Most evaluations have two parts:

• an impact evaluation, normally using a robust design such as a randomised controlled trial (RCT), which estimates the impact of the intervention on pupils’ attainment;
• alongside this, an implementation and process evaluation is undertaken to understand the components of successful implementation and to inform how it could be scaled-up if the approach is found to be successful in raising attainment.

In addition, the EEF funds a small number of pilot evaluations using qualitative and quantitative methods to test the feasibility of an approach before trialling it at a larger scale.

The Evaluation FAQs provide answers to common questions of interest to delivery teams, and the Evaluation glossary provides a summary of terms commonly used in our evaluation reports.

The EEF is funding more randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in education than any other organisation globally. The EEF has more than doubled the amount of available evidence from trials in education in this country, and has commissioned more than 10 per cent of all known trials in education around the world.

The EEF’s approach to evaluation has been instrumental in raising the bar in terms of the quality of education research in the UK, proving that large-scale, robust, quantitative trials of programmes in schools, nurseries and colleges are possible.

We publish, openly and in full, the independent evaluation reports of all EEF-funded projects, no matter what the outcomes, so that teachers can have confidence in the findings we present.