Evaluation of Positive Early Childhood Education

Information about taking part in the evaluation of the Positive Early Childhood Education (PECE) training programme.

About the study

The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) will carry out an independent evaluation of the Positive Early Childhood Education (PECE) training programme, which is being run by Triple P UK (TPUK). PECE is a professional development programme that helps early years practitioners create warm, consistent and responsive environments that support children’s emotional, behavioural and cognitive self-regulation.

The training programme will be delivered in the 2026-27 school year. The evaluation is funded by the Education Endowment Foundation.

Information for settings 

Please refer to the timetable below for a guide to what taking part in this evaluation involves:

TimingEvaluation activity
March – August 2026Settings sign up to the programme
September 2026
  • All settings share pupil and staff details with NatCen/TPUK
  • Practitioner online survey (all settings)
October 2026Settings are randomised to intervention or comparison group
November – December 2026Telephone interviews with practitioners (selected settings) 
March - April 2027In-person coaching session observations and interviews (selected settings in the intervention group) 
June – July 2027
  • Practitioner online survey (all settings)
  • Practitioners complete questionnaires about children (all settings) 
  • Observational assessments of children (all settings)
  • Telephone interviews with practitioners (selected settings)

Privacy notice

You can read the privacy notice for the study here.

Contact us

If you have any queries about this evaluation, please contact the research team via email at PECE@natcen.ac.uk.