The department works with the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) to support building the evidence base for early language interventions. In July 2024, the department announced that funded support for the 11,100 schools registered for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) programme (two thirds of English state primary schools) would continue for the 2024/25 academic year. NELI is the most robustly evidenced early language programme in the UK, helping children who need extra support with their speech and language development to make four months of additional progress and seven months for those on free school meals.<\/p>
To support early language skills, the department has invested over £20 million in NELI. The department does not hold the exact number of children who have completed NELI since 2020, but an estimate is based on the data included in EEF\u2019s 'NELI Scale-up: Evaluation Report - Year 2', as attached. The programme has screened more than 650,000 children in the last four years and supported more than 210,000 four and five-year-olds since the pandemic. Broken down by academic year, this is:<\/p>
2020/21: 35,000<\/p>
2021/22: 59,000<\/p>
2022/23: 58,000<\/p>
2023/24: 59,000<\/p>
The Stronger Practice Hubs, which provide advice, share good practice and offer evidence-based professional development for early years practitioners, have also collaborated with the EEF to fund and make places available on several early language programmes. This is helping to strengthen and add to the evidence base of early years professional development programmes. The department does not hold data on the number of children who have benefitted from these programmes.<\/p>
The number of new schools who registered to deliver NELI in each academic year since 2020 are as follows:<\/p>
2020/21: 6,668<\/p>
2021/22: 4,418<\/p>
2022/23: 26<\/p>
2023/24: no new school registration undertaken<\/p>
For registered schools, the government has continued to fund the intervention so that schools can deliver the programme to new cohorts of reception children, where they are identified with below or well-below average language levels. We do not hold figures on how many of these schools completed the full work programme in each of those years.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/269", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Smith of Malvern"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Baroness Smith of Malvern"} , "attachment" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1729624/answer/attachment/1", "fileName" : {"_value" : "HL1093_HL1094_HL1095_NELI_Scale_Up_Evaluation_Report_Year_2.pdf"} , "title" : "HL1093_HL1094_HL1095_attachment "} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-09-25", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : [{"_value" : "HL1094"} , {"_value" : "HL1095"} ], "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-09-25T14:50:13.593Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "60"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Education"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Education"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2024-09-12", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Children: Speech and Language Disorders"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask His Majesty's Government which providers of language intervention programmes for schools they support with funding.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/542", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Touhig"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Touhig"} ], "uin" : "HL1093"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1729625", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Education"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1729625/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The department works with the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) to support building the evidence base for early language interventions. In July 2024, the department announced that funded support for the 11,100 schools registered for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) programme (two thirds of English state primary schools) would continue for the 2024/25 academic year. NELI is the most robustly evidenced early language programme in the UK, helping children who need extra support with their speech and language development to make four months of additional progress and seven months for those on free school meals.<\/p>
To support early language skills, the department has invested over £20 million in NELI. The department does not hold the exact number of children who have completed NELI since 2020, but an estimate is based on the data included in EEF\u2019s 'NELI Scale-up: Evaluation Report - Year 2', as attached. The programme has screened more than 650,000 children in the last four years and supported more than 210,000 four and five-year-olds since the pandemic. Broken down by academic year, this is:<\/p>
2020/21: 35,000<\/p>
2021/22: 59,000<\/p>
2022/23: 58,000<\/p>
2023/24: 59,000<\/p>
The Stronger Practice Hubs, which provide advice, share good practice and offer evidence-based professional development for early years practitioners, have also collaborated with the EEF to fund and make places available on several early language programmes. This is helping to strengthen and add to the evidence base of early years professional development programmes. The department does not hold data on the number of children who have benefitted from these programmes.<\/p>
The number of new schools who registered to deliver NELI in each academic year since 2020 are as follows:<\/p>
2020/21: 6,668<\/p>
2021/22: 4,418<\/p>
2022/23: 26<\/p>
2023/24: no new school registration undertaken<\/p>
For registered schools, the government has continued to fund the intervention so that schools can deliver the programme to new cohorts of reception children, where they are identified with below or well-below average language levels. We do not hold figures on how many of these schools completed the full work programme in each of those years.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/269", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Smith of Malvern"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Baroness Smith of Malvern"} , "attachment" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1729625/answer/attachment/1", "fileName" : {"_value" : "HL1093_HL1094_HL1095_NELI_Scale_Up_Evaluation_Report_Year_2.pdf"} , "title" : "HL1093_HL1094_HL1095_attachment "} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-09-25", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : [{"_value" : "HL1093"} , {"_value" : "HL1095"} ], "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-09-25T14:50:13.64Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "60"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Education"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Education"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2024-09-12", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Children: Speech and Language Disorders"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask His Majesty's Government how many children have completed language intervention programmes each year since such programmes were first funded by the Government in 2021.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/542", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Touhig"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Touhig"} ], "uin" : "HL1094"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1729626", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Education"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1729626/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The department works with the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) to support building the evidence base for early language interventions. In July 2024, the department announced that funded support for the 11,100 schools registered for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) programme (two thirds of English state primary schools) would continue for the 2024/25 academic year. NELI is the most robustly evidenced early language programme in the UK, helping children who need extra support with their speech and language development to make four months of additional progress and seven months for those on free school meals.<\/p>
To support early language skills, the department has invested over £20 million in NELI. The department does not hold the exact number of children who have completed NELI since 2020, but an estimate is based on the data included in EEF\u2019s 'NELI Scale-up: Evaluation Report - Year 2', as attached. The programme has screened more than 650,000 children in the last four years and supported more than 210,000 four and five-year-olds since the pandemic. Broken down by academic year, this is:<\/p>
2020/21: 35,000<\/p>
2021/22: 59,000<\/p>
2022/23: 58,000<\/p>
2023/24: 59,000<\/p>
The Stronger Practice Hubs, which provide advice, share good practice and offer evidence-based professional development for early years practitioners, have also collaborated with the EEF to fund and make places available on several early language programmes. This is helping to strengthen and add to the evidence base of early years professional development programmes. The department does not hold data on the number of children who have benefitted from these programmes.<\/p>
The number of new schools who registered to deliver NELI in each academic year since 2020 are as follows:<\/p>
2020/21: 6,668<\/p>
2021/22: 4,418<\/p>
2022/23: 26<\/p>
2023/24: no new school registration undertaken<\/p>
For registered schools, the government has continued to fund the intervention so that schools can deliver the programme to new cohorts of reception children, where they are identified with below or well-below average language levels. We do not hold figures on how many of these schools completed the full work programme in each of those years.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/269", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Smith of Malvern"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Baroness Smith of Malvern"} , "attachment" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1729626/answer/attachment/1", "fileName" : {"_value" : "HL1093_HL1094_HL1095_NELI_Scale_Up_Evaluation_Report_Year_2.pdf"} , "title" : "HL1093_HL1094_HL1095_attachment "} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-09-25", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : [{"_value" : "HL1093"} , {"_value" : "HL1094"} ], "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-09-25T14:50:13.67Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "60"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Education"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Education"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2024-09-12", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Children: Speech and Language Disorders"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask His Majesty's Government how many schools registered to deliver language intervention programmes in (1) 2021, (2) 2022, and (3) 2023, and how many completed the full work programme in each of those years.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/542", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Touhig"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Touhig"} ], "uin" : "HL1095"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1580750", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Education"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1580750/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
At the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, the government announced a package of around £300 million to transform services for parents, carers, babies, and children in half of upper tier local authorities across England. An additional £28.7 million has been made available to these 75 local authorities to improve young children\u2019s home learning environments, helping them to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>
The department has published guidance setting out the expectations of local authorities receiving a share of the funding, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-programme-local-authority-guide<\/a>. These expectations include supporting parents and carers to access fast and effective support for their child\u2019s speech and language needs, including through multi-agency pathways, which are co-designed with the local speech and language service through the family hub network.<\/p>