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Our sources, and why we use them

Everything on this site is free, so you should be able to see where it comes from. This page explains which organisations we rely on, why we trust each one, where its advice stops, and lists every outside source we link to.

237 outside links across 159 pagesList rebuilt 8 November 2026

How we weigh evidence

Not every source carries the same weight. When two sources disagree, the one higher on this list wins, and we tell you which kind of source a claim rests on.

  1. The law and official requirementsWhat schools in England must teach and test. Source: the Department for Education, read in the original document.
  2. Reviews of many studiesWhat tends to work across many classrooms. Source: mainly the EEF Toolkit and guidance reports, plus peer-reviewed reviews.
  3. Level frameworks and exam bodiesWhat a level means and what a child at that level can do. Source: the CEFR and Cambridge English.
  4. Specialist organisationsNarrow topics such as EAL, dyslexia, handwriting and online safety. Source: the recognised UK body for each.
  5. Experienced practitionersPractical classroom craft that has not been tested in trials. Source: British Council TeachingEnglish and similar.
  6. Our own suggestionsTimings, age bands and routines we chose ourselves. These are labelled "our suggestion" on the page.

We are not paid by, and have no partnership with, any organisation on this page. We link to them because their work is the best free source we could find for that topic.

Who we rely on and why

Education Endowment Foundation (EEF)

19 links on 45 pages
What it is
An independent charity set up in 2011 by the Sutton Trust and Impetus, with a founding grant from the Department for Education. It funds trials in English schools and publishes the Teaching and Learning Toolkit and guidance reports.
Why we trust it
It pulls together many studies instead of relying on one, and it rates each approach for cost, impact and how secure the evidence is. When it says the evidence is thin, it says so plainly.
What we use it for
Which teaching methods to build lessons around: phonics, reading comprehension strategies, feedback, oral language, metacognition and retrieval practice.
Where it stops
Most trials are in English schools with children who speak English at home. We say so when we apply its findings to children learning English as a new language.

Department for Education (DfE)

24 links on 63 pages
What it is
The UK government department responsible for schools in England. It publishes the national curriculum, the reading framework, the phonics screening check and the statutory spelling word lists.
Why we trust it
It is the legal source for what schools in England must teach and test. For anything statutory we go to the document itself, not a summary of it.
What we use it for
The Year 1 to Year 6 word lists, the phonics screening check guide, grammar terms, test arrangements for Years 2 to 6, and the early years framework.
Where it stops
It covers England only. Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and schools abroad follow their own rules, so our EFL pathway does not depend on it.

British Council

130 links on 72 pages
What it is
The UK's international organisation for cultural relations and education. It runs free sites for children (LearnEnglish Kids), teenagers (LearnEnglish Teens) and teachers (TeachingEnglish).
Why we trust it
Its practice materials are free, carefully levelled and safe for children, and its teacher guides come from people who teach English around the world, often in big classes with few resources.
What we use it for
Most of the free practice links in our weekly plans, and practical teaching ideas such as TPR and task-based learning.
Where it stops
TeachingEnglish is experienced practitioner advice, not a review of research. Where a method is popular but the research is mixed, we say so on the method page.

Cambridge English

16 links on 7 pages
What it is
Part of Cambridge University Press and Assessment. It sets the Pre A1 Starters, A1 Movers, A2 Flyers, A2 Key for Schools and B1 Preliminary for Schools exams.
Why we trust it
Its handbooks and word lists describe exactly what a child at each level is expected to do, and the levels are mapped to the CEFR used around the world.
What we use it for
The CEFR targets for each of our levels, the exam practice task types, and the vocabulary we expect at each step.
Where it stops
It describes its own exams. Our age bands for exam practice are our suggestion, not Cambridge's.

Council of Europe: the CEFR

What it is
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, which defines the levels from Pre-A1 to C2.
Why we trust it
It is the shared scale that schools, exam boards and publishers in most countries use, so a school abroad can match our levels to its own.
What we use it for
The level labels on every plan, from Pre-A1 to B1.
Where it stops
It describes what learners can do, not how to teach. The teaching choices are ours.

The Bell Foundation

5 links on 2 pages
What it is
A charity that works to improve the education of children in the UK who use English as an additional language (EAL).
Why we trust it
It is the leading UK specialist on EAL, with free assessment frameworks and classroom guidance written for ordinary schools.
What we use it for
Our EAL guide and the advice for families who speak other languages at home.
Where it stops
Its work is about children in UK schools. For EFL classes abroad we lean more on the British Council and Cambridge.

Specialist organisations

14 links on 11 pages
What it is
The British Dyslexia Association, the National Handwriting Association, the National Literacy Trust, the Health and Safety Executive, the UK Safer Internet Centre and Childnet.
Why we trust it
Each is the recognised UK body for one narrow topic, so we go to them for that topic only.
What we use it for
Dyslexia-friendly formatting, handwriting posture and grip, reading-for-pleasure figures, typing posture and breaks, and safe online English for older children.
Where it stops
Some advice, such as pencil grip and typing wrist position, is common practice rather than tested in trials. We label it as a suggestion.

Popular but weak ideas

Some ideas are everywhere in teacher training but have little good evidence behind them. We do not build lessons around them, and where they come up we explain why.

  • Learning styles (teaching "visual", "auditory" or "kinaesthetic" learners differently). Studies that test it properly do not find a benefit. Our guide explains what to do instead: Learning styles: what the evidence says.
  • Single methods sold as the answer. TPR, task-based learning and CLIL all have real strengths and real limits. The TPR, task-based learning, CLIL and retrieval practice guides each have a section called "How strong is the evidence?", and each method guide lists its sources so you can judge for yourself.
  • Advice that is common practice, not tested. Pencil grip, paper tilt, minutes per day and typing wrist position are sensible habits, but they have not been tested in trials. We label them "our suggestion" or "common advice".

How we check our work

  • Original documents first. For statutory lists and exam formats we read the official document, not a summary of it.
  • Checked dates. Guides show the date they were last checked and list their sources at the bottom.
  • A separate fact check. Before release, a separate review re-read the claims on new pages against their sources. Anything it could not confirm was corrected, softened or labelled as our suggestion.
  • Answer keys and word lists checked. Answer keys were re-read, and the Year 1 to Year 6 spelling lists were compared word by word with the Department for Education's documents.
  • Links checked on every build. Every outside link is tested automatically when the site is rebuilt, so the list below stays current.
  • Our own texts are our own. Stories and reading passages are written for this site. The facts in non-fiction passages come from the sources under "Facts behind our reading texts".

Every source on this site

This list is built automatically from the pages themselves, so it always matches what is on the site. Open a group to see each link and the pages that use it. Books and papers without a web link are listed at the bottom of the guide that cites them.

Research and evidence reviews 25
Curriculum, law and official guidance (England) 28
Levels and exams 22
Specialist organisations 22
Facts behind our reading texts 11
Free practice materials we point to 129

Spotted a mistake?

If a link is broken, a fact is out of date or you think we have overstated the evidence, please email hello@litlings.com with the page address. We fix errors and update the "checked" date on the page.