South Devon College at forefront of new trial aimed at improving outcomes for young people
South Devon College is at the forefront of a new trial aimed at improving outcomes for young people resitting their English Language GCSE exams.
As one of only four Excellence in English Mastery Hubs selected in the United Kingdom, South Devon College will coordinate this ground-breaking initiative in the Southwest region, with English lecturers Laura Giles and Andrew Niering as project leads.
The intervention trial, funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), will consist of two 12-week focused teaching cycles, testing the impact of the Vocabulary Mastery Programme for some of the most disadvantaged young people resitting their English Language GCSE exams. All the colleges involved are based in some of the most deprived areas of the country.
"Extensive research consistently shows that children from disadvantaged backgrounds and areas such as ours hear millions of fewer words before they start school than others," explained Laura Giles.
"For most, that gap never narrows and can widen instead. By the time children reach a GCSE, a lot need an English resit programme, and gaps in academic vocabulary and reading comprehension are one of the biggest barriers between them and a pass grade. This is where the vocabulary mastery intervention can help bridge that gap."
This is echoed in the GCSE English resit results, which have seen a drop in the pass rate in recent years. Last year, 20.9% of students who sat the exam achieved a grade 4 pass. This is the same as in 2024, and almost 10 percentage points lower than in 2019.
"This project could potentially provide a tangible opportunity to level the disparity of achievement, boost self-esteem in oracy and develop young people's confidence in navigating life," said Andrew Niering.
The Vocabulary Mastery programme was previously developed through an EEF early-stage programme development (ESPD) project and has evolved from a maths mastery approach.
As part of this early limited trial, the programme was delivered in 11 college settings, receiving positive feedback from teachers on its perceived usefulness. It is now rolling out to 80 settings across England, with 5,000 students taking part, led by the East Lancashire Learning Group, and will be evaluated by The Policy Institute at King's College London using a randomised controlled trial.
As Southwest Hub lead, South Devon College will recruit twenty further education colleges across the region to take part. As well as offering support, advice and guidance to all participants, project leads Laura Giles and Andrew Niering will deliver training, webinars and catch-up sessions.
"We will be in constant communication with all of our settings taking part," explained Laura Giles.
As well as leading the Southwest Hub, South Devon College is also part of the trial itself.
"This is a fantastic opportunity for our students and teaching team," said Laura Giles. "Up to 2,560 resit students could benefit from this programme across England. Many of our students are on the back foot for the job market, and this trial could help them by expanding their vocabulary and understanding, giving them better career prospects and opening up more possibilities."
The Vocabulary Mastery programme aims to help students develop and use new vocabulary, and to support the decoding of unfamiliar words by exploring the building blocks of words.
Students will be invited to attend a 60-minute, small group workshop alongside their usual GCSE English classes each week, delivered by specialist English teachers who will be trained and supported throughout the programme.
The evaluation report is due in Spring 2029. "Everyone at South Devon College will be eager to read it, I'm sure," says Laura. "It will be exciting to be able to share those resources with our team and continue to support our students in the future."
Andrew Niering added: "Literacy is liberation. It's not where you're from, it's where you're at, and right now we have an amazing opportunity to empower young people."
