Education Endowment Foundation Autumn 2026 Grant-Funding Round Reception programmes that focus on communication and language Efficacy and Effectiveness Application Form

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Funding Round Open Date:

Funding Round Close Date:

Please Note: This form will go offline at 11:00 AM on the above closing date. Submissions will not be possible after this time.

Notes for applying for EEF Funding:
Please refer to the theme guidance notes, which explain each question in the application form. They can be found here.

This application form has four pages. Applications can be saved on the system while drafting. You may find it easier to draft first in another program, like Microsoft Word, paying attention to the word count for each question. If copying into the form, please format using the form’s tools.

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If you have any questions, please contact the EEF at applications@eefoundation.org.uk

Funding Round Id

Eligibility Screening

1.1 Where will your proposed programme take place?

1.2 Is your application from a legally constituted organisation?

1.3 Would this grant be used to pay for costs that have already been incurred?

1.4. What types of costs or activities would the grant be used for? (To select multiple items in a list, hold down the Ctrl (PC) or Command (Mac) key. Then click on your desired items to select.)

Ineligible Formula

IMPORTANT MESSAGE:

Unfortunately, your application cannot be progressed, due to one or more of our eligibility criteria not being met.

Here is a copy of our eligibility rules / criteria:

1. Where will your proposed programme take place?

Please note that the EEF can only fund programmes that will work for the benefit of children and schools in England.

2. Is your application from a legally constituted organisation?

We accept applications from legally constituted organisations, and not from individuals. The organisation does not have to be based in England, although if you are not based in England, we would expect you to demonstrate reasonable partnerships and knowledge to support you to work with English schools. 

3. Would this grant be used to pay for costs that have already been incurred?

Our grant funding is restricted to cover activities supporting your proposed programme and cannot be used to cover costs that have already been incurred. The grant typically starts after the programme has been given final approval by the EEF Grants Committee (any travel expenses incurred before this can be expensed).

4. What types of costs or activities would the grant be used for?

We are not a source of funding for ongoing delivery of existing programmes. If successful, you will be required to work with new schools that you have not previously worked with, and to collaborate with an independent evaluation team who will work with you to design a robust evaluation. Funding should support the direct costs of delivering the programme for the evaluation. Applicants should apply with a programme that has already been developed. We are not able to fund significant development work of a programme.

We cover: programme delivery, staff costs, resources to deliver the programme, travel and venue hire, and administration and printing costs.

We don’t cover: property or capital items, pupil fees, scholarships or bursaries, loan or debt repayment, indirect university costs (e.g. estate costs of permanent university staff)

In some cases, we would cover the following, but this is not guaranteed and would be determined with shortlisted applicants during the funding process: programme development work, website development, producing publications, and seminar attendance.

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Applying Organisation

Organisation Details

2.1 Name of Organisation

2.2 Organisation Type

2.2a Other Organisation Type

2.3 Number of Employees

2.4 Applicant Title

2.5a If Other, please specify

2.5 Applicant First Name

2.6 Applicant Last Name

2.7 Applicant Contact Email

Please note: Confirmation of your application and the outcome of your application will be sent to this email address

2.8 Applicant Contact Phone

2.9 Applicant Job Title

2.10 Please describe the experience and expertise of the proposed delivery team. (max. 100 words)

2.11 Please give the name and a brief description of any partner organisations that will contribute to this programme. (max. 100 words)

2.12 Briefly outline your experience of working with children from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. (max. 100 words)

IMPORTANT MESSAGE:

GIVEN YOUR CURRENT ANSWERS TO THE FIRST 4 QUESTIONS OF THIS APPLICATION YOU DO NOT QUALIFY FOR FUNDING, IF YOU SUBMIT THIS FORM IT WILL BE IGNORED.

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Programme Details

3.1 Please select the main priority area the proposed programme is related to.
Further information on each priority area is included in the guidance notes.

3.2 How does your programme link to the priority area? (max. 150 words)

3.3 Programme title. (max. 15 words)

3.4 Please confirm that your programme targets children aged 4-5 years old.

3.5 Please confirm that your programme will be delivered in state-funded primary schools.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE:

GIVEN YOUR CURRENT ANSWER TO QUESTION 3.4 AND/OR 3.5 OF THIS APPLICATION YOU DO NOT QUALIFY FOR FUNDING, IF YOU SUBMIT THIS FORM IT WILL BE IGNORED.

3.6 Is your programme targeting whole school/whole class (or room)/targeted group of children?

3.7 Please provide a brief, two sentence summary of your programme. (max. 50 words)

3.8 Please describe your programme.
A checklist to support your answer to this question can be found in the guidance notes. (max. 1,000 words)

3.9 Please describe how your proposed programme is likely to be different from ‘business as usual’ in schools. (max. 100 words)

3.10 Has the proposed programme been previously evaluated? Please describe the strongest evidence for your programme’s impact on attainment. (max. 200 words)

3.11 Please outline any other research that provides evidence that the proposed programme is likely to have an impact on attainment, or an outcome closely linked to attainment. This could include evidence from evaluations of similar approaches, pilots of the programme, or evidence of progress on outcomes for the programme, but with no comparison group. (max. 400 words).

3.12 Please describe how this programme aligns with the EEF’s mission to break the link between family income and educational achievement. (max. 300 words)

3.13 References to quoted research. (max. 500 words)

3.14 If the programme has been implemented previously in England, please describe its reach so far, the context of schools/settings engaged, and whether schools/settings contributed financially. (max. 200 words)

3.15 How many settings/schools has the programme been delivered to in the last year?

3.16 If the proposed programme was to be funded by the EEF and a positive impact was found, what do you think are possible ways that the proposed programme could be taken to scale? (max. 200 words)

IMPORTANT MESSAGE:

GIVEN YOUR CURRENT ANSWERS TO THE FIRST 4 QUESTIONS OF THIS APPLICATION YOU DO NOT QUALIFY FOR FUNDING, IF YOU SUBMIT THIS FORM IT WILL BE IGNORED.

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Finances

4.1 What is the cost (per setting and per pupil) of your programme? (max. 50 words)

4.2 Approximately how many settings would you be able to work with for an EEF trial? (max. 50 words)

4.3 What is your total budget? (max. 150 words)

4.4 What funding are you intending to secure from other sources? (max. 100 words)

Additional Documentation (Optional)

If you have any further relevant information you would like to attach to your application, please upload it here e.g. theory of change, unpublished research etc.

Each file must not exceed 30MB. To replace a file, select a new one and it will overwrite the previous upload.

Where did you hear about the funding round?

Please let us know where you heard about the funding round

Other

IMPORTANT MESSAGE:

GIVEN YOUR CURRENT ANSWERS TO THE FIRST 4 QUESTIONS OF THIS APPLICATION YOU DO NOT QUALIFY FOR FUNDING, IF YOU SUBMIT THIS FORM IT WILL BE IGNORED.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE:

GIVEN YOUR CURRENT ANSWER TO QUESTION 3.4 AND/OR 3.5 OF THIS APPLICATION YOU DO NOT QUALIFY FOR FUNDING, IF YOU SUBMIT THIS FORM IT WILL BE IGNORED.