Edward Melhuish is Professor of Human Development at the University of Oxford. He has been the Director of the National Evaluation of Sure Start (2001-2012), the Effective Pre-school Primary & Secondary Education (EPPSE, 1997-2014) and SEED projects. He is currently undertaking longitudinal studies of 4000 children in England and Norway. These studies contributed to social policy in the UK for families, early years services and education, including universal provision of pre-school for all 3 & 4 year-olds and establishing 3500 Children’s Centres, Every Child Matters and 10-Year Childcare strategies, and early education for 2-year-olds for the 40% most disadvantaged. He has given evidence to parliamentary committees and is an advisor to research councils in Norway, Finland, Portugal, Germany, Netherlands, Australia, Korea, Canada, USA, Chile, and the European Commission, OECD and WHO.