Duncan Exley
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duncanexley.bsky.social
Duncan Exley
@duncanexley.bsky.social
1.7K followers 2.2K following 470 posts
Not-for-profits struggle to recruit & get the most out of people from non-middle class backgrounds. I can help: Analysis-&-recommendation &/or training.
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duncanexley.bsky.social
A picture of the street in York called The Shambles
November 30, 2025 at 10:38 AM
duncanexley.bsky.social
Apropos of nothing in particular, here's a picture of Pugsley, as seen in the popular Netflix series 'Wednesday':
October 29, 2025 at 2:17 PM
duncanexley.bsky.social
No bushes were beaten around in the naming of this publication

@camraofficial.bsky.social
A picture of the front cover of the CAMRA London’s bimonthly magazine “London Drinker”
October 10, 2025 at 12:43 PM
duncanexley.bsky.social
Attention middle-class cafés:
Please stop trying to justify the price you charge for a cuppa by using fancypants tea bags. The reason they’re not the bestselling brand isn’t just because they cost more. Yorkshire Tea is fine, ta.

Who’s with me on this?
A cup of tea with a Teapigs teabag dangling above it
September 6, 2025 at 3:32 PM
duncanexley.bsky.social
Local transport improvements (e.g. more frequent buses) favoured by low-middle income households.

Airport expansion advocates are overwhelmingly confined to the economic elites
.
August 17, 2025 at 10:22 PM
duncanexley.bsky.social
In all 7 areas: (“overall sense of belonging…, peer relationships, experiences in teaching & learning, college events & activities… staff relationships…. clubs & societies, & financial”) students from ‘lower’ socioeconomic backgrounds faced the strongest barriers to belonging.
.
August 17, 2025 at 12:31 PM
duncanexley.bsky.social
Reminder that today is BTech results day & T-level results day. Not everyone does A-Levels.
A screenshot of the Guardian’s front page. 3 stories about a levels
August 14, 2025 at 7:29 PM
duncanexley.bsky.social
This all reminds me of the scene from the 1985 film Real Genius in which a reel-to-reel tape machine lectures to a room full of tape recorders.
a reel-to-reel tape machine lectures to a room full of tape recorders.
August 3, 2025 at 9:05 AM
duncanexley.bsky.social
I just got an Email from the NHS Blood & Transplant service…

cc @antonytiernan.bsky.social
A screenshot from an email headed “The Donor Summer 2025” A picture of Donna Summer
August 1, 2025 at 11:21 AM
duncanexley.bsky.social
Spain’s manager looks familiar
#lionesses #moomins
The Moomins character “Little My”
July 27, 2025 at 6:35 PM
duncanexley.bsky.social
Preparing to support my national team, looking for tips in @sundersays.bsky.social’s “How to be a Patriot” #Lionesses
Duncan Exley in a pub holding a pint, with a copy of “ how to be a patriot”
July 27, 2025 at 3:49 PM
duncanexley.bsky.social
My favourite feedback so far this year
A LinkedIn message that says “Eres un caballero y un escolar”
July 6, 2025 at 12:49 PM
duncanexley.bsky.social
#AI
A screenshot of the results of a google search, showing 2 items: 1) “The Financial Times’ best summer fiction for 2025” 2) “AI overview: The Financial Times has not yet released its list of best summer fiction for 2025”
June 29, 2025 at 8:16 AM
duncanexley.bsky.social
I thought I saw Van Morrison on my street this morning, but on closer inspection it was just a Morrison's van.
an archive photo of Van Morrison in his trademark black trilby
June 10, 2025 at 7:11 AM
duncanexley.bsky.social
I rather like this one
A screenshot from googlemaps, in the centre of which is a village called Ducklington
June 8, 2025 at 9:41 AM
duncanexley.bsky.social
I am currently enjoying AI’s attempt to tell me about “piccalilli shin pads”

www.google.com/search?clien...
#HalfManHalfBiscuit
A screenshot that reads ‘AI Overview: Piccalilli shin pads, often mentioned alongside the "ChienAndalucia Joy Division Oven Gloves," seem to be a reference to a specific product or a particular style/brand of shin pads. Reviews for these shin pads are scarce and primarily revolve around the oven gloves, which are sometimes noted as going well with the shin pads’
June 2, 2025 at 9:54 PM
duncanexley.bsky.social
"When you take care of the economic stuff, when you address the needs of working people, the power of cultural issues to damage progressives just fades away" (Kuttner)

2/2
A poster of William Beveridge holding a mug of tea up to the viewer, with the slogan, "TIME FOR ANOTHER BEVERIDGE"
May 21, 2025 at 8:59 AM
duncanexley.bsky.social
“…disregarding the bag-carrying classes and non-white people”
A screenshot from the front page of the BBC News headline, which says “British mountaineer sets record 19th Everest summit… Kenton cool has broken his own record for the most climbs up the worlds tallest peak for a non-Sherpa” illustrated with a picture of Mount Everest.
May 19, 2025 at 7:07 AM
duncanexley.bsky.social
Leytonstone High Road station 21.21, 09 May 25
Leytonstone High Road station at dusk
May 9, 2025 at 8:28 PM
duncanexley.bsky.social
“Anyone attempting to upstage the performer by wearing a more showbiz jacket will be removed by security”
In the foreground a singer, in profile sings into a microphone, in the background, a child on the stairs in a glittery jacket is being removed by an adult dressed in black
April 22, 2025 at 7:12 PM
duncanexley.bsky.social
This excerpt (pictured) is also relevant to this post bsky.app/profile/luke... on how ‘progressive activists’ tend to alienate potential supporters (e.g. separate data shows that Remainers are worse than Leavers at understanding their opponents’ views, but think they’re better at it!)
Except that reads “Here’s another weakness of the misinformation discourse: that this is uniquely a problem on one “side”. Research finds that while America’s conservatives are on average more likely to believe false statements about climate change, liberals are more likely to believe false statements about nuclear power. Other studies of the US find those who went to college are no better judges of news veracity than those with only high school education.”
March 22, 2025 at 5:45 PM
duncanexley.bsky.social
#InternationalDevelopment:

How the (huge) underrepresentation of people from 'lower' socioeconomic backgrounds contributes to public scepticism about the effectiveness of international development & makes it easier for government to cut development spending

img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/a0...
The front cover of “A Profession for The Privileged?” A report by Diversity in Development
March 21, 2025 at 12:52 PM
duncanexley.bsky.social
At the end of a tiring week, having a lie in, recharging by curling up with an escapist read.
A black & white cat (Archie) luxuriating on a duvet next to a copy of John Larison’s Whiskey When We’re Dry
March 9, 2025 at 11:39 AM
duncanexley.bsky.social
Why “students from disadvantaged backgrounds [are] more likely to attend… less selective university courses than their entry grades would permit”

ucl.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
#WideningParticipation #HigherEd #SocialMobility @cepeo-ucl.bsky.social
An event invite that says “Reach for the stars: Inequalities in university applications and their role in student-degree match Professor Gill Wyness (UCL) Thursday 6th March 2025, 15:00 (UK Time)”
March 3, 2025 at 11:56 AM
duncanexley.bsky.social
An excerpt from the page to which the post links, which says “This event is aimed at people from Black, Asian and other minority ethnic groups, people with work-limiting health conditions or impairments, young adults with caring responsibilities (including young parents), mature students, people from lower-income backgrounds, care leavers and LGBT+ students”.
March 2, 2025 at 3:39 PM