New funding opportunities

We opened applications for a new programmes funding round at pilot level. We’ll fund programmes to build the evidence in two priority areas for the sector:

• Attendance, and
• Transition from school to college (vocational and technical qualifications).

This funding will support the development of promising approaches across technical and vocational qualifications that can later be tested at scale.

Later this term, we'll launch a funding round for research projects which will explore the impact of different setting-level approaches and policies related to:

• English and maths resits, and
• EdTech and AI.

Colleges and other providers will be recruited at a later stage, once evaluation teams are in place.

Take part in a new EEF-funded projects

We’ll also launch new research projects that you can take part in. These will focus on supporting resit learners, as well as attendance and transition. Taking part gives colleges and opportunity to test high-potential programmes and approaches at a subsidised rated.

Mapping the existing evidence

We’ll publish an evidence gap map, which will:

• Map existing and emerging evidence for learners aged 16–19,
• Draw on the international evidence base,
• Assess how applicable this evidence is to the English context, and
• Identify key gaps where new evidence is most needed.

This will play an important role in shaping the EEF’s future evidence generation and commissioning decisions.

Exploring transitions from school to 16-19 education

We’ll also complete a practice review on transitions, which will build a clearer picture of what the move from school into 16–19 education looks like across different types of settings. Insights from this work will inform future EEF activity in this area.

Hosting a live event on effective metacognition

In partnership with the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, we’ll host our second 16–19 conference, with a strong focus on metacognition. This event will build on learning from an upcoming practice review and explore what effective metacognitive approaches look like in post-16 settings.

Publishing a new guidance report

Following the launch of our guidance on effective professional development, we’re working on our second guidance report for the sector. This will provide further evidence-informed recommendations to support leaders and practitioners.

Developing a ‘best bets’ guide

Many of you use our Teaching and Learning Toolkit, but not all strands are equally applicable to 16–19 learners. Our new ‘best bets’ guide will help leaders understand which strands of the Toolkit are most relevant for this phase, supporting more confident and targeted decision-making.

Reviewing current metacognition practice

Finally, we’ll publish a metacognition practice review which will explore:

• Current understanding of metacognition in the 16–19 sector, and
• How metacognitive teaching approaches are currently used across a range of post-16 settings.

This review will help shape future EEF guidance and evidence generation in this important area.