EAL HUB

06/09/2026

*HUGE NEWS!!*

Our brand-new EAL STAR assessments are now live.

73 new assessments across Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing, with hundreds of new questions, images and audio recordings.

Every assessment question has been carefully mapped to our newly developed EAL STAR Targets. As pupils complete their assessments, their individual areas for development are identified and the relevant targets are automatically pulled through to their pupil profile, giving teachers clear, meaningful next steps alongside their proficiency results.

The new suite also includes parallel assessments, improved visuals, a wider range of voices and accents, new Writing papers and comprehensive marking guidance.

And we’re not done yet.

The EAL STAR Practice Platform is coming soon. Teachers will have the option of a dedicated dashboard where they can set targeted work linked directly to the areas identified through EAL STAR assessment. Pupils will have their own logins and can work through targeted activities and questions, as well as broader English language practice.

Assess. Identify. Target. Practise. Progress.

Start your free trial today and be amongst the first to experience the upgraded EAL STAR platform.

www.ealstar.com

23/03/2026

🚀 Over 50,000 EAL Assessments Completed – Proven, Robust EAL Assessment You Can Trust

With increasing expectations around how schools monitor and support EAL learners, having the right assessment tool has never been more important.

That’s where EAL STAR comes in:

✔️ The only EAL assessment on the market that is truly intuitive
✔️ Knows when to stop – accurately identifying a child’s level
✔️ Removes teacher subjectivity to give robust, reliable data
✔️ Assesses reading, writing, speaking & listening individually
✔️ Provides clear next steps guidance for teachers and EAL leads
✔️ Fully aligned with the Bell Foundation descriptors
✔️ Designed to give schools the evidence Ofsted now expects

💡 Whether you’re baselining new arrivals or tracking progress over time, EAL STAR makes the process simple, consistent, and meaningful.

💷 Affordable, transparent pricing – from just £3 per pupil per year
🔗 Seamlessly linked with Arbor
📊 Trusted by hundreds of schools

👉 Start your 2-week free trial today (no payment details, no pressure)

🌐 www.ealstar.com

Join the growing number of schools transforming how they assess and support EAL learners.

Everything you need for quick and easy EAL assessment, tracking and monitoring of your EAL learners all in one place. The ONLY intuitive EAL assessment on the market. Aligned with the Bell Foundation level descriptors and the DfE Proficiency Scale. Join the fastest growing, most cost effective, EAL....

13/03/2026

The power of visuals in the classroom!

Visuals aren’t just helpful for EAL learners. They improve learning for everyone.

When we combine language with visuals:
• comprehension increases
• memory improves
• cognitive load reduces

Research into Dual Coding Theory (Allan Paivio) shows that the brain processes information through both verbal and visual channels. When we activate both pathways, learning becomes stronger and easier to retrieve.

There’s an old saying: “A picture is worth a thousand words.” For multilingual learners, this is even more powerful, because sometimes they don’t yet have the thousand words.

A well-chosen image can bridge that gap instantly. Images can also trigger something important in the brain: connections to prior knowledge. An EAL learner may not recognise the English word yet...but they may recognise the concept/visual in their first language. When they see a visual, it can activate the word they already know in their home language, which then helps them attach the new English word to an existing idea.

In cognitive terms, visuals can help reopen neural pathways to prior learning. Suddenly the new word isn't unfamiliar anymore. It has somewhere to live in the brain.

Instead of saying:

“Photosynthesis is the process by which plants convert sunlight into energy.”

Show:
🌱 A plant
☀️ Sunlight
💧 Water
🍃 Oxygen

Now the language has something concrete to attach to. Great EAL teaching isn't about simplifying learning. It's about making meaning visible.

Teachers:

What visual strategy has transformed understanding in your classroom?

04/02/2026

Anyone fancy my EAL conference in Lancaster on 2nd March? Looking to get bookings in for this one to hit minimum numbers asap so that I can secure the venue and confirm the exact price (hopefully less than advertised!)

If you are Lancaster/Preston/Cumbria take a look and please share widely as it's hard to get the events out to schools!!

We are delighted to announce that EAL HUB conferences are back for 2026 Due to the huge success of the 1 day events last year, Beth will be visiting a number of locations to share amazing ideas for working with EAL Learners from new arrivals to advanced bilinguals. These events…

16/12/2025

Afternoon everyone! After a slight delay, I am finally able to announce the next 6 dates and locations for EAL conferences for 2026 (March-May). These conferences were so well received last summer, and have been tweaked this year to include new developments in technology, EAL in the new Ofsted Framework and more!
Get booked on to save your space and take advantage of the early bird rate - invoices will not be sent out until minimum numbers are met (10 per venue) and we will share venue details once we have a better idea of numbers (usually a nice hotel with a lovely lunch!)
Please tag everyone and share widely!

Lancaster - 2nd March
Darlington - 16th March
Scunthorpe - 30th March
Leicester - 13th April
Gloucester - 27th April
Luton - 11th May

https://www.ealhub.co.uk/conferences/

06/11/2025

At last EAL has a dedicated mention on the Ofsted Framework!

Get ready for the new Toolkit by ensuring you can explain how you identify your EAL learners (especially those at the early stages) and how you are recognising and supporting their language proficiency.

Robust and regular assessment is the key, start an EAL STAR trial today and start getting your data in place - www.ealstar.co.uk

Staff INSET, CPD and training also available!

Everything you need for quick and easy EAL assessment, tracking and monitoring of your EAL learners all in one place. The ONLY intuitive EAL assessment on the market. Aligned with the Bell Foundation level descriptors and the DfE Proficiency Scale. Join the fastest growing, most cost effective, EAL....

07/03/2025

Romeo and Juliet Support Pack is here! The third one we have added in the last 6 weeks and lots more on the way! We have been getting amazing feedback from these. Check it out over here:

https://www.ealhub.co.uk/resource-categories/ks4-ks5-eal-text-support-packs/

The Macbeth Support Pack is still available to grab for FREE there too!

10/02/2025

Are you looking for a way to reliably baseline assess and track your EAL cohort? Do you have limited time and money for this process? If so, take a look at the new video explainer from EAL STAR to find out why this is the platform you need!

⭐ Reliable - levels formed from analysing tens of thousands of tests
⭐ Robust
⭐ Pedagogically sound - linked to Bell Foundation level descriptors
⭐ Tested globally for 18 months before launch
⭐ Affordable - licences start at a few pounds per student per year
⭐ Easily build profiles and tracking data to inform pathways
⭐ Developed by experts with huge amounts of school experience
⭐ Powered by EAL Hub - the UK's leading EAL platform

Start a free trial at www.ealstar.co.uk and see what it's all about.

17/05/2024

Let's talk about pronouns! A tricky concept for learners to understand when using text such as chapter books or text books with characters in. So easy for EAL learners to get lost within the text when they are unsure who a pronoun relates to.

Have you tried pronoun chains?

Anyone else do anything else to help with this?