The Educational Endowment Foundation (EEF) has been enlisted by the government to provide evidence to local and national governments to guide decision making over public spending on education.

EEF will join the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence plus four new sector-specific institutions (that will focus on crime, aging, early intervention, and local economic growth) in the new What Works Network, devised in the Civil Service reform plan in June 2012.

Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Education Endowment Foundation, said: “In the past teachers and policy-makers have often lacked a solid evidence base to support their decisions. I hope the new network will change that, and with our help, we will see more effective schools and improved outcomes for our young people as a result.”

Thousands of schools already use the Sutton Trust-EEF Toolkit, an interactive summary of over 5,500 studies on the impact of a range of educational interventions including effective approaches to teaching, pupil feedback and behaviour.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said: “It is vital that we continue using evidence-based policy making to shape decisions on public spending, particularly in this financial climate. The What Works Network will bring a real step-change to our evidence generating capabilities, and will further ensure government takes decisions at the Spending Round and future events on the basis of high quality research aimed at delivering the best possible outcomes for the public.”

The network will be part-funded by the government with significant contributions from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The Big Lottery Fund is the sponsor and principle funder of the centre for ageing better. A tendering process for the centre for local economic growth opened this month. It will have core funding of £1m per year over an initial three year period.