Six schools secure funding to boost the quality of teaching

Their main role will be to support schools to use evidence to improve teaching practice. They will provide local and regional support to other schools by communicating research evidence and supporting the translation of this into practice through training, exemplification and school-to-school support.

The newly appointed Research Schools, listed below, will each receive funding from September 2023 until July 2026 to support their local schools to improve pupil outcomes through better use of evidence. This will consist of a core annual grant to cover leadership time, staff development as well as training to support evidence-led practice in the local region.

The new members of the Research School Network are:

Don Valley Academy, Delta Academies Trust, South Yorkshire

Front Lawn Primary Academy, The Kemnal Academies Trust, Hampshire

Lyons Hall Primary School, The Learning Pathways Trust, Essex

Rowanfield Junior School, The Gloucestershire Learning Alliance, Gloucestershire

Torriano Primary School (in collaboration with Parliament Hill School), North London

Tudor Grange Academy Solihull, Tudor Grange Academies Trust, West Midlands

The names of these schools’ Research Schools will be confirmed later shortly.

Since 2016, the EEF’s Research Schools Network has reached over 10,000 schools across England through training and events on supporting evidence-informed teaching practice.

The appointment of these new Research Schools – through a competitive application process - is part of the EEF’s new regional strategy, which aims to provide direct support around making, and acting on, evidence informed decisions to schools with high levels of socio-economic disadvantage.

The EEF will be accountable for the development, support and quality assurance of the work of each of these new Research Schools.

Professor Becky Francis, CEO of the Education Endowment Foundation, said: “It has never been more important to assist schools in engaging with evidence to inform their approaches to teaching and learning. The appointment of these new Research Schools will be a valuable source of support for others in their respective regions, as they strive to meet the needs of their students.”