IPD meta-analysis - The impact of EEF-funded trials on the educational attainment of pupils with English as an additional language (2011-2024) - November 2025

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Kyle

This report uses an Individual Participant Data (IPD) meta-analysis to estimate the overall effect of Education Endowment Foundation (EEF)-funded educational interventions on pupils with English as an Additional Language, defined by time since arrival in the United Kingdom. It summarizes the EEF’s role in education improvement through evidence synthesis, independent evaluations, and practical adoption by stakeholders. The study is conducted across Durham and Teesside research teams and provides a structured approach covering inclusion criteria, bias risk, outcomes, and heterogeneity across trials.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages102

Reading Time4 h 17 min

AccessFree to download

List of abbreviations

Executive summary

1. Introduction

1.1 Time since arrival (TSA)

1.2 Overall impact of the EEF interventions on EAL and its subgroups

1.3 Study objectives

1.4 Research questions (RQs)

1.5 Ethics and data protection

2. Methods

2.1 Inclusion and exclusion criteria

2.2 Robustness and the risk of bias

2.3 Study outcomes

2.4 Generating TSA variable

2.5 Grouping variables

2.6 Simplified IPD meta-analysis model

2.7 Heterogeneity between trials

3. Results and key findings

3.1 Exploratory data analysis

3.2 RQ2.1: Distributio

IPD meta-analysis: The impact of EEF-funded trialson the educational attainment of pupils with English as an additional language (2011-2024) November 2025 Germaine Uwimpuhwe, Sungkyung Kang, Akansha Singh, Mohammad Sayari, Nasima Akhter, Tahani Coolen-Maturi and Jochen Einbeck The Education Endowment Foundation is an independent charity dedicated to breaking the link between family income and education achievement. We support schools, colleges and early years settings to improve teaching and learning for 2 – 19-year-olds through better use of evidence. We do this by: • Summarising evidence. Reviewing the best available evidence on teaching and learning and presenting in an accessible way. • Finding new evidence. Funding independent evaluations of programmes and approaches that aim to raise the attainment of children and young people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. • Putting evidence to use. Supporting education practitioners, as well as policymakers and other organisations, to use evidence in ways that improve teaching and learning. We were set-up in 2011 by the Sutton Trust partnership with Impetus with a founding £125m grant from the Department for Education. In 2022, we were reendowed with an additional £137m from government, allowing us to continue our work until at least 2032. This project has been co-funded by The Bell Foundation and Unbound Philanthropy. For more information about the EEF or this report please contact: Education Endowment Foundation 5th Floor, Millbank Tower 21–24 Millbank London SW1P 4QP 0207 802 1653 [info@eefoundation.org.uk](info@eefoundation.org.uk) [www.educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk](www.educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk) This work applied the Individual Participant Data meta-analysis approach to assess the overall impact of the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF)-funded educational interventions on the group of pupils with English as an Additional Language, defined based on their time since arrival in the United Kingdom. It was carried out under the umbrella of the Durham Research Methods Centre as a collaborative project spanning researchers within Durham University from the School of Education, Department of Mathematical Sciences, Department of Anthropology, as well as the Teesside University School of Health and Life Sciences, with track records in evaluation of educational interventions, meta-analysis of evidence in education and advanced quantitative methods. We have partnered with the EEF to improve the educational attainment of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds for more than five years by providing methodological support and translation of evidence to educational stakeholders. For more information about this report please contact: Professor Jochen Einbeck (Co-Director, Durham Research Methods Centre) Durham University Department of Mathematical Sciences Lower Mountjoy Stockton Road Durham DH1 3LE 0191 334 3125 [jochen.einbeck@durham.ac. uk](jochen.einbeck@durham.ac. uk) [www.dur.ac. uk/researchmethodscentre](www.dur.ac. uk/researchmethodscentre) [www.durham.ac. uk/departments/academic/mathematical-sciences/](www.durham.ac. uk/departments/academic/mathematical-sciences/) Table of contents List of abbreviations ..................................................................................................................... 4 Executive summary...................................................................................................................... 5 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 8 1.1 Time since arrival (TSA) ............................................................................................................................. 9 1.2 Overall impact of the EEF interventions on EAL and its subgroups ............................................................. 10 1.3 St

FAQs

What is the main method used to assess EEF-funded interventions in this report?

The report applies an Individual Participant Data (IPD) meta-analysis approach.

How does the study define pupils with English as an Additional Language (EAL)?

EAL is defined based on pupils’ time since arrival in the United Kingdom.

What kinds of methodological aspects are covered in the Methods section?

The Methods cover inclusion and exclusion criteria, robustness and risk of bias, study outcomes, construction of the TSA variable, grouping variables, the simplified IPD meta-analysis model, and heterogeneity between trials.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Kyle