In order to establish an evidence base that would help inform programming and advocacy responses in the education sector, more information was needed in terms of what studies existed, their quality and any gaps in the evidence. In response, ODI was commissioned by UNAIDS to carry out a stocktaking review of research on HIV and AIDS in the education sector and assess the quality of evidence in documents. The first part of this paper summarises key findings and gaps in research identified from the assessment of literature on the impact of education on HIV and AIDS. Building on the framework developed for the assessment, the second part of the paper draws out some recommendations for conducting high quality research, using some of the reviewed literature to provide examples of good practice. While the recommendations identify implications for policy and communications as key aspects of carrying out quality research, the assessment did not in itself explore in great detail the relationship between quality research and its impact on policy and programming.