The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) in the UK is seeking researchers to develop new guidance on evaluating AI and edtech tools in schools and colleges, with an indicative project budget of £15,000 to £25,000 and applications closing on 13 November 2026.
The commission forms part of the Education Technology Testbed Programme, a four-year research initiative being delivered jointly by the EEF and the Department for Education (DfE) to investigate whether education technology can improve learning outcomes, reduce teacher workload and support pupils with special educational needs.
The program is expected to conduct up to 75 rapid evaluations, followed by as many as 15 larger-scale studies of tools showing the most promise.
The EEF wants a research team to develop a practical evaluation guide that can be used across different technologies, subjects and educational settings. The work will address how to measure the effects of AI and edtech products while accounting for differences in how schools adopt and use them.
The tender opened on 23 October, with the successful applicant expected to begin work in November.
Sarah Conner, Senior Evaluation Manager at the EEF, confirmed the commissioning plans in a LinkedIn post:
“We’ll be commissioning a huge amount of work in edtech and AI in the coming months, recognising the importance of rapidly generating evidence on how different edtech tools and AI uses may impact pupil’s learning and outcomes.”
Up to 75 rapid evaluations planned
The EdTech Testbed Programme will run from 2026 to 2030, with research divided into two stages.
The first stage, led by a research consortium headed by Ipsos, will involve up to 75 rapid evaluations of education technology products. Approximately 15 tools are scheduled for testing between October 2026 and April 2027 in the program’s first evaluation cycle.
From spring 2027, the EEF will lead a second stage involving up to 15 larger-scale evaluations of products selected from the initial trials.
These studies will focus particularly on teacher and administrative workload, alongside pupil attainment through approaches such as adaptive instruction and personalized tutoring.
Researchers will also examine outcomes for pupils with special educational needs (SEN) and those eligible for free school meals (FSM), a measure commonly used to identify economic disadvantage in England.
The EEF has previously evaluated AI lesson-planning tools and education technology products including Maths Whizz, Lexia and Reading Plus. The new guidance is expected to draw on findings from those studies alongside other research and existing evaluation frameworks.
How will researchers measure whether AI tools work?
The tender identifies several methodological challenges that the new guide must address, including how to produce reliable evidence within shorter research timelines.
The EEF wants guidance on selecting appropriate experimental designs, including randomized controlled trials (RCTs), where outcomes are compared between groups using different approaches.
It also proposes shorter evaluation periods of six to 12 weeks for measuring immediate outcomes, with the option to collect longer-term evidence where needed.
For teachers, measurements could include workload diaries and platform usage data. For pupils, researchers may use assessments to examine changes in knowledge, accuracy and task performance.
The guidance must also consider how technology is actually used during a study. Platform activity data, for example, can show how frequently teachers or pupils engage with a product, but does not necessarily establish whether learning has improved. The tender specifically cautions against relying too heavily on usage metrics as evidence of educational outcomes.
Another consideration is how to evaluate products that change during testing. Researchers will be asked to establish how updates or modifications introduced by edtech developers should be documented, which changes are permissible during a trial and how those changes could affect the interpretation of results.
The work will also cover data sharing, governance and security arrangements between researchers and technology companies.
The EEF expects the resulting guide to support decisions about trial design, implementation, outcome measurement and collaboration with developers, rather than prescribe a single evaluation method for every product.
Applications close on 13 November
The opportunity is open to researchers or small teams with expertise in AI and edtech evaluation, research methodology and the development of practical guidance.
Applicants must submit proposals of no more than 2,500 words, excluding the budget and references. Submissions will be assessed on relevant experience, research methodology, governance arrangements and value for money.
The indicative budget of £15,000 to £25,000 covers the development of the evaluation guide, rather than funding the wider EdTech Testbed Programme.
The EEF expects to appoint the successful applicant on 20 November, with research and guidance development taking place during December 2026 and January 2027.
A draft is due in February, followed by the final guide in March 2027. The deadline for proposals is 5pm on Friday 13 November 2026.
ETIH Innovation Awards 2027 open for entries
The ETIH Innovation Awards 2027 are now open for entries, with 26 categories recognising companies, institutions, projects and individuals making a measurable impact across education technology. The global awards span AI in education, digital learning, higher education, skills and workforce, inclusion, education operations, evidence and impact, with entries managed through ETIH’s new online awards platform.
Entries are open worldwide, with the early-bird deadline on Friday 18 December 2026 and the final entry deadline on Friday 26 February 2027 at 23:59 UK time.
Explore the 2027 categories and judging criteria, read the How to Enter guide or start an entry through the ETIH Innovation Awards 2027 platform.
