[citation needed] He was a postgraduate student at the London School of Economics, where he was awarded a Master of Science degree[when?]

[4] In his final six meetings on the MPC, Nickell was the only member in favour of a decrease in the repo rate by 25 basis points; all the other members voted to maintain the repo rate at 4.5%[5][6][7][8][9] with the exception of David Walton who supported an increase by 25 basis points in Nickell's final meeting.

He was warden of Nuffield College, Oxford, from 2006 to 2012, and was the first chair of the National Housing and Planning Advice Unit from June 2007 until November 2009.

[11] In June 2007, when interviewed on the state of the UK housing market he was quoted as saying, "It might settle back a little, or remain relatively flat for a bit, but I don't think there's any fundamental overvaluation.

'[12] The Bank of England estimated that by Q1 2009, due to declining house prices, 7% of owner-occupied mortgagors were in negative equity, equivalent to around 700,000 households.

from July 2009, "The Impact of Immigration on Occupational Wages: Evidence from Britain" which was a joint paper written with Jumana Saleheen from October 2009, and "Does Relative Income Matter?