SCALE

How edt’s work on the SCALE programme helps governments to turn investment into measurable learning gains

Jump to section

Overview

Meaningful change can only be achieved through innovative partnerships that lead to strengthened national systems, ensuring that resources invested in education systems are used effectively to drive real learning outcomes.

SCALE (Scaling Access and Learning in Education) – for which edt manages the technical assistance component – was established for this very reason: to provide rapid and adaptable expertise that enables partner governments to design, enhance and expand cost-effective education solutions.

What is the SCALE programme?

SCALE is an FCDO-funded facility (2024–2028) that supports the design of smarter programmes with clear pathways for scaling, strengthens implementation so that investments lead to tangible improvements in learning, and increase influence over international education finance, whilst also supporting the mobilisation of domestic resources. SCALE provides high-leverage support by deploying targeted, timely expertise to help national systems deliver improved foundational learning, and reach more disadvantaged children, especially girls.

The achievement of these goals is organised through three distinct components:

Component 1: Technical Assistance – Focuses on engaging the right experts at the right time to scope enabling environments, identify opportunities, and adapt evidence-based interventions, such as SmartBuys+.
Component 2: Innovative Partnerships (IPs) – Provides funding for IPs, typically between £4 million and £5 million per investment, to test, learn and refine high-potential reforms where there is strong national political will.
Component 3: Strategic Partnerships – Aims to build influence through strategic donor relationships and collaboration with multilateral organisations, such as the World Bank, GPE and Prevail, to facilitate the scaling of successful initiatives.

Why is SCALE needed?

Many countries are currently grappling with a significant learning crisis. Although access to education has grown considerably, this progress has not translated into improved learning outcomes. In low- and middle-income nations, learning poverty has risen sharply, with an estimated 70% of ten-year-olds unable to comprehend a simple written text. This issue is particularly pronounced in sub-Saharan Africa.

Traditional technical assistance has not consistently resulted in system-level improvements, and there are limited examples of cost-effective education interventions being successfully scaled and embedded in national systems. Yet, education remains one of the most rewarding public investments, contributing to long-term economic growth and poverty reduction. Given the pressures on donor funding, it is increasingly important to adopt locally owned and cost-effective approaches.

Key points

SCALE is an FCDO-funded programme (2024–2028) that helps governments improve and scale cost-effective education solutions.
It uses technical assistance, funded partnerships, and global collaboration to design and scale reforms.
SCALE is needed as although access to education has grown considerably, this progress has not translated into improved learning outcomes in many contexts.

Edt’s role on SCALE

Edt leads the design and delivery of SCALE’s technical assistance (Component 1), translating strategic priorities into context-responsive support tailored to country needs. We ensure that all assistance is grounded in robust evidence, shaped through inclusive stakeholder participation, and systematically integrates gender equality, disability, and social inclusion (GEDSI) considerations. This enables education systems to make informed decisions and progress effectively along the scaling pathway.

The technical assistance we provide through SCALE is swift and catalytic, in line with FCDO’s emerging guidance on smarter technical assistance. We do not focus on addressing every challenge, but rather on filling critical strategic gaps in analysis and process. Through this approach, we can ensure that domestically financed reforms are more precisely targeted, better sequenced, and more likely to lead to sustained improvements in teaching and learning outcomes.

Through the TA component, edt supports the delivery of high-quality diagnostics and options analyses that directly inform decision-making and investment priorities. It actively strengthens coordination and alignment across governments, donors and implementers by convening structured reference groups and facilitating joint validation processes. GEDSI is embedded upfront across system design, planning tools and monitoring frameworks, ensuring that analysis translates into practical and actionable recommendations.

Evidence and learning products developed through our work also help shape wider sector discussions and influence investment decisions among partners, including GPE, UNICEF, the World Bank, and bilateral organisations.

Programme reach and areas of focus

SCALE is providing a growing pipeline of support across various regions, combining rapid technical assistance assignments with deeper, long-term partnerships. This approach enables the programme to respond swiftly to emerging needs while also fostering sustained collaboration for broader reforms.

Thematic coverage

To date, we have mobilised 21 assignments through the SCALE TA component, with more than five additional assignments currently at the scoping stage or in the pipeline. These assignments cover a wide range of thematic areas, including:

Curricula reform
Early childhood education
Middle tier leadership
Non-formal education
Policy reform
Violence against children.

Geographical coverage

The portfolio of assignments has been concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, with projects implemented in Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, and Zambia. In addition, SCALE TA has been delivered or is being scoped in South Asia and the Middle East, specifically in Nepal, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria. Our teams have also undertaken one assignment in Central Asia, covering Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, as well as one assignment involving global analytical work.

Achievements to date

In a constrained funding environment, edt’s work through SCALE has demonstrated how targeted technical assistance can sustain reform momentum, protect prior investments, and position systems for effective reform at scale. Following significant reductions in overseas development aid (April 2025–March 2026), SCALE has played a critical role in ensuring that foundational learning reforms did not stall, maintaining government and partner focus on delivery and impact.

Across multiple contexts –including Ghana, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Somalia and Uganda –SCALE TA has acted as a bridging mechanism, enabling governments to maintain reform continuity despite delays to large-scale financing. This has included strengthening technical readiness, sustaining stakeholder alignment, and ensuring that evidence, tools, and policy directions remain in place for future scale-up. As a result, countries are better positioned to move rapidly when financing conditions improve.

Our work on this programme has also delivered tangible system-level influence and resource mobilisation:

Malawi: SCALE TA directly informed government decision-making, contributing to the allocation of USD 2 million within the GPE Compact to scale a TaRL-informed national remediation programme.
Mozambique: Gender considerations were successfully mainstreamed into the GPE grant and national operational plan, addressing a critical gap in prior system planning.
Sudan: SCALE TA has supported the systematisation and strengthening of non-formal education (NFE) in a highly fragile context. This includes the development of comprehensive learner profiles to record out-of-school children and identify key barriers (including disability and trauma), alongside the review and alignment of NFE programmes. This is enabling more coherent, evidence-based provision for crisis-affected learners.

In fragile and crisis-affected contexts in particular, SCALE has demonstrated its value as a neutral, technical partner, able to convene stakeholders, align fragmented provision, and provide actionable evidence where system capacity is constrained.

This technical assistance model has shown that small, well-targeted investments in analysis, coordination, and design can unlock significantly greater system value—improving the quality, coherence and scalability of education reforms, even in periods of reduced external funding. We look forward to creating further positive change as we apply our expertise to this important programme.