The role of social and emotional skills in narrowing the gap: To what extent can interventions targeting social and emotional skills improve education

There is good evidence that children's social and emotional skills such as self-control, resilience, self-perceptions and social skills are associated with a range of positive outcomes at school and later in life. However, few robust studies in the UK have explored the extent to which such skills can be changed through intervention, and no experimental studies in UK schools have assessed the impact of reported changes to social and emotional skills on long-term outcomes. Despite growing enthusiasm in education policy and practice to prioritise such skills (recently under the concept of 'character'), evidence on their malleability and causal relationship with other outcomes is limited.