Addressing reading difficulties early in a child’s academic life is a critical priority for educators across the UK. Recent research from Bangor University provides robust, evidence-based solutions for schools navigating the complexities of literacy intervention in bilingual environments. By examining the Research-Informed Literacy with Language (RILL) programme, educators and policymakers can better understand how to implement structured support that yields measurable, long-term results in both Welsh education and English education systems.
Understanding the Core Challenges in UK Literacy Education
Teaching reading in a predominantly English-speaking country presents well-documented challenges due to the complex orthography of the English language. However, the UK is also home to a rich bilingual landscape, particularly in Wales, where students are expected to develop proficiency in both Welsh and English. This dual-language requirement adds a layer of cognitive and pedagogical complexity to literacy intervention.
Children who struggle with reading often exhibit difficulties in decoding, spelling, and vocabulary acquisition. When these struggles occur in a bilingual setting, there is a historical lack of empirical data guiding educators on whether to intervene in the child’s first language, their second language, or both simultaneously. Without clear evidence, schools have historically relied on fragmented approaches that may not address the foundational cognitive processes required for cross-language literacy.
Explore our related articles for further reading on bilingual education strategies and cognitive development in young learners.
What Is the RILL Literacy Intervention Programme?
The Research-Informed Literacy with Language (RILL) programme is a targeted, small-group literacy intervention designed specifically for children experiencing reading difficulties. Developed and evaluated by researchers at the CAL:ON Cymru centre—led by Professor Manon Jones from Bangor University’s School of Psychology, in collaboration with Dr Cameron Downing at York University and OxEd and Assessments—RILL is built on a foundation of rigorous educational psychology.
Structurally, the programme runs for 15 weeks and targets the core components of literacy: phonics, word reading, vocabulary development, and reading comprehension. Rather than relying on specialist teachers to deliver the content, RILL is specifically designed to be implemented by trained teaching assistants. This deliberate design choice addresses one of the most significant barriers to effective literacy intervention in the UK: scalability and cost-effectiveness. By utilizing existing school staff, the programme ensures that schools can provide high-quality, research-backed support without requiring unsustainable budget increases.
Measuring Impact in English Education Settings
The efficacy of any literacy intervention must be tested through rigorous peer-reviewed research. The first major study evaluating RILL was published in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. This randomized controlled trial focused on children aged 7 to 9 in English-medium schools who were identified as having reading difficulties.
The results demonstrated that children who received the RILL intervention made significant, measurable improvements in four key areas:
- Decoding: The ability to apply knowledge of letter-sound relationships to correctly pronounce written words.
- Spelling: The transcription of phonemes into written text.
- Taught Vocabulary: The retention and application of specific vocabulary words introduced during the intervention.
- Reading Comprehension: The ability to process text, understand its meaning, and integrate it with what the reader already knows.
Crucially, the study found that these gains were sustained several months after the 15-week intervention concluded. Furthermore, the data revealed a direct causal link: improvements in reading comprehension were directly underpinned by earlier gains in word-level reading and vocabulary. This reinforces the pedagogical consensus that decoding and vocabulary are not just foundational skills, but ongoing drivers of reading comprehension well beyond the early primary years.
Breakthrough Findings in Welsh Education and Bilingual Literacy
While the English-medium results were highly promising, the second study, published in the journal Reading and Writing, addressed a critical gap in educational research: the lack of randomized controlled trials for Welsh-language literacy interventions. This study focused on the efficacy of delivering RILL in Welsh-medium schools to bilingual children with reading difficulties.
The findings were groundbreaking for Welsh education. Delivering the intervention in Welsh led to immediate and lasting improvements in both Welsh word reading and expressive vocabulary. More importantly, the study provided new empirical evidence of short-term cross-language transfer. Children who improved their Welsh word reading also demonstrated corresponding improvements in their English word reading, even without receiving targeted English intervention during the 15-week period.
Have questions about how cross-language transfer works in practice? Write to us to connect with educational specialists.
Why Cross-Language Transfer Matters for Literacy Intervention
The concept of cross-language transfer suggests that the cognitive skills required to decode and process text are, to some extent, shared across languages. When a child learns to manipulate phonemes and decode words in Welsh, those cognitive pathways are utilized when they encounter English text.
However, the Bangor University research highlights a vital caveat: timing and sequencing matter. The data suggests that earlier support in a child’s first language (in this case, Welsh) produces the most sustained benefits across both languages. This provides clear, actionable guidance for schools: delaying first-language intervention in hopes of focusing solely on English is counterproductive. Strengthening the foundational literacy skills in Welsh actively supports English education outcomes.
Practical Implementation for Schools and Educators
For school leaders and local authorities, the practical implications of the RILL programme are significant. Literacy interventions often fail not because of poor pedagogy, but because of poor implementation fidelity and lack of resources. The RILL model mitigates these risks through its structured, manualized approach.
Because the intervention is delivered by teaching assistants, schools can avoid the bottleneck of waiting for specialized reading recovery teachers. Teaching assistants, when properly trained in the RILL methodology, can deliver the programme with high fidelity. This creates a highly scalable model that can be replicated across multiple schools within a local authority or trust. For headteachers looking to allocate limited budgets effectively, investing in training teaching assistants to deliver a proven literacy intervention offers a higher return on investment than purchasing unproven digital platforms or generic supplementary worksheets.
Schedule a free consultation to learn more about implementing structured literacy programmes in your school.
Preparing for the 2027 National Rollout in Wales
Building on the strong evidence base generated by these two studies, CAL:ON Cymru has confirmed that the RILL programme will be rolled out nationally across Wales in 2027. This rollout represents a significant shift in how Wales approaches literacy intervention, moving toward a unified, evidence-based model that respects and utilizes the bilingual nature of its student population.
For educators in the UK, this development is worth monitoring closely. The success of RILL in Wales could serve as a blueprint for other regions grappling with bilingual education or complex literacy challenges. The collaboration between Bangor University, York University, and OxEd and Assessments demonstrates how higher education institutions can partner effectively to produce research that directly impacts classroom practice.
Submit your application today if you are interested in studying educational psychology or literacy research at Bangor University to be part of these future developments.
Advancing Literacy Outcomes Through Evidence-Based Practice
The new evidence supporting the RILL programme underscores a fundamental principle in education: interventions must be rooted in rigorous research and designed with practical classroom realities in mind. The work led by Bangor University proves that structured, language-rich literacy interventions yield significant short- and long-term benefits for struggling readers.
By demonstrating that skills transfer across Welsh and English education systems, this research provides a clear mandate for schools to invest in early, structured support that builds on a child’s first language. As the 2027 national rollout approaches, educators have a unique opportunity to adopt a proven, scalable, and cost-effective model that will fundamentally improve reading outcomes for the next generation of bilingual learners.
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