Supporting maths learning through peer support: a randomised control trial
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN13794466 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN13794466 |
| Protocol serial number | N/A |
| Sponsor | Education Endowment Foundation |
| Funder | Education Endowment Foundation |
- Submission date
- 18/11/2025
- Registration date
- 04/12/2025
- Last edited
- 02/12/2025
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Ongoing
- Condition category
- Other
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
Many secondary school pupils in England, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, struggle to do well in mathematics. These difficulties can affect their confidence, future education, and job opportunities. The Peer‑to‑Peer Coaching study aims to find out whether a school‑based maths coaching programme can help improve pupils’ maths performance, confidence, and learning skills.
The programme, developed by the education charity CoachBright, trains high‑achieving older pupils to coach younger pupils who find maths more difficult. The study will test how well this approach works for improving maths outcomes. Researchers will also explore how the programme is delivered in practice and what helps or hinders its success in schools.
The study is funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF).
Who can participate?
The study will include pupils aged 11–12 years (Year 7) and 14–15 years (Year 10) from state‑funded secondary schools in England.
Year 7 pupils taking part will be those who scored below 100 in their maths Key Stage 2 tests and may be eligible for Free School Meals or meet other disadvantage criteria.
Year 10 pupils who are doing well in maths (expected GCSE grades 7–9) will act as coaches.
What does the study involve?
Around 100 schools will take part. Schools will be randomly selected to join either the treatment group (who run the Peer‑to‑Peer Coaching programme) or the control group (who continue their usual maths teaching).
In the treatment schools:
Year 10 coaches receive training from CoachBright on effective coaching, communication, and how to support metacognitive (learning‑about‑learning) strategies.
Each Year 10 coach is matched with a Year 7 coachee. They meet once a week for about an hour over 10 weeks to work together on maths problems and discuss strategies for learning.
Sessions are held in school time with support from teachers and CoachBright programme managers.
At the end, coaches take part in a graduation event and can earn an SSAT leadership qualification.
In control schools, pupils continue with business‑as‑usual lessons.
All participating pupils will complete short online or paper‑based tests before and after the programme.
Maths progress will be measured using the Progress Test in Maths (PtM).
Confidence and learning skills will be measured using short questionnaires on maths self‑efficacy and metacognition.
Researchers will also gather feedback through surveys, interviews, and focus groups to understand how the programme works in practice.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Taking part may help younger pupils improve their maths skills, confidence, and enjoyment of learning. Older pupils may develop leadership and communication skills that support their own learning and future education. Schools may gain a structured way to support disadvantaged pupils and strengthen peer relationships.
There are no known risks from taking part. All activities take place during school time with teacher supervision. No personal or health data beyond school information will be collected. Participation is voluntary, and pupils can withdraw at any time.
Where is the study run from?
The evaluation is done by RAND Europe and the University of Leeds. The Peer‑to‑Peer Coaching programme is delivered by CoachBright, a UK charity.
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
The main study is running during the 2025–2026 school year. The programme will be delivered in two cohorts:
Cohort 1: October 2025 – February 2026
Cohort 2: February – June 2026
In the following school year, 2026-2027, EEF will be supporting CoachBright to pilot a new school-led model of their programme to assess evidence of promise, feasibility and readiness for scale.
The evaluation report will be published in Summer 2028.
Who is funding the study?
Education Endowment Foundation (UK)
Who is the main contact?
Ms Elena Rosa Speciani, erspeciani@randeurope.org
Contact information
Public, Scientific, Principal investigator
RAND Europe
Eastbrook
Shaftesbury Road
Cambridge
CB2 8BF
United Kingdom
 ORCID ID |
0000-0003-4420-3320 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +44 (0)1223 353 329 |
| erspeciani@randeurope.org |
Public, Scientific
RAND Europe
Eastbrook House
Shaftesbury Road
Cambridge
CB2 8BF
United Kingdom
| ORCID ID |
0000-0003-2849-0307 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +44 (0)1223 353 329 |
| rmead@randeurope.org |
Public, Scientific
RAND Europe
Eastbrook House
Shaftesbury Road
Cambridge
CB2 8BF
United Kingdom
| Phone | +44 (0)1223 353 329 |
|---|---|
| merewood@randeurope.org |
Study information
| Primary study design | Interventional |
|---|---|
| Study design | Two-armed cluster randomized trial |
| Secondary study design | Cluster randomised trial |
| Scientific title | Using peer-to-peer coaching to improve maths attainment: a two-armed cluster randomised trial |
| Study acronym | P2P |
| Study objectives | The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) is funding a research study evaluating Peer-to-Peer Coaching, an intervention designed to improve maths attainment. Delivered by the social mobility charity Coachbright, Peer-to-Peer Coaching involves high-achieving Year 10 pupils tutoring Y7 pupils in 10 weekly 60-minute-long sessions. The sessions are supported by CoachBright Programme Managers, who provide training, resource guidance, and supervision alongside an in-school coordinator. Programme Managers also debrief with Y10 coaches and support them to develop resources for the next session. Both coaches and coaches keep reflective journals throughout, and coaches can also receive a UCAS-recognised Schools, Students and Teachers (SSAT) leadership accreditation. The aim of this trial is to measure the impact of the Peer-to-Peer Coaching programme on mathematics attainment, self-efficacy in maths, and metacognition (self-awareness and reflective ability of pupils). This is complemented by an embedded process evaluation which will explore implementation fidelity, barriers and facilitators, and pupil responsiveness. |
| Ethics approval(s) |
Approved 24/03/2025, RAND Europe Research Ethics Committee (RE-REC) (RAND Europe, Eastbrook House, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge, CB2 8BF, United Kingdom; +44 (0)1223 353 329; researchethics@randeurope.org), ref: 022807.022 |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Low attainment in maths among secondary-school disadvantaged pupils |
| Intervention | Peer-to-Peer Coaching. A school‑based mathematics coaching programme delivered over ten weeks to treatment schools, which are randomly allocated at the school level with stratification by region and school type. The key components of Peer‑to‑Peer Coaching are: 1. Training for high‑attaining Year 10 pupils to coach lower‑attaining Year 7 pupils in mathematics. 2. Weekly 50‑ to 60‑minute one‑to‑one coaching sessions over ten weeks focusing on metacognitive strategies, tailored maths problems, and mutual concept explanation. 3. Ongoing support for coaches through debrief sessions and an SSAT leadership accreditation, culminating in a graduation event. Control schools continue with business as usual. |
| Intervention type | Other |
| Primary outcome measure(s) |
Maths attainment is measured using the Digital Progress Test in Maths (PtM), which is age standardised (GL Progress Test in Maths (PtM) – Level 12 for Year 7; Level 15 for Year 10). It is measured in an endline survey which is in January-February 2026 for cohort 1 and May-June 2026 for cohort 2. The baseline data collection in September/October 2025 used KS2 Maths scores from the National Pupil Database, which is used as the primary baseline measure for maths attainment. |
| Key secondary outcome measure(s) |
1. Maths self-efficacy is measured using the Sources of Mathematics Self-Efficacy Scale (SMSES) |
| Completion date | 31/01/2028 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Learner/student |
|---|---|
| Age group | Child |
| Lower age limit | 11 Years |
| Upper age limit | 15 Years |
| Sex | All |
| Target sample size at registration | 3000 |
| Total final enrolment | 2700 |
| Key inclusion criteria | 1. Coachees: Year 7 pupils with low attainment in maths (determined through their SATs results - SATs score <100) 2. Coaches: Year 10 pupils with high attainment in maths (potential to achieve GCSE scores of 7-9 in maths, determined through one or a combination of end-of-year exams, teacher assessments, or any standardised tests taken in Year 9) 3. At least 80% (12 out of 15) of Year 7 pupils should be eligible for Free School Meals (FSM). Any other pupils identified as potentially benefitting from the Peer-to-Peer coaching programme should meet one or more of the criteria for CoachBright’s wider definition of disadvantaged (below) 4. At least 50% (8 out of 15) of the Year 10 pupils should be eligible for FSM or should meet wider disadvantage criteria but their maths attainment should take precedence |
| Key exclusion criteria | Schools will not be eligible to apply if: 1. They are a private school or special school 2. They will be participating in another mathematics-focused EEF trial for the same year groups in 2025-26 such as Action Tutoring, Fluent and Flexible Calculators or Specialist Knowledge for Teaching Mathematics 3. They are currently delivering a CoachBright Peer-to-Peer coaching programme |
| Date of first enrolment | 07/03/2025 |
| Date of final enrolment | 17/10/2025 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- United Kingdom
- England
Study participating centre
Eastbrook House
Shaftesbury Road
Cambridge
CB2 8BF
England
Results and Publications
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
|---|---|
| IPD sharing plan summary | Stored in publicly available repository |
| IPD sharing plan | All individually identifiable data held by RAND Europe will be destroyed 1 year after the end of the evaluation study (2027). All individually identifiable data held by the University of Leeds will be destroyed 5 years after the end of the evaluation study (2031). All pupil records held by CoachBright held on their central database will be deleted or anonymised 10 years after pupils graduate from the CoachBright programme. Data in the EEF’s archive in the ONS SRS will include data only individually identifiable to the Department for Education (DfE), the government department responsible for children’s services and education, and will be kept indefinitely for the purposes of future research. Audio recordings of focus groups and interviews will be destroyed following transcription (approximately 3 months after recording). Anonymous transcripts from the focus groups will be kept indefinitely by the University of Leeds for future teaching and research purposes. Data from the evaluation will be publicly available for research purposes through the EEF data archive: https://eef.dev/projects-and-evaluation/evaluation/evaluation-guidance-and-resources/evaluation-data-archive |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other files | 02/12/2025 | No | No | ||
| Protocol file | 19/09/2025 | 02/12/2025 | No | No |
Additional files
- 48512_PROTOCOL_V.2.0.0_19Sep2025.pdf
- Protocol file
- 48512 School information sheet.pdf
- Other files
Editorial Notes
18/11/2025: Study's existence confirmed by RAND Europe Research Ethics Committee (RE-REC).
