Education Endowment Foundation:FFT Tutoring with the Lightning Squad – trial

FFT Tutoring with the Lightning Squad – trial

FFT Education

Trial to test the impact of a targeted online reading catch-up programme designed to help pupils improve their reading skills. This trial is aimed at pupils in Years 3 – 4 that are below age related expectations in reading.

Independent Evaluator

NFER

Sign-up deadline

30 May, 2025 at 12:00am

Key Stages

Key Stage 2

Number of places available

72

Regions available

Recruiting in all regions.

Eligibility

Schools will be eligible to apply if they are:

- A primary school with at least one Year 3 and one Year 4 class

- Not currently using or have previously used FFT Tutoring with the Lightning Squad

- Not delivering Accelerated Reader, Reciprocal Reading, Dyslexia Gold, Lexia, ReadingPlus or Fresh Start (RWI)

- Not participating in the following EEF trials: Pathways Literacy, Power of Reading or Writing Roots.

- Willing to have either year group randomly assigned to intervention or control group

What is Tutoring with the Lightning Squad? 

FFT Tutoring with the Lightning Squad is a targeted online reading catch-up programme that aims to improve reading skills for pupils aged 7 – 9 in Years 3 – 4 who are below age-expected reading levels. The programme is delivered by FFT Education, an established provider of educational programmes and services to schools.

Who is leading this project?

FFT (Fischer Family Trust) is a leading non-profit organisation dedicated to improving educational outcomes for students across the UK and internationally. Known for their expertise in data-driven insights and literacy tools, FFT supports schools and local authorities by providing comprehensive analyses, as well as tools to track student progress, enhance school performance and improve learning outcomes for pupils.

What will this project look like in your setting?

This online reading catch-up programme consists of at least 50 sessions, each lasting 30 minutes, conducted 4 – 5 times per week. Each participating school will enrol 16 pupils (8 per year group) in the programme. Pupils work in pairs under the guidance of a teaching assistant, who can oversee up to two pairs (four pupils) simultaneously. The sessions take place on an online platform which features adaptive teaching tools, progress tracking, and formative assessment capabilities.

To support the implementation of the programme, FFT Education will provide both training and resources including:

  • a full day of online training,
  • 16 on-demand instructional videos, 
  • a user manual, 
  • 60 reading books to support pupil learning. 

The training covers both pedagogical aspects and the use of the online platform. Throughout the intervention period, FFT Education provides ongoing support and has established monitoring mechanisms to assist schools.

This comprehensive approach aims to provide targeted support to improve reading skills for pupils who are below age-expected reading levels.

Schools participating in the programme are required to contribute £250 towards the programme costs. They must also allocate staff time for training and for teaching assistants to supervise the sessions. Schools must ensure they have the necessary technological resources to effectively implement the online programme. FFT can offer some additional support here should it be required.

As this is a research evaluation, both intervention and control schools will be asked to complete some evaluation requirements during the project. This could include supporting the evaluators to carry out pupil assessments, as well as engaging in surveys and/​or interviews with the evaluators. Exact evaluation requirements will be set out in the information materials if you express an interest in this project. Schools who complete all evaluation activities (intervention and control) will receive a payment of £800 as a thank you for their contribution to the progression of educational research.

Who can take part?

State primary schools in England that:

  • have at least one form per year group and both Year 3 and Year 4 year groups that can participate in the trial,
  • are not currently using or have previously used FFT Tutoring with the Lightning Squad,
  • are not delivering Accelerated Reader, Reciprocal Reading, Dyslexia Gold, Lexia, ReadingPlus or Fresh Start (RWI),
  • are not participating in the following EEF trials: Pathways Literacy, Power of Reading or Writing Roots.

How can you register your interest?

Complete the short register your interest form at the bottom of this page.

The EEF’s Teaching and Learning Toolkit indicates that targeted small group and one-to-one interventions can be effective in supporting pupils who are falling behind their peers in literacy. FFT Tutoring with the Lightning Squad incorporates elements of both peer learning and technology-assisted instruction, which have shown promise in improving reading outcomes.

The programme has been implemented in over 100 schools, demonstrating its maturity and scalability. Early evidence from these implementations suggests positive impacts on pupils’ reading skills. However, there is limited robust evidence on the programme’s effectiveness in the UK context. 

This efficacy trial aims to provide a rigorous evaluation of FFT Tutoring with the Lightning Squad’s impact on reading outcomes for pupils in Years 3 and 4 who are below age-expected reading levels. The trial will also investigate the programme’s effectiveness for disadvantaged pupils, including those eligible for Free School Meals (FSM), with English as an Additional Language (EAL), and with Special Educational Needs (SEN).

The programme will be evaluated by the National Foundation for Education Research (NFER) using a randomised controlled trial. This will be an efficacy trial, meaning it will test whether the intervention can work under ideal conditions.

Schools that sign up will be randomly assigned to one of two groups:

  • Year 3 pupils allocated to control and Year 4 pupils allocated to treatment
  • Year 3 pupils allocated to treatment and Year 4 pupils allocated to control

This multi-year group trial design ensures that all participating schools will implement the programme for one year group, while maintaining the benefits of a randomised controlled trial.

The primary outcome will be pupils’ reading skills, measured using the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test (WRMT-III). Secondary outcomes include the impact on reading skills for FSM, EAL, and SEN pupils, the effect of time spent using the online platform, and pupil attitudes toward reading.

An Implementation and Process Evaluation (IPE) will be conducted alongside the impact evaluation to explore how schools implement the programme and stakeholder perceptions of FFT Tutoring with the Lightning Squad.

The evaluation report will be published in Spring 2027.