Education Endowment Foundation:Primary science intervention boosts pupil progress in EEF trial

The study, co-funded by the Wellcome Trust, found that the Focus4TAPS intervention had a positive impact on Year 5 pupils’ (9−10 year-olds) science attainment, with children who received the intervention making – on average – an additional two months’ progress. Encouragingly, this was also true for pupils from socio-disadvantaged backgrounds. There is a high level of confidence in the security of this finding.

Developed by Bath Spa University, from research funded by the Primary Science Teaching Trust, the programme aims to boost primary school pupils’ science outcomes by improving teaching and assessment in this subject area.

It focuses on supporting teachers with key areas of their science teaching, such as deepening their understanding of how pupils progress through the science curriculum, applying formative assessment and providing appropriate levels of support or challenge for their pupils.

Our trial of Focus4TAPS ran during the academic year 2020/21, during which teachers in delivery schools received TAPS teaching materials as well as six training sessions around how to better their practice. The evaluation, conducted by the Institute of Education (IoE), involved 121 schools and 2,882 pupils.

Despite pandemic-related disruption, which delayed the trial from its original 2019/2020 timeline, delivery of the programme ran as expected. Teachers in Focus4TAPS schools also had a positive view of the programme, reporting higher confidence in some aspects of teaching and assessing science than those in control schools.

The full report is available here.

Professor Becky Francis, Chief Executive of the Education Endowment Foundation, said: