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2 May 2026

Tag: NFER

How can we get schools to offer more ITT placements?

The government wants schools more involved in initial teacher training, but how can we encourage them to offer more placements, asks Jack Worth. The initial teacher training (ITT) market review articulates a clear desire for a greater role for schools in ITT, including greater alignment between the ITT curriculum and what is done in schools, […]

Reception baseline assessment: 8 key findings from the DfE’s pilot report

The Department for Education has published a report on its pilot of the new reception baseline assessment, which will be rolled out to all schools this September. The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) was tasked with carrying out the process, which consisted of a trial with members of the September 2018 intake, and then […]

EEF research to investigate impact of three-year GCSEs

The Education Endowment Foundation has commissioned research into whether teaching GCSEs over three years boosts pupils’ grades. The charity has enlisted the National Foundation for Educational Research for the study, which aims to give schools more evidence of the impact of their decisions. Schools have traditionally taught a three year key stage 3 between years […]

Teachers with more freedom are happier, and 5 more NFER findings

There is limited evidence on teacher autonomy, so the National Foundation for Educational Research has delved into data to find out what’s going on. The report, said to be the first large-scale quantitative study of teacher autonomy in England, found teachers’ perceived autonomy over their jobs is strongly associated with greater job satisfaction and their […]

Teachers ARE motivated by pay, research shows

The idea that teachers are not motivated by pay is misleading and not backed by evidence, according to a leading researcher. In fact, teachers with degrees that could let them earn more money in another job are more likely to leave the profession, Sam Sims, a researcher at Education Datalab (pictured below), has found. His […]

Academy autonomy ‘has no positive impact in the classroom’

Almost half of academy leaders believe that the extra autonomy granted to academies has no positive impact in the classroom, according to new analysis by the Sutton Trust. Thirty per cent of academy senior leaders who took part in a poll on the additional autonomy that comes from academy status said it had “no effect” […]

NFER to deliver reception baseline test

The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) has been chosen to deliver the controversial new baseline test for reception children, which will be rolled out to all schools by the end of 2020. The reintroduction of the test was announced by former education secretary Justine Greening in September last year, despite a previous pilot of baseline […]