How Can We Better Support the Growing Number of EAL Children? Our Latest Evidence on This is Out Now

New evidence about the growing number of EAL children in English schools – and why measuring Proficiency in English is essential for schools to understand their attainment trajectory and unlock their potential – is out now. Explore the report, media coverage, our data story, and an interview with University of Oxford’s Professor Steve Strand OBE, one of the authors.

The number of pupils with English as an Additional Language (EAL) has more than tripled since 1997. Over one in five schoolchildren use EAL and multilingual classrooms are now the norm. New evidence about EAL learners – and why measuring proficiency in English is essential for schools to understand their attainment trajectory and unlock their potential – is out now. 

We have been carrying out research on educational attainment of EAL children for the past 10 years and one of our key findings over time is that, for this group, it is Proficiency in English that has the strongest relationship with educational attainment, explaining four to six times  as much variation as gender, free school meal status and ethnicity combined.

Proficiency in English explains 4-6 times as much variation in attainment as ethnicity, gender & free school meals combined

Key findings

Implications for policy

Media enquiries

Maria Gili, Head of Communications | maria.gili@bell-foundation.org.uk | 07713 401 468