Global School Partnerships Programme: Impact evaluation

David Kerr, Jo Morrison, Juliet Sizmur, Louise Cooper, Bernadetta Brzyska, Kathryn Wilkinson

26 August 2011

View and download the Executive Summary | Global Schools Partnerships | "Global School Partnerships - developing global citizens"(Article in Impact: NFER's Research News for Schools)

The Global School Partnerships programme is funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) with the aim of motivating young people’s commitment to a fairer, more sustainable world. DFID supports school partnerships that promote global education through the curriculum. Support and guidance is provided to teachers and grants to schools to make the most of a school partnership as a learning tool. Funding is available for visits between partner schools to enable them to develop curriculum projects together based on global themes.

In September/October 2010 NFER conducted, for DFID, a 'snapshot' evaluation to assess the impact of the Global School Partnerships (GSP) programme on the learning and attitudes of pupils throughout the UK in relation to global issues.

The Global School Partnerships programme aims to motivate young people's commitment to a fairer, more sustainable world. The evidence from this research indicates that the GSP programme has made a significant positive impact on the learning and attitudes of girls and boys in primary and secondary schools throughout the UK.

Key Findings

  • Involvement in the GSP programme was shown to have a significant positive effect on pupil awareness, attitudes and response at both primary and secondary school level.
  • Most significant differences were observed in schools in the third grant year, where partnerships were well established and the principles and values promoted by the GSP programme had had time to become embedded in whole-school policy, but significant effects were also found in other grant years.

Related Titles

Global School Partnerships programme , Global School Partnerships programme , Global School Partnerships programme , Citizenship education in England 2001-2010: young people's practices and prospects for the future , Young people's civic attitudes and practices , Creating Citizenship Communities Project

Sponsor Details

DFID