New City College leads national collaboration to launch 16–19 Evidence Partnership with EEF

New City College has once again taken a leading role in shaping the future of further education, officially launching the new 16–19 Evidence Partnership in collaboration with the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF).

The launch event, at NCC Hackney Campus, brought together representatives from colleges across London and the South East, including Newham College, Capital City College Group, Orbital South Colleges, Lewisham College, Southwark College, Barnet & Southgate College, Barking & Dagenham College and the South Thames College Group.

The strong turnout reflected a shared ambition across the sector to improve outcomes for young people through collaboration and evidence-informed practice.

It follows the launch last year of the Teaching and Learning Lab at NCC which supports professionalism and growth through mentoring, coaching, innovative research, and sharing best practice. The Lab’s aim is to create teachers for the future, with some describing it as a ‘game-changer’.

The national 16–19 Evidence Partnership initiative is bringing further education and sixth form colleges together to champion the use of high-quality research evidence to strengthen teaching, learning and student outcomes – with a particular focus on learners from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

The partnership aims to:

• Build strong regional networks to deepen collaboration across 16–19 providers
• Share and disseminate evidence-informed resources and approaches
• Bridge the gap between research and classroom practice through credible, actionable examples
• Strengthen the sector’s voice in shaping the EEF’s future work in post-16 education

Opening the evening, Principal Janet Smith highlighted the significance of the partnership and NCC’s commitment to leading positive change across the sector.

Janet said:

“Your presence today reflects a real shared commitment across our sector to strengthen outcomes for young people through collaboration, challenge and evidence-informed practice. This launch marks the beginning of a new strategic evidence partnership between the Education Endowment Foundation and the 16–19 further education sector.

“At its heart, this partnership reflects a collective ambition to improve day-to-day classroom practice and raise outcomes for learners, with a particular focus on those from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. It is a fact that pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds are still half as likely to leave school without a broad pass in English and maths. These students are our students – and the realities are that we need to work differently, work better and work together to tackle deep-rooted educational inequality.”

During the first year of the partnership, NCC’s joint work with the EEF will focus on English and Construction, two key curriculum areas that offer strong vocational contexts and rich opportunities to apply research-backed strategies in diverse learning environments. These projects will be led internally by NCC’s curriculum managers, working alongside colleagues across partner colleges.

The 16–19 Evidence Partnership builds on New City College’s established reputation for sector leadership and innovation. It represents another significant step in the college’s mission to improve education opportunities and outcomes for learners of all ages – not only within NCC, but across the wider further education landscape.

By bringing colleges together around a shared evidence base, NCC and the EEF are helping to ensure that research moves beyond theory and into everyday classroom practice, where it can make the greatest difference to learners’ lives.