HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-TRANSFO-06: Closing the learning gap: uncovering causes and effective policy… — expected outcomes, evaluation and traps

Topic	HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-TRANSFO-06
Status	Forthcoming
Call	HORIZON-CL2-2027-01 — Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society - 2027
Destination	Innovative Research on Social and Economic Transformations (2026-27)
Type of action	Research and Innovation Actions · lump sum
Opening	13 May 2027
Deadline	23 September 2027
Budget	EUR 3 million to EUR 4 million per project · 3 projects expected · EUR 12 million in total
Part B page limit	45 pages (standard application form; check your call)
Template	Work Programme 2026–2027 application form

Expected outcomes

Projects should contribute to all of the expected outcomes. The topic says: “Projects should contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:”

EO1 Provide policymakers with a solid understanding of the structural causes for the decline in young people’s skills levels in mathematics, reading and science, including low and top levels of achievement, observed in the EU over the past 15 years.
EO2 Generate rigorous, policy-relevant evidence about which teaching practices, programmes and policy actions can be effective to reverse that decline, including the role of curricula, structural aspects of education and training systems, physical and digital learning environments, and innovative teaching and learning methods (including their accessibility).
EO3 Develop actionable advice to inform policy measures, programmes, future evaluations and actions for education and training systems in the field of basic skills.

Expected impacts named in the destination

The wider, long-term effects the destination seeks. Your outcomes feed them; they are not project deliverables.

EI1 Strengthening social and economic resilience and sustainability.
EI2 Boosting inclusive growth and reducing vulnerabilities effectively.
EI3 The European Pillar of Social Rights, and its Action Plan with its three ambitious targets (78% employment rate, 60% of population with yearly training, and reduction of the number of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion by at least 15 million by 2030)
EI4 the European Education Area and its EU-level 2030 targets.
EI5 The Union of Skills (including envisaged initiatives on skills portability and the European Strategy for Vocational Education and Training, the Pact for Skills and the Skills Agenda)
EI6 the first-ever EU Anti-Poverty Strategy and the European Affordable Housing Plan.
EI7 The Union of Equality policies and strategies, including: the Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030 (in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities); the European Accessibility Act (Directive 2019/882), and the European Disability Card The Gender Equality Strategy 2020 – 2025 and the Directive combating violence against women and domestic violence EU Anti-racism Action Plan 2020-2025 The Strategic EU Framework for Roma Equality, Inclusion and Participation 2020-2030 The LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025.
EI8 The Communication on Demographic change in Europe: a toolbox for action.
EI9 The EU’s just transition policy framework, in line with the 2040 Climate Target Plan, including the Just Transition Mechanism, the Social Climate Fund, and the Council Recommendation on ensuring a fair transition towards climate neutrality.
EI10 The new Pact for European Social Dialogue and the Council Recommendation on strengthening social dialogue in the EU.
EI11 The European Child Guarantee.
EI12 The Council Recommendation on adequate minimum income.

What evaluators will look for in this topic

Expected outcomes

Projects should contribute to all of the expected outcomes.
For each outcome (EO1 to EO3), name who will use or adopt your results (a specific group, not “industry” or “society”), how they get them, and the indicator that shows the change, with baseline, target and date.
Use the topic's own words for each outcome, so the evaluator can tick it off.

What the scope asks for

Evaluators check the proposal against these sentences of the scope. Answer each one visibly, in the call's own words.

“Proposals should also take into account the perspective of young people and other relevant stakeholders as part of the data collection.”
“Close cooperation with authorities and/or other institutions owning the data is essential and should be ensured.”
“Proposals should apply experimental and/or quasi-experimental methods for their analysis and could complement them with qualitative research methods.”
“Proposals should also evaluate the costs associated with the policy measures or programmes analysed.”
“Interdisciplinary approaches, combining insights from economics, sociology, psychology, neurosciences and education sciences, and more generally, the social sciences and humanities (SSH), are encouraged.”

Conditions that shape the proposal

Part B, sections 1–3: 45 pages (standard application form). Text beyond the limit is not read; tables and figures count.
Lump sum: the budget is fixed per work package and paid when each work package is completed. Every work package needs activities and deliverables an evaluator can verify, and the effort must match the money.

Impact pathway and traps

The topic asks for social sciences and humanities (SSH) expertise. Evaluators look for SSH partners with a real role in the methodology, not a token task.
The topic expects cooperation with other projects or initiatives. Reserve effort and budget for it in the work plan.
The gender dimension is named in the topic. Show how sex and gender analysis enters the research content, not only team balance.
Policy or regulation is in scope. Name the policy owners you will reach and what you will give them.
Keep outputs, outcomes and impacts apart: what you deliver, what changes when others use it, and the long-term effect.
For each destination impact you claim, show which of your outcomes feeds it. Destination impacts are long-term effects, not project deliverables.
Name the barriers outside the project (regulation, markets, user behaviour) that could block uptake, and what you will do if they do.
Section 2.3 (the summary canvas) is optional on this call; the old split into scientific, economic and societal impact is no longer required.

The scope, as published

Young people's mathematics, reading and science skills, as measured by large-scale international assessments such as the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), have significantly declined in Europe over the past 15 years. This applies both to the low and top levels of achievement. Reversing that trend is one of the fundamental objectives of the Union of Skills. While the research literature has well analysed the short-term impact of the COVID-19 crisis, the structural causes of the observed decline are still poorly understood. More in-depth research is necessary, using various data sources at national and international level. Several interrelated research questions remain to be addressed, such as: How have changes in teaching methods, curriculum design, and assessment practices influenced the decline in mathematics, reading and science skills over time? What role do digital distractions and shifts in reading habits from paper to digital devices play? What is the role handwriting and drawing for cognitive development? What is the link between acquisition of cognitive skills in maths, science and reading on the one hand and the socio-emotional skills, learning skills, self-regulation, school climate on the other. To what extent does the increasing (also migration-related) heterogeneity of the students make it more difficult to organise learning at school? How does parental involvement affect educational performance? Do different levels of parental involvement affect educational performance? What is the role of cultural institutions such as museums and libraries? What is the combined impact of socio-economic background and gender on gaps in educational performance? How do different levels of investment in public education, and teacher shortages and working conditions affect the educational performance of children? Proposals should also take into account the perspective of young people and other relevant stakeholders as part of the data collection. Close cooperation with authorities and/or other institutions owning the data is essential and should be ensured. Understanding the causes of this decline is the pre-condition for analysing the causal impact of various remedial measures and identifying effective policies and programmes to improve young people’s skills in mathematics, reading and science. Proposals should apply experimental and/or quasi-experimental methods for their analysis and could complement them with qualitative research methods. Proposals should also evaluate the costs associated with the policy measures or programmes analysed. Interdisciplinary approaches, combining insights from economics, sociology, psychology, neurosciences and education sciences, and more generally, the social sciences and humanities (SSH), are encouraged. Clustering and cooperation among selected projects under this call topic and other relevant projects are strongly encouraged.

Source and attribution

Topic text from the official topic page on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, retrieved 19 October 2026. © European Union, reused under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU (CC BY 4.0). Changes: the expected outcomes and impacts are split into numbered statements, long passages are shortened, and the evaluator checklist is GrantWise's own commentary. Your call and the Work Programme always win; check them before you submit. GrantWise is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the European Commission.

Closing the learning gap: uncovering causes and effective policy interventions for declining youth skills in mathematics, reading, and science

Expected outcomes

Expected impacts named in the destination

What evaluators will look for in this topic

Expected outcomes

What the scope asks for

Conditions that shape the proposal

Impact pathway and traps

Other topics in HORIZON-CL2-2027-01

Source and attribution