A teaching assistant-led maths programme, 1stClass@Number 1, has been shown to boost numeracy skills for struggling Year 2 pupils, according to an independent evaluation published by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) today.
Developed by the Every Child Counts (ECC) team at Edge Hill University, the programme is designed to improve maths skills for children who have had difficulties with the Year 1 curriculum and require further support. Trained teaching assistants (TAs) deliver the ten-week intervention, which is structured around five core topics – including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
The independent evaluation, led by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), involved 226 schools across England. In each school, eight pupils took part – four received the 1stClass@Number 1 intervention, while the other four continued with their school’s usual teaching.
Pupils who took part in the intervention made, on average, two months’ additional progress in numeracy compared to a similar group who did not. For pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM), the gains were similar, suggesting the programme’s potential to support disadvantaged learners.
These findings have an EEF high security rating, which means we can be confident in the results.
This effectiveness trial tested whether the intervention works under everyday conditions in a large number of schools. It builds on earlier EEF evaluations of the programme, which indicated the programme had promise in improving maths outcomes. Following the positive findings of this trial, 1stClass@Number 1 has now been designated as an EEF Promising Programme.
The EEF’s Promising Programmes list brings together evidence-informed programmes that have demonstrated potential to improve pupil attainment. The list supports school leaders in identifying and selecting interventions backed by robust evidence.
The EEF has published a further three evaluation reports today.
Thinking Doing Talking Science (TDTScience): This continuing professional development (CPD) programme – co-developed by Science Oxford and Oxford Brookes University – aims to improve science outcomes for primary pupils by promoting positive attitudes to science.
The evaluation, led by a team from the University of York and co-funded by Wellcome, involved 180 primary schools across England. Year 5 teachers received face-to-face training and support to embed the programme’s approaches into regular science lessons.
The evaluation found that pupils in participating schools made no additional progress in science compared to those in schools who didn’t take part. However, there were small positive impacts on pupils’ attitudes to science. Teachers were positive about the training and reported improvements in confidence, lesson planning, and enjoyment of teaching science. A longitudinal analysis, published later this year, should investigate whether the programme has had longer term changes in attainment.
Frames For Learning (F4L): Developed by Sheffield Hallam University, this programme helps pupils apply scientific enquiry skills using principles from cognitiveRelated to the mental process involved in knowing, understanding, and learning. science. It aims to support pupils’ recall, knowledge, and understanding of science concepts (schema development) during science enquiry type activities such as investigations. To do so, teachers and TAs are supported to plan and deliver lessons that manage the amount of information children can process at once (cognitiveRelated to the mental process involved in knowing, understanding, and learning. load).
The pilot evaluation – led by the University of Warwick – involved 102 Year 5 pupils and 26 teachers and TAs across 17 primary schools. It explored the programme’s potential to improve knowledge, classroom practice, and its feasibility for wider use. The evaluators found overall promise and feasibility for the programme, with teachers reporting they were able to use the materials in practice. However, it concluded that further development is needed before a full trial can be undertaken.
A fourth evaluation report released today looked at the impact of the Whole School SEND (WSS) review programme.
The SEND Review programme is a one-year programme that aims to support secondary schools to develop and improve their whole school SEND provision. Delivered by the National Association for Special Educational Needs (nasen), SENDCos are supported through training and coaching to work with their colleagues and drive whole-school change towards inclusive education.
The aim of the programme is to improve the wellbeing, attendance levels and, in the longer term, attainment of pupils with SEND, alongside similar benefits for all pupils in the school.
The independent evaluation, conducted by Manchester Metropolitan University, involved 156 secondary schools with 29,699 pupils, including 4,178 with SEND. Impact was assessed using GCSE English Language scores for pupils with SEND who were in Year 9 during the programme. Due to high levels of missing data, the findings carry a very low security rating and should be interpreted with a large degree of caution.
With these caveats in mind, this evaluation found that pupils with SEND in schools who used the programme made one additional month’s progress in GCSE English Language, on average, compared to their peers who used their ‘business as usual’ approach. When looking specifically at pupils eligible for Free School Meals, those in SEND Review schools made two additional month’s progress in GCSE English Language compared to their peers in other schools.
The evaluation did find that the programme was appreciated by SENDCos and that it supported them to improve provision across the school for pupils with SEND, in line with the objectives of the programme.
The evaluator will be conducting further analysis later this year, using the National Pupil Database which should provide a more complete dataset and therefore generate a more secure understanding of the programme’s impact. This analysis should be ready for release in Summer 2026.
Commenting on the evaluations released today, Chris Paterson, co-Chief Executive of the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), said:
Commenting on the findings of the 1stClass@Number1 programme, Dr Helen O’Keeffe, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Education at Edge Hill University, said:
Commenting on the findings of the 1stClass@Number1 programme, Dr Ben Styles, Head of Classroom Practice and Workforce at NFER, said: