Effectiveness Trial of Nuffield Early Language Intervention - Preschool

NFER have been commissioned by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) to independently evaluate the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) - Preschool, which is being delivered in nine Stronger Practice Hubs across England by OxEd Assessment and forms part of the Department for Education’s Early Years Recovery Programme.

The aim of the evaluation is to ascertain the impact of NELI Preschool on the language skills of 3 to 4-year-old children and to develop our understanding of effective professional development in the early years.

All 3 to 4-year-old children (as on 31st August 2024) who are in the pre-school classroom are eligible to take part in the evaluation. Settings can be state-maintained or PVI settings, but need to have a minimum of fourteen 3 to 4-year-old children attending 15+ hours per week in the 2023-24 academic year.

Additional requirements are outlined in the  setting information sheet.

The evaluation will run as a randomised controlled trial (RCT) in the academic year 2024-25. We will randomly allocate 318 eligible settings to one of the two groups:

  • The intervention group, who will deliver NELI Preschool programme; or
  • The control group, who will continue with their usual practice.

Further information on the NELI Preschool programme can be found in the setting information sheet.

  • Following the completion of online training, participating children in all settings will be assessed with LanguageScreen in Autumn 2024 by setting staff (prior to randomisation, approximately 10 minutes per child).
  • Nominated staff from the intervention settings will then deliver the NELI Preschool programme to all 3-4-year-old children in the pre-school classroom between January and June 2025, and complete weekly attendance registers for NELI Preschool sessions delivered.
  • All participating children, from both control and intervention settings, will then be assessed with LanguageScreen and RAPT in Summer 2025 by NFER Test Administrators (after the programme delivery is complete).

Your setting will contribute to the evidence relating to the impact of NELI Preschool on language skills for 3 to 4-year-old children. Your setting's participation will also help to understand how best to implement the programme in the future and at a larger scale.

Participating settings will also receive:

Intervention group:

  • The NELI Preschool programme
  • £400 in recognition of their contribution to this research
  • Paid staff time to complete training and administer LanguageScreen
  • Assessment feedback reports at the end of the evaluation

Control group:

  • £250 in recognition of their contribution to this research
  • An additional £1000 (which can either be financial payment or be used to purchase the NELI Preschool programme so that settings can deliver it after the trial)
  • Paid staff time to administer LanguageScreen
  • Assessment feedback reports at the end of the evaluation

A detailed timeline of activities for the trial can be found in the setting information sheet.

Recruitment for this trial has been completed.

Find out more about NELI Preschool and see what other settings say about the programme here: https://oxedandassessment.com/uk/nelipreschool/

For further information about the NELI Preschool programme, please contact Mariela Rios Diaz, Research Officer and NELI Preschool Project Manager at OxEd: [email protected]

NFER is the data controller for this trial and will make decisions about how and what personal data is used in accordance with the objectives of the evaluation set by EEF. OxEd is the data processor during the trial.

OxEd & Assessment’s Privacy Notice can be found  here.

 Nursery staff and nurseries privacy notice 
 Parent privacy notice