An early language intervention that formed part of the government鈥檚 catch-up programme boosted children鈥檚 language skills by four months, a study has found. The evaluation of the three-year Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) scheme also found progress made by poorer pupils who took part averaged seven months. A national roll-out of the programme, created by the founders of University of Oxford spin-off OxEd & Assessment, was funded by the Department for Education to the tune of 拢17 million and offered to all schools with a reception class. More than 10,000 schools registered. It involved training school staff, usually teaching assistants or early years educators, to deliver 鈥渋ndividual and small-group sessions to four and five-year-olds to improve their vocabulary, active listening and narrative skills鈥�. An earlier evaluation found a 鈥渓arge proportion鈥� of pupils did not complete the scheme as intended, but that the majority of staff surveyed observed an increase in pupils鈥� confidence in their use of language. The government announced in the summer that it would continue to fund the scheme for state schools this academic year. Today the Education Endowment Foundation has , based on data from 10,800 children in 350 schools. It found children who took part made on average four months鈥� additional progress in their language skills, compared to children who didn鈥檛 receive the intervention. Poorer pupils made even more progress Further analysis found children eligible for free school meals made on average seven months鈥� additional progress, 鈥渟uggesting that NELI could help to close the language development gap between socio-economically disadvantaged children and their peers鈥�. The impact was greater for children who received more of the programme sessions compared with children who received fewer sessions. Professor Becky Francis Many schools were 鈥渦nable to deliver all the sessions鈥� due to ongoing pandemic disruption, but 鈥渆ven for children who received fewer sessions, there was an average positive impact on their language outcomes鈥�. Professor Becky Francis, The EEF鈥檚 chief executive, said 鈥渢ime and time again, the Nuffield Early Language Intervention has proven its effectiveness in boosting young children鈥檚 language development鈥�. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to overestimate how exciting it is to see a programme have a significant positive impact on a national scale. Children鈥檚 minister David Johnston said it was 鈥渇antastic to see that the children involved in the programme are now four months ahead of where they would have been without the programme, with disadvantaged children having benefitted the most鈥�. 鈥淭he big impact this programme is having is clear, and I am pleased that we will now be funding it for another year.鈥�