Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what research they have undertaken to better understand the impact on literacy levels of initiatives undertaken by voluntary sector organisations; and how they intend to ensure that funding is targeted where it will be most effective.

The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), which was set up in 2011 through a £125 million grant from the Government, received £10 million from the Department in 2012 specifically to fund and evaluate 24 projects focused on interventions to improve the literacy of pupils who do not achieve the expected standard in English at the end of primary school.

To date, the EEF has published evaluation reports on 26 literacy-related projects. Of these, 11 involved voluntary sector organisations. Details of all of these projects and the individual evaluation reports are published on the EEF website at: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/school-themes/literacy.

The findings from evaluations of these and other EEF funded projects are incorporated into the EEF’s teaching and learning toolkit. This provides school leaders and teachers with an accessible summary of evidence from robust research studies on the impact and cost effectiveness of a range of educational interventions. This information can be used by voluntary sector organisations to inform their own approaches. The toolkit is published on the EEF website.