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

New City College has taken a leading role in shaping the future of further education by 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 now 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, New City College Principal Janet Smith highlighted the significance of the partnership and NCC’s commitment to leading positive change across the sector. She said: “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. The realities are that we need to work differently, work better and work together to tackle deep-rooted educational inequality.”

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.