Our research topics

These reports cover the general experiences, circumstances and opinions of blind and partially sighted people. The reports are listed in chronological order with the latest research at the top.

View our general research here

Our ‘Voice of the customer’ is an ongoing programme which includes a regular survey of around 400 people with sight loss, analysis of what people are talking about on our social media channels, and monthly focus groups which allow us to dive deeper into issues. You can view the reports on this here.

Our research on education, children, young people and families looks into the accessibility of exams, education attainment and provisions of educational services.

Participation of disabled children in inclusive education is now well established in policy and practice. However, evidence shows that the quality of provision is patchy, that learning materials are not consistently made available in alternative formats and that a drift towards generic services is depriving blind and partially sighted children and young people of specialist support.

• There are over 25,000 children with a vision impairment aged 0 to 16 years in the UK, and an additional 15,000 children aged 17 to 25 years.
• Around 2 in every 1,000 children in the UK has a vision impairment.
• Around 50 per cent of children and young people with vision impairment have additional special educational needs or disabilities.
• Children with vision impairment have worse educational outcomes than those without a special educational needs or disability.

Research in this area includes the accessibility of exams, education attainment and provision of educational services by local authorities.

View our education and children, young people and families research here

Read our Freedom of Information (FOI) Reports

External research

In addition to the education research carried out by or on behalf of RNIB, there are some key external research reports that may be of interest.

Post-16 transition experience of visually impaired young people in England and Wales: Early findings from a longitudinal study

The British Journal of Visual Impairment recently published this article which describes a longitudinal study which is tracking the progress of 78 young people with visual impairments in England and Wales as they make this transition.

• Visit the BJVI website for the online version of the article.

Oversight of special education for young people aged 16-25

Earlier in the year the National Audit Office (NAO) carried out a review of education and transition of young people with SEN, which RNIB contributed to. We also encouraged young people, and professionals, to take part in the consultation. The final report is now published.

• Read the report on the National Audit Office website

International review of the literature of evidence of best practice models and outcomes in the education of blind and visually impaired children

This review, commissioned by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) in the Republic of Ireland, was carried out by researchers at the University of Birmingham and St Patrick's College, Dublin.

• Read the report on the National Council for Special Education website

Progression post-16 for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities

This survey, carried out by Ofsted, evaluates the arrangements for transition from school and the provision in post-16 settings for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities up to the age of 25.

• Read the report on the Ofsted website

These reports cover the employment status of blind and partially sighted people of working age and the barriers they face with employment. The reports are listed in chronological order with the latest research at the top.

Blind and partially sighted people are significantly less likely to be in paid employment than the general population or other disabled people.

• One in four registered blind and partially sighted people are in employment, and this hasn’t significantly changed in a generation.
• There are approximately 84,500 registered blind and partially sighted people of working age in the UK.
• In recent research, blind and partially sighted people rated employment as the second biggest barrier they face in living their lives

The one in four statistic above is taken from My Voice, which is a valuable source of evidence on the experiences of blind and partially sighted people in relation to employment. Our Sight Loss Data Tool provided the numbers of people with sight loss of working age. This page includes links to a range of reports about the difficulties people with sight loss face with employment.

View our employment research here

Public health messages on the consequences of smoking, obesity, diabetes or high blood pressure rarely highlight that they could lead to the loss of your sight.

• Every day 250 people start to lose their sight.
• One in five people will live with sight loss in their lifetime.
• The number of people with sight loss is increasing. By 2050 it will double to over four million people.
• 25 per cent of UK adults have not had an eye test in two years or more.

Ensuring people access eye care services and are supported to take the medicines they need are crucial to preventing avoidable sight loss. The statistics above are taken from Incidence and risk of sight loss and blindness in the UK and State of the Nation 2017. These reports can be found below along with further research on eye health in the UK.

View our eye health research here

People affected by sight loss tell us that doing their own shopping and being in control of their finances is important for their self-esteem and sense of independence, but few blind and partially sighted people manage to cope on their own.

• One in five blind and partially sighted people said they have some or great difficulty in making ends meet.
• Financial hardship affects people with sight loss of working age the most. Almost half of 30–49-year-olds and just over one third of 50–64-year-olds struggle financially.
• Benefits are available to people with sight loss to help with the extra costs associated with disability. However, 28 per cent of blind and partially sighted people said that the disability benefits they received were rarely or never enough to meet the extra costs incurred as a result of their sight loss.
• People with sight loss were twice as likely to have difficulty managing financially than the UK average; and they are less likely to be regular savers.

The stats above are taken from 'My Voice' and 'Understanding Society', which both provide information about the financial circumstances of blind and partially sighted people. Further research on this topic can be found below.

View our money, benefits and finance research here