Reading programme shown to boost primary school pupil attainment

The programme, known as Peer Assisted Learning Strategies UK (PALS-UK), was led by Dr Emma Vardy, Nottingham Trent University (NTU), and Professor Helen Breadmore, University of Birmingham, who trained teachers and provided ongoing support.

It aims to raise reading attainment amongst pupils by developing skills in areas such as oral reading fluency, reading comprehension and motivation to read through whole class participation and children working in pairs for reading activities.

Around 4,800 Year 5 pupils from 114 schools took part in the trial, which was evaluated by Manchester Metropolitan University and funded through the Department for Education’s Accelerator Fund. In half of the schools teachers delivered the PALS-UK programme, with the other half following business-as-usual practices and acting as a control group in the trial.

Pupils in primary schools using PALS-UK made an average of two months' additional progress in reading compared to pupils in schools not participating in the programme. The evaluation also showed similar progress for children eligible for Free School Meals.

This new analysis adds to wider evidence on the impact of the approach from previous evaluations conducted in the US, where PALS was originally developed by academics from Vanderbilt University. Given the positive progress on attainment, the EEF is now exploring a potential for a larger trial of the programme.

Dr Emma Vardy, researcher and senior lecturer in Psychology at NTU’s School of Social Sciences, commented: "We have been developing PALS for the UK context for 10 years and we are thrilled to see the positive impact of PALS-UK. Thank you to the schools, teachers and pupils who have helped shape PALS-UK to be a transformative programme for reading comprehension, oral reading fluency and reading cultures in primary schools. We are looking forward to the next steps for the programme."

Professor Helen Breadmore, University of Birmingham, said: “Peer Assisted Learning Strategies are used widely in the US with reports of positive results on pupils’ reading skills. Most trials have been small up until this point, so our project and these findings are a massive step forward. We’re delighted that not only did teachers and pupils like this approach to paired reading, but it also had a real impact on their reading outcomes.”

Emily Yeomans, co-chief executive of the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), said: “The PALS-UK evaluation shows incredible promise. Peer learning strategies have long been an important approach in teaching, with mixed results depending on the specific intervention.

“To see such an uplift in reading skills for pupils as part of this programme is incredibly exciting and this evaluation allows us to have confidence in this programme’s potential as a tool to boost reading levels in schools across England, skills that are vital to a young person’s overall education.

“Now our attention turns to building on this knowledge to better understand how this intervention could work in practice for schools on a larger scale.”