After five successful years of delivery from 2016 to 2021 it was announced that the Mandarin Excellence Programme (MEP) would continue to be delivered by IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society in partnership with the British Council from 2021-2025.
The MEP independent evaluation report covering the academic year 2022/23 has been published and is now publicly available. This report builds on a summative evaluation of the first five years of the programme (2016-2021) and the evaluation report for the 2021/22 academic year. Click here or click the image below to download the 2022/23 report.
The academic year 2022-2023 was the 7th year of MEP and marked the second year of the second phase of funding of the programme by the Department for Education.
The programme is continuing to achieve its delivery targets. The report showcases the impressive results that the MEP has achieved. The report findings of the report include:
- The MEP continues to deliver strongly against its target outputs and outcomes.
- Data suggests that the share of Year 7 pupils entering MEP who are economically disadvantaged is increasing.
- 1,053 pupils within 51 MEP schools sat GCSE Chinese in 2023, an increase of 37% vs 2022.
- MEP pupils have higher average attainment than their non-MEP peers in state schools
- Participation in MEP has a statistically significant positive impact on average GCSE attainment.
- The programme’s impact on childrens’ personal development goes beyond what is captured by exam and test results in building confidence, resilience and critical thinking.
- MEP is a well-conceived and rounded programme. Its focus on supporting both pupils and teachers is widely valued.
Click here to read the independent evaluation report for 2021/22.