Our exciting partnership with the education endowment foundation (eef)
CoachBright are excited to partner with the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), the University of Leeds, and RAND (Europe) UK to evaluate the impact of peer to peer pupil coaching in schools across England.
This is a funded opportunity to experience a CoachBright programme which will be independently evaluated. It is a unique opportunity to bring an impactful peer to peer programme to your school at a very low, heavily subsidised cost, and see how much impact your older pupils can have on their younger peers.
The programme will involve fifteen Year 10 pupils being trained as coaches, and then supported to coach fifteen Year 7 pupils on a 1:1 basis over 10 weeks.
The trial will measure the impact of the programme on three key areas: maths attainment, maths confidence, and school attendance.
Please get in touch to be one of the 100 schools who will contribute to the growing evidence base on peer to peer support, by being part of this trial.*
Email eef@coachbright.org
Or call the team on 0121 573 0519 or 07469 682 650.
*It is important to note that 50% of the schools chosen will be randomly allocated to a control group. They will receive a financial contribution for their support towards this important research.
Our CEO Joe McGinn answers seven FAQs that will help you get a better idea of what the trial is aiming to do, and why your school should take part.
What does the Peer to Peer Coaching programme involve?
The programme involves CoachBright training fifteen Year 10 pupils to coach fifteen Year 7 pupils in maths, helping them build their knowledge and confidence, as well as their metacognitive abilities.
The programme runs as follows, with CoachBright attending in person at each stage to facilitate:
Training: CoachBright Programme Manager runs a training session for Y10 pupils in how to be an effective academic coach (2-3 hours).
Launch: The Year 10 and Year 7 pupils meet, and we run a series of exercises to help them get to know each other.
Coaching: The Year 10 pupils coach Year 7 pupils, weekly, for 60 minutes, facilitated and overseen by CoachBright Programme Managers. There are ten weeks of coaching.
Graduation: Both cohorts attend a local university to celebrate their achievements, and learn about what studying at university involves.
Are there any costs involved?
Schools who are allocated to receive the programme will be asked to make a small contribution of £500 to support with delivery of the intervention.
Schools allocated to the control group will be given a thank you payment of £750 for their participation in the trial.
A school staff member (school coordinator) will need to be available for an initial set up meeting (30 minutes online) with their CoachBright Programme Manager, as well as available to attend each session. Ideally this would be the same member of staff each time, but this is not mandatory if scheduling will prove difficult.
They will also need to share pupil data in advance of the programme, and arrange a space at the school for the sessions to take place.
Is my school eligible?
To be eligible, schools must meet the following eligibility criteria:
The school can be a part of the local authority, multi academy trust, a free school or a grammar school, but pupil eligibility criteria will apply (see further information below). For this specific trial, we will not be working with private schools or special schools.
The school must have pupils in Year 7 and Year 10 on the same site during the 2025-2026 school year.
Schools must not be participating in another maths-focussed EEF trial for the same year groups in 2025-2026.
Schools must be able to identify 15 coaching pairs (15 Year 7 and 15 Year 10 pupils) that fit the pupil eligibility.
Schools will primarily be in the following locations, although we will consider additional locations on a case-by-case basis:
North West
North East
West Midlands
East Midlands
Greater London
South East
South West
How can I find out more and sign up?
Sign up to one of our quick 20 minute information webinars to find out more. There are various dates and times to choose from.
Click here to sign up to a short information webinar to find out more.
If you have any further questions, please contact the team on eef@coachbright.org
What do our beneficiaries and partners say?
“ She just really listened to me! She did what I felt comfortable doing. She helped and gave me
support when I didn’t know something, to help me improve.
So a big thank you, Sadie! I’m actually going to enjoy doing things like revising and
learning more science, that I never enjoyed before, because of you.”
“ I either want to go to uni or do a degree-level
apprenticeship, and learning to coach has
100% helped me with this. If I’m going to
have an interview for uni or a job, I’ll need to
communicate my thoughts in a way that isn’t
vague. And having to coach and explain things
to somebody helps you develop
these skills!”
“ Receiving coaching from a peer created a non
threatening environment for pupils to open
up about their challenges with learning and
attendance. They got support from a familiar
figure they could more easily identify with, and
saw the coaches as positive role models they could
look up to and emulate in their achievements.
By being open to the possibilities that stem from
peer-to-peer coaching, our pupils have been
successful in overcoming significant barriers in
their educational journeys. They have become
resilient learners and confident student leaders.
The national tutoring programme is closed and
many schools may be wondering what to replace
tuition with now that they can no longer afford it.
It turns out a wealth of talent is in your school and
will gain considerable new skills by sharing their
knowledge and experience. Don’t pass it up!”