The EEF early years toolkit is designed to support early years professionals who are making decisions about how to improve learning outcomes, particularly for children from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

The toolkit summarises findings of studies for 10 different strands:   

1. Communication and language approaches 
2. Earlier starting age 
3. Early literacy approaches 
4. Early numeracy approaches 
5. Extra hours 
6. Parental engagement 
7. Physical development approaches 
8. Play-based learning 
9. Self-regulation strategies 
10. Social and emotional learning strategies 

Each strand is presented in terms of its average impact and attainment, the strength of the evidence supporting it and its cost. A range of other information is presented for each strand, including links to further reading and related EEF projects and resources. Each strand is built upon systematic searches of high-quality studies in that thematic area.  

The toolkit is updated on a regular basis as new findings from high-quality research become available. The toolkit is accompanied by a short manual and video.