Social and Emotional Learning-Targeted
An approach that develops children’s ability to regulate their emotions and communicate effectively.
What is it?
Social and emotional learning supports children and young people to understand themselves, manage their feelings, think before they act, and make caring, responsible choices. It also supports them to understand how other people feel, communicate clearly, build positive relationships, and manage impulsive and aggressive behaviour.
Social and emotional learning can be delivered through universal or targeted programmes. Targeted programmes focus on children and young people at increased risk of, or already showing, social and emotional difficulties or engaging in crime, violence, or antisocial behaviour. Our review of the evidence on universal social and emotional learning programmes is also available here.
Targeted social and emotional learning programmes are often delivered at school and are highly structured, with detailed session plans, and in some cases, scripts to guide delivery. They are delivered face-to-face, either to individual children, to small groups, or through a combination of both approaches. Delivery varies in intensity from daily sessions to biweekly sessions over six months or more but rarely run for longer than one year.
A variety of trained professionals are involved in delivering social and emotional learning programmes, including teachers, mental health professionals and social workers. Training ranges from brief sessions to intensive multi‑week preparation, often supported by ongoing supervision, feedback and opportunities to rehearse or observe the programme before delivery. Training equips professionals with a clear understanding of social and emotional learning, practical strategies for delivering structured lessons, strengthening teacher-pupil relationships and helps staff embed the programme consistently.
Activities can include:
- Role play or observations to model and practice positive behaviours. This could include identifying and expressing emotions, handling confrontation, reflecting on individual behaviour and considering alternative responses to challenging situations.
- Group discussions to support problem-solving through identifying difficult situations, planning and evaluating potential solutions and their consequences, and providing feedback.
- Games, rewards and praise are central elements to several interventions. Some of these incorporate individual or group games where children can win prize tokens for positive behaviour and lose tokens for negative behaviour.
- Homework or journalling, which includes tasks such as reflective exercises to encourage the examination of feelings or learning new skills.
- Calming or relaxation techniques such as breathing exercises to support children and young people to move through negative feelings.
Social and emotional learning may reduce violence and offending by developing self-control, anger management, positive relationships and problem-solving skills. These skills enable children to think before they act, reduce impulsivity, and avoid aggression, leading to a reduced risk of involvement in antisocial behaviour, crime and violence.
Is it effective?
The research suggests that, on average, the impact of targeted social and emotional learning on preventing violence is likely to be high.
The evidence suggests that targeted social and emotional learning may reduce violence by 43%.
The research also estimates that targeted social and emotional learning reduces crime and offending by 31%.
The review found positive effects on improving school engagement, reducing behavioural difficulties, and and building and maintaining relationships.
How secure is the evidence?
We have low confidence in our estimate of the average impact of targeted social and emotional learning on violence.
We gave this rating because our estimate is based on 9 studies. Of these, 5 studies are of moderate quality and 4 are low quality.
We have very low confidence in our estimate of the average impact of targeted social and emotional learning on crime and offending.
We gave this rating because our estimate is based on only 3 studies. Of these, 2 studies are of high quality and one study is low quality.
All studies informing our estimates of impact on violence and crime were undertaken in the US.
The studies that produce the impact ratings on violence and crime and offending assessed the effectiveness of these approaches for 2,679 children and young people.
Who does it work for?
The review did not find any studies that explored the impact of universal social and emotional learning on disability, neurodivergence, socioeconomic status or care experience.
Age
Targeted social and emotional learning is effective for children in both primary and secondary school.
Gender
The review found targeted social and emotional learning to have higher impact when boys make up most of the groups.
Ethnicity
Targeted social and emotional learning showed greater effects when delivered to groups of children from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
How can you implement it well?
This section is informed by 101 studies that provide evidence related to the implementation of targeted social and emotional learning. Most of the studies were conducted in the US.
Deliver social and emotional learning in line with SAFE principles
Deliver targeted social and emotional learning in line with four key principles represented by the acronym SAFE:
S = Sequenced in a coordinated and connected way to support skill development, breaking down more complicated skills into smaller steps
A =Active, to enable children to practice and rehearse new skills
F = Focused, with specific sessions allocated to social and emotional learning and,
E = Explicit, clearly defining and targeting skills, and explicitly teaching social and emotional skills to children.
These SAFE principles are embedded in the key points below.
Provide structured training and support for all providers involved
Invest in training, coaching and ongoing support for teachers or programme deliverers to enable consistent, high-quality delivery of targeted social and emotional learning.
Tailor sessions to meet the needs of the children
Tailor the programme to the specific social, emotional and behavioural needs of participating children and young people. Small-group learning should support peer interaction, roleplay and collaborative learning, while still enabling intervention providers to provide individualised support.
Combine approaches that strengthen teacher-child interaction with structured skill instruction
Deliver targeted social and emotional learning programmes that combine approaches to help teachers or programme deliverers build strong, positive relationships with children, such as learning about specific skills, using roleplay, guided practice, and positive feedback.
For younger children, the interventions should also reflect their stage of development. This means using play-based and interactive activities that are engaging and enjoyable.
How much does it cost?
On average, the cost of targeted social and emotional learning training is likely to be medium.
Cost estimates from current UK programmes suggest costs vary between £500 to £1,500 per child, per year.
Costs usually involve programme materials such as books or handouts, training, and paying staff to deliver the programme. If the programme is delivered by teachers, this will include the cost of teaching cover while they attend training.
Costs will vary depending on how often and how long the programme runs, as well as how widely it is delivered.
Topic summary
- Social and emotional learning is an approach that supports children and young people to understand themselves, manage their feelings, and make caring, responsible choices. It also supports them to understand how other people feel, communicate clearly, build positive relationships and manage impulsive and aggressive behaviour.
- Targeted social and emotional learning focuses on children and young people at increased risk of, or already showing, social and emotional difficulties or engaging in crime, violence, or antisocial behaviour.
- Targeted social and emotional learning is estimated to have high impact on reducing violence. The research suggests that these interventions may reduce violence by 43%. However, we have low confidence in this estimate.
- Targeted social and emotional learning is also estimated to have high impact on reducing crime and offending, showing a 31% reduction on average. However, we have very low confidence in this estimate.
- On average, the cost of targeted social and emotional learning is moderate, but these costs vary depending on interventions provided.
Take away messages
All contexts:
- Put in place targeted programmes for children who need specific support with social and emotional skills.
- Identify internal staff members or external organisations to deliver sessions (which can be one-to-one or small group) for these children.
- Deliver these sessions weekly, for a minimum of one full term.
Primary context:
- Read and act on the EEF’s Social and Emotional Learning Guidance.
- Consider using evidence-based programmes such as Incredible Years Child Training, PATHS Preschool/Kindergarten .
Secondary context:
Consider copying or using promising programmes such as Becoming a Man, or delivering your own in-house programmes that draw from similar principles.
YEF projects and evaluations
Future Men’s Boys Development Programme
A targeted social and emotional learning programme which aims to develop the social and emotional capacity and skills of boys in Years 7-11 who are at risk of exclusion and disengagement.
Mental Health Foundation: Becoming a Man (BAM)
Becoming a Man (BAM) aims to support 12- to 16-year-old boys to improve their social and emotional skills, self-awareness, relationships with peers and adults, and engagement in school.
External links
EIF Guidebook Entry: Incredible Years Child Training (Dinosaur School)
Incredible Years Child Training (Dinosaur School) is a targeted indicated school-based intervention for children with behavioural difficulties aged between 4 and 8 years.
EEF Social and Emotional Learning Guidance
This guidance report reviews the best available research to offer school leaders recommendations to support good social and emotional learning for all children in primary schools.
PATHS Preschool/Kindergarten Curriculum
The PATHS Preschool/Kindergarten is an early years setting-based intervention targeting children between 3 and 6 years of age. The intervention promotes emotional and social competencies and reduces aggression and behaviour problems in preschool-aged children, while simultaneously enhancing the educational process in the classroom. Can be provided as a Universal offer but generally a targeted approach to children living in families experiencing disadvantage.