Efficacy Trial of Early Talk Boost

This trial will evaluate the impact of Speech & Language UK’s Early Talk Boost intervention on the language outcomes of children aged 3-4 years.

Speech & Language UK has recruited early years settings across England (excluding the North East, North Yorkshire and Cumbria) to take part in the trial. Both Private, Voluntary and Independent (PVI) and maintained nurseries (either stand alone or as part of a Primary School) were  eligible. Further eligibility criteria can be found in the Setting staff information sheet.

This is a randomised controlled trial (RCT) where recruited settings will be randomly assigned to either the intervention group (delivering the Early Talk Boost intervention) or the control group (continuing with their usual practice). 

Nominated practitioners in settings assigned to the intervention group will receive one day of online training from Speech & Language UK and all the materials they need to deliver the intervention. These practitioners will then deliver three Early Talk Boost sessions per week for nine weeks to at least two groups of children in the 2025-26 academic year (these groups can be run consecutively or in parallel).

Nominated practitioners in both intervention and control settings will be required to administer a short language assessment to the eligible children in Autumn 2025 and facilitate visits from an NFER Test Administrator to administer two short assessments to selected children in Summer 2026. Nominated practitioners will also be asked to complete an online survey before and after participating in the programme, as well as an online questionnaire about each of the participating children.

Further details about the programme and what participation involves can be found in the Setting staff information sheet. 

Learning from the evaluation will provide evidence of any impact of Early Talk Boost programme on the language development of children aged 3-4 years and contribute to the education evidence base that informs efforts to improve outcomes for all children.  

Settings allocated to the intervention group will receive fully funded access to the Early Talk Boost training and materials, while control settings will receive funding to access the intervention the following year. Further details on the benefits and financial incentives can be found in the Setting staff information sheet. 

• Spring 2024-Summer 2025: Setting recruitment
• Autumn 2025: settings administer the pre-tests to the eligible children, complete surveys, share the necessary staff and child data with NFER and are allocated to either the intervention or control group
• January-June 2026: intervention settings complete the training and deliver the Early Talk Boost intervention to the selected children; control settings continue with usual practice
• June-July 2026: NFER Test Administrators visit settings to administer post-test selected children and settings complete surveys
• May 2027: research findings published in a report on the EEF website.

A detailed timeline of activities can be found in the Setting staff information sheet. 

For further information about the Early Talk Boost programme, please contact the Speech & Language UK team at [email protected].   

For further information about the evaluation please contact NFER at [email protected]. 

Further information on this project, including information sheets and privacy notices can be found via the document links below.