Miles Thomas featured

Dr Miles Thomas

Research Director

Educational and Child Psychology

Department of Psychology & Human Development , School of Childhood and Social Care

Dr Miles Thomas is an HCPC-registered Educational and Child Psychologist. He is currently the Research Director for the Professional Doctorate in Educational and Child Psychology and Chairperson of the Institute for Science in the Early Years and Youth (ISEY) at UEL.

Areas Of Interest

  • Educational Psychology
  • Solution-Focused Approaches
  • Organisational Change
  • Coaching Psychology
  • Social Emotional and Mental Health of Children and Young People
Miles Thomas featured

OVERVIEW

Miles Thomas completed his Postgraduate Certificate in Education at the University of Bath and taught in the UK and Spain. He has an MSc. in Educational Psychology and a Doctorate in Child and Educational Psychology from UEL. He is an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He has a particular interest in Educational Psychology, Solution-Focused Approaches, Organisational Change, Coaching and the Social, Emotional and Mental Health of Children and Young People.

Miles worked as an EP for over 25 years in Local Authorities. This included senior specialist, management and strategic leadership roles. He joined the Doctorate in Educational and Child Psychology Tutor Team at UEL in 2006. He was initially Head of Years 2 and 3 and became Programme Director in 2016. He is now Research Director and has supervised over 50 professional doctorates to completion as Director of Studies. 

PUBLICATIONS

Selected recent publications

Miles is founding Editor of Educational Research and Practice (EPRaP) Educational Psychology Research and Practice (EPRAP) | University of East London  

Lazell, L. and Thomas, M. (2026) Weapon and conflict play in early childhood: A critical literature review Research in Teacher Education Vol.16. No 1. May 2026 pp.9-15  

Thomas, M. (2025). Educational Psychology Research and Practice (EPRaP); A Ten-Year Anniversary Retrospective [Editorial]. Educational Psychology Research and Practice, 11(2), 1-3.  

Gellett, R., Sadana, E., Batuwitage, S. and Thomas, M. (2024) Systematic literature review exploring the impact group coaching has for parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities. BPS The Coaching Psychologist Vol 20, No. 2, Dec 2024 

Doyle, M. and Thomas, M. (2022). Teacher perceptions of mental health provision in secondary schools during the Covid-19 pandemic Research in Teacher Education Vol (12) 1 p12-19

Please visit the UEL research repository to view a full list of publications.

EXTERNAL ROLES

Miles is External Programme Examiner for the Professional Doctorate in Educational Psychology at Bristol University.

INDUSTRY PARTNERS

Miles currently collaborates with Hackney Parent Coaching Service to provide accessible support for parents of children with complex needs. In his work with the Institute for Science in the Early Years and Youth (ISEY) he has been developing a relational Early Years curriculum and Parenting support model. ISEY | Explore, Learn, Engage

Publications

Browse past publications by year.

Full publications list

Visit the research repository to view a full list of publications

Research repository

  • Thomas, M. (2021)

    Editorial Educational Psychology Research and Practice. 7 (2), p. 1. https://doi.org/10.15123/uel.8q735

    Article

Teaching