research Association

Legal name

British Educational Research Association

Website

https://www.bera.ac.uk/

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

British Educational Research Association is a UK-registered charity founded in 1974 that serves as the national professional membership body for educational researchers, publishing peer-reviewed journals, hosting conferences, and administering research funding.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Annual membership subscriptions providing access to BERA journals, Research Intelligence, community membership, and event discounts. Membership year runs January 1-December 31 with various rates including student pricing.
2. Conference and Event Registration: Fees for annual conference (BERA Conference 2026 at University of Manchester), virtual conferences, seminars, and coffee hour events. Discounted rates for members.
3. Publications and Books: Revenue from BERA publications including The BERA Guides series published with Emerald Publishing. Members receive 40% discount.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

BERA is a UK-based nonprofit professional association that serves educational researchers, practitioners, teachers, and policymakers. Its core offerings include annual membership subscriptions providing access to four peer-reviewed journals (BJET, BERJ, Review of Education, Curriculum Journal), the Research Intelligence digital magazine, an annual conference, the BERA Guides book series published with Emerald Publishing, special interest group communities, awards (John Nisbet Fellowship, BCF Curriculum Investigation Grant, Educational Research Book of the Year), and funding opportunities.

Product overview

The British Educational Research Association (BERA) is a professional association offering a unified platform of products and services for the educational research community. The core portfolio consists of four peer-reviewed journals (British Journal of Educational Technology, British Educational Research Journal, Review of Education, and Curriculum Journal), the BERA Blog with accompanying BERA Bites series, Research Intelligence magazine, and The BERA Guides book series published with Emerald Publishing. BERA also organizes annual conferences, administers awards and funding opportunities, and provides membership with access to Special Interest Groups and ethical guidance publications. The offerings are designed to support scholars, practitioners, and everyone engaged in educational research.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• BERA Blog: A platform for research-informed content on key educational issues established in 2015
• BERA Journals
• BERA Guides
• BERA Teacher Network
• Early Career Researcher Network
• Neurodivergent Researchers Network

Products and services

• BERA Membership Annual membership program providing individual educational researchers, practitioners, and teachers with access to BERA Journals, the latest digital issue of Research Intelligence, community membership (Special Interest Groups), member discounts on events and publications, funding opportunities, and awards.
• BERA Journals Portfolio of four peer-reviewed academic journals covering educational research, educational technology, curriculum studies, and education policy, distributed globally through Wiley Online Library.
• British Journal of Educational Technology (BJET) Leading peer-reviewed journal focused on educational technology research, ranked 6/760 in the Education and Educational Research category with an impact factor of 13.0 in 2025.
• British Educational Research Journal (BERJ) Primary peer-reviewed journal for educational research published by BERA, ranked 108/760 in the Education and Educational Research category with an impact factor of 3.3 in 2025.
• Review of Education Peer-reviewed journal publishing research reviews in education, ranked 75/760 in the Education and Educational Research category with an impact factor of 4.0 in 2025.
• Curriculum Journal Peer-reviewed journal focused on curriculum studies and development, ranked 268/760 in the Education and Educational Research category with an impact factor of 1.9 in 2025.
• The BERA Guides Book series published in partnership with Emerald Publishing providing short, research-informed accessible introductions to key interdisciplinary topics impacting education research and practice. Available at RRP £24 per book with 40% discount for BERA members.
• BERA Conference Annual conference bringing together educational researchers, held at rotating UK university venues (2026 at University of Manchester), with virtual components and member/non-member registration rates including early bird discounts.

Quantifiable outcome

• BJET impact factor increased to 13.0 (from 8.1), ranking 6/760 in Education and Educational Research category - top quartile
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration19 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• WileycoreTechnology or IntegrationWiley is BERA's primary journal publisher, handling the publication and distribution of BERA's four academic journals including the British Journal of Educational Technology, British Educational Research Journal, Review of Education, and Curriculum Journal through Wiley Online Library.
• Emerald PublishingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEmerald Publishing partners with BERA to publish The BERA Guides series - short, research-informed accessible introductions to key interdisciplinary topics impacting education research and practice. The partnership provides BERA members with a 40% discount on books.
• TicketButlerminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTicketButler is BERA's badge printing company for conference and event management.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• American Educational Research Association: The largest national educational research association in the US (founded 1916); comparable as a membership-based learned society publishing flagship journals (e.g., American Educational Research Journal, Review of Educational Research) and hosting the AERA Annual Meeting, mirroring BERA's journal + conference model.
• European Educational Research Association: Pan-European counterpart to BERA; runs the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER) and links national educational research associations, overlapping directly with BERA's member-led, journal-and-conference proposition across Europe.
• Society for Research into Higher Education: UK-based learned society and charity serving higher-education researchers; publishes Studies in Higher Education (via Routledge/Taylor & Francis) and runs an annual research conference — directly comparable membership + journal + event model to BERA.

Regional players

• National Council for Education (UK): UK-based education-sector body focused on practitioner leadership development; overlaps with BERA's Teacher Network and CPD-style offerings for educators across UK regions.
• British Educational Research Association – Ireland Network: Although part of BERA itself, comparable regional educational research networks (e.g., BERA's own regional/Northern Ireland and Ireland engagement activities) show how peer associations operate at sub-UK scale — relevant for understanding BERA's regional footprint.

Broad incumbents

• British Sociological Association: UK learned society publishing Sociology (via SAGE) and the BSA conference; structurally identical to BERA (membership body, journals, annual conference, special interest groups) but in a different academic discipline.
• Royal Statistical Society: Long-established UK learned society offering membership, journals (via Wiley), events, grants and professional accreditation; BERA's combination of membership + journal publishing + awards closely tracks the RSS operating model.
• Academy of Social Sciences: UK umbrella body representing social science associations and providing accreditation, policy advocacy and a collective voice — comparable to BERA's role as the convening body for educational researchers in the UK.

Emerging players

• Comparative Education Society: Smaller, specialist scholarly society focused on comparative and international education research; shares BERA's researcher-audience and SIG-driven model but operates at narrower thematic scope.
• International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement: International research consortium running large-scale comparative studies (TIMSS, PIRLS, PISA-adjacent work); comparable as a non-profit educational research organisation relying on membership/funder support to deliver policy-relevant evidence.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BERANews
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCYfFBnR4eCNd5J4xNpOtRJw
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/british-educational-research-association
• Facebookfacebook.com/BERAUK

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about British Educational Research Association