The impact of non-cognitive skills on outcomes for young people: literature review

The main purpose of this rapid review is to understand the current evidence base and identify areas of promise, in order to inform future work in this area. It has been jointly funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and the UK Cabinet Office. The EEF is particularly interested in the role of non-cognitive skills in narrowing the gap in outcomes for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Cabinet Office is particularly interested in the role of non-cognitive skills in the context of 'social action' interventions for young people. Social action is defined as 'young people doing practical action in the service of others, in order to create positive social change that is of benefit to the wider community as well as to the young person themselves'.

The review examines eight factors identified as potential key non-cognitive skills of children and young people: (1) self-perceptions; (2) motivation; (3) perseverance; (4) self-control; (5) metacognitive strategies; (6) social competencies; (7) resilience and coping; and (8) creativity. It first examines the extent to which non-cognitive skills matter for various outcomes and how to robustly measure those skills. It then focuses on the role of programs and interventions that develop non-cognitive skills for children and young people.

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