Etio awarded new Department for Education (DfE) project: Behaviour and Anti-Bullying Best Practice Review and Toolkit
One of the government’s key delivery partners, Etio (formerly Tribal Group Education Services), has been awarded a major new Department for Education (DfE) project: Behaviour and Anti-Bullying Best Practice Review and Toolkit.
School-ready resources to support adoption and shared understanding
As part of this new project, Etio will conduct a best practice review and develop a national toolkit to support mainstream schools in England (for 5- to 16-year-olds) to manage pupil behaviour, reduce preventable exclusions, and tackle and prevent bullying. The toolkit will be non-prescriptive and designed to complement existing statutory and non-statutory guidance. It will be structured around three sections: Overarching Principles, Behaviour & Exclusions, and Anti-Bullying.
The contract started in March 2026 and runs until 31 July 2029, with provision for up to three one-year extensions. Once finalised and independently evaluated, the toolkit will be made available for all schools in England to use.
Helping every child to achieve and thrive at school
Poor behaviour and bullying can disrupt learning, undermine wellbeing, affect attendance, and erode a sense of safety and belonging across the school community. The toolkit will help schools strengthen approaches that set high expectations for all pupils, build shared understanding across staff, pupils and parents/carers, and enable consistent, evidence-informed practice.
The work supports the Government’s Opportunity Mission, led by DfE, which aims to break the link between a child’s background and future success. Good behaviour and effective anti-bullying practice are central to the mission pillar “Helping every child to achieve and thrive at school” ensuring schools are supportive environments where pupils feel safe, included and able to learn.
An evidence-to-practice pipeline designed for real classrooms
Etio will deliver the programme with research partner ImpactEd, using a single, coherent delivery model that moves from evidence to usable resources: an independent best practice review, structured expert and practitioner challenge, and a toolkit that translates findings into practical, school-ready tools that can be adopted quickly and adapted to local context.
The best practice review will establish a comprehensive evidence-base on effective school approaches across behaviour, exclusions and bullying, including preventative and responsive strategies. In parallel, an Anti-Bullying Effective Components Systematic Review will assess the evidence on “what works” in anti-bullying interventions and the components associated with impact, informing later iterations of the toolkit.
Matt Davis, Global Managing Director, Etio, said: “On behalf of Etio, we are keen to get started in this important work to tackle bullying and improve behaviour - ensuring we all maintain high expectations for young learners. Factors such as bullying can have knock on impacts to attendance. We hope this new project will complement the existing work we are doing to tackle the national attendance challenge, through Etio’s Attendance Mentors Pilot Expansion project.”
Dr. Gordon Carver, UK Managing Director, Etio, said: “Helping every child to achieve and thrive at school is a mission that we are wholeheartedly behind at Etio. Bullying and poor behaviour can have a detrimental impact on children’s educational journey, so effective intervention is key. By taking a three-pronged approach, bringing together overarching principles; behaviour & exclusions; and Anti-Bullying, we will develop a toolkit for schools and a robust evidence base for what works. We must work on removing all barriers to opportunity for young people.”
