Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis of the Impact of EEF Trials on the Educational Attainment of Pupils on Free School Meals: 2011-2019

This study investigates the impact of Education Endowment Foundation (EEF)-funded trials on pupils eligible for free school meals. Although similar analysis is conducted during each individual evaluation, this report conducts a meta-analysis using data from 88 trials and over half a million pupils to reach conclusions. The report contributes to the evidence about what type of approaches may be effective at reducing the attainment gap, which influences the choice of interventions that EEF chooses to trial and scale up. This study investigates the immediate impact of EEF-funded interventions on attainment in literacy and mathematics based on the following research questions: (1) Do EEF trials improve literacy/mathematics attainment of pupils eligible for FSM? (2) What broad types of interventions are more beneficial for mathematics and literacy outcomes of FSM pupils? and (3) Do FSM pupils improve their literacy/mathematics attainment more or less from EEF-funded interventions compared to their non-FSM peers? [This report was written in partnership with the Durham Research Methods Centre (DRMC).]