Explicit vs Metacognitive Writing Instruction:
An EEF Teacher Choices Trial
Trial to test how two different approaches to re‑teaching sentence‑combining can strengthen writing in Year 3 and Year 4. By comparing explicit instruction with metacognitive guidance, the study will help identify which method best supports pupils’ progress.
Evaluation type: Teacher Choices Trial
Evaluation design: Trial – after signing up, participating classes are randomly assigned to one of the two choices
Evaluator: Oxford MeasurEd, Navigator Insight
Key Stage: KS2
Subject or Area of Learning: Writing
Number of education settings: 50 primary schools
Are special/selective schools eligible? No
Signup deadline: September 2026
When will delivery be? January to April 2027
The Project
What is Explicit vs Metacognitive writing instruction: A Teacher Choices trial?
Teacher Choices trials explore some of the most common questions teachers ask about their practice, testing the everyday choices educators make when planning their lessons and supporting their students.
This Teacher Choices trial will test two different approaches to re-teaching sentence-combining in Years 3 and 4: using explicit instruction or metacognitive strategies. Explicit instruction helps pupils master sentence-combining techniques through clear modelling and structured practice. Metacognitive strategies help learners think about their sentence-combining choices and improve how they plan, monitor, and evaluate their writing.
Who is leading this project?
This evaluation is funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and is being carried out by Oxford MeasurEd and Navigator Insight (formerly Qa Research). Oxford MeasurEd is responsible for trial design, analysis, reporting, and research with teachers. Navigator Insight is responsible for school recruitment and coordinating baseline and endline testing.
What will this project look like in your setting?
Each participating school will have one Year 3 class and one Year 4 class taking part. The two classes will be randomly given different approaches to use - either explicit instruction or metacognitive strategies. This means that one class will use one approach, while the other class in the same school will use the other approach. Classes will deliver their allocated approach in at least three 15–25-minute re-teaching sessions per week, over a 12-week period (January-April 2027).
Schools will receive an implementation guide to help them deliver sessions free of charge. As a thank you for completing evaluation activities, schools will also receive £100 after baseline and £100 after endline testing. Schools that host an in-person visit by the evaluation team will receive a separate thank-you payment of £100 following completion of the visit.
Who can take part?
The trial is open to state mainstream primary schools which:
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have a minimum of 20 pupils in all Year 3 and 4 classes
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are not participating in another Year 3 and 4 literacy projects funded by the EEF
In schools with more than one Year 3 and 4 class, one class will be randomly selected to participate in the research, though all Year 3 and 4 teachers are encouraged to implement the choice their year group has been assigned to.
What is the timeline for the project?
Delivery is taking place in the Spring Term in the 2026/2027 academic year, and the evaluation report will be published in Spring 2028.
How are we evaluating it?
The project will be evaluated by Oxford MeasurEd and Navigator Insight using a randomised controlled trial (RCT). Within each participating school, one Year 3 and one Year 4 class will be randomly allocated to deliver sentence-combining re-teaching sessions using either explicit instruction or metacognitive strategies. The evaluation will assess the impact of each approach on pupils’ writing attainment using the Writing Assessment Measure (WAM), alongside its effect on pupils’ writing self-efficacy, measured through the Self-Efficacy for Writing Scale (SEWS).
What will we learn from the project?
Teaching sentence-combining is one of the most effective ways that teachers can help pupils improve their confidence and fluency in writing and is recommended in the Department for Education’s (DfE) 2025 national writing framework. However, there is limited evidence on whether it is most effective to teach it through explicit instruction or using metacognitive strategies.
This trial will generate new evidence on everyday classroom practice and on a routine but consequential decision that key stage 2 teachers make when deciding how to teach writing.
How can you register your interest?
Please complete the expression of interest (EOI) form below.
Information webinars
Oxford MeasurEd and Navigator Insight will be hosting nine webinar sessions which will address FAQs and as well as any queries you may have. Attendance is open to school staff before or after submitting an EOI form. If you would like to attend one of these, please sign up below
Get in touch
If you have questions about the approaches and the evaluation, please contact the Oxford MeasurEd team at: teacher.choices-evaluation@oxfordmeasured.co.uk
If you have questions about school recruitment and baseline and endline testing, please contact a member of the Navigator Insights team at: teacherchoices@navigator-insight.co.uk
Click on the links below to download information