This paper is based on my 2013 IFS Annual Lecture and it explores the reasons for the substantial interest that economists currently have in education research. To do so, it sets the economics of education field in its historical context, and explores a number of reasons why the research area has grown by so much in recent years. The role of economic research in the making of education policy has also increased through time, for some of the same reasons, and this has played a significant part in the use of evidence‐based policy in a range of areas of education.