A programme to help four and five-year-olds catch-up after Covid boosted children’s language skills by four months, according to new analysis.
An independent evaluation of the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI), which was offered to all state-funded schools in England with Reception classes across three academic years (2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23), found that those who took part made, on average, four months’ additional progress in their language skills, compared to children who didn’t receive the intervention.
Over 6,500 school registered to take part in the first year, while a further 4,000 signed up across the second and third years.
The study, which was carried out by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), looked at data from 10,800 children in 350 schools who registered for the second year of the national roll-out (2021-22).
