Effectiveness Trial of Nuffield Early Language Intervention - Preschool
15 July 2026
NELI Preschool is a 20-week language intervention programme that aims to improve the oral language skills of 3–4-year old children in nursery settings.
Trained practitioners deliver daily structured whole-class sessions, alongside additional small‑group and individual sessions for children identified as needing extra help with language. The sessions focus on a specially written storybook each week which introduces four or five carefully selected words that become the focus of that week’s activities.
The Education Endowment Foundation commissioned NFER to evaluate the impact of NELI Preschool as an effectiveness trial conducted during the 2024–2025 academic year. The trial involved 3,298 children from 303 Private, Voluntary and Independent (PVI) and maintained nursery settings.
The primary outcome was a combined measure of oral language skills, derived from LanguageScreen and Renfrew Action Picture Test (RAPT) subtests. The implementation and process evaluation examined intervention delivery and usual practice.
Key Findings
- Children in NELI Preschool settings made an average of two additional months’ progress in their oral language skills compared to children in control settings. This result has a high security rating.
- Children eligible for Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) also made an average of two additional months’ progress in their oral language skills compared to children in control settings. These results may have lower security than the overall findings because of the smaller number of children.
- Children receiving additional targeted support made around two additional months’ progress. This was similar to the progress of children receiving only whole-class enrichment, suggesting that targeted sessions help children with the weakest language skills benefit fully from whole‑class provision.
- Most practitioners reported that the NELI Preschool training was useful and prepared them well to deliver the programme effectively and perceived the programme to have a strong positive impact on children’s language development—including vocabulary development, confidence in speaking, and engagement.
- Practitioners in NELI Preschool settings demonstrated improvements in their confidence, practice, and motivation to support early language development compared to practitioners in control settings.