Context
Ceibal en Inglés (CEI) is a national English language programme delivering English instruction to Uruguayan public school students through real-time video conferencing. Launched in July 2012 by Ceibal, the Uruguayan government-funded educational innovation agency, the programme was developed in partnership with the British Council to address shortages of qualified English teachers and ensure equitable access to quality English education nationwide.
The pilot began with 50 remote English classes per week in schools around Montevideo, taught by teachers from Latin America and other parts of the world, particularly the Philiipines, via real-time video conferencing. The British Council played a central role from the outset — managing the project, creating materials, and delivering teacher training. By 2014, the programme had expanded rapidly to over 1,000 classes per week, with 70% delivered by the British Council or its partners. In 2015, large-scale operations began from a new Remote Teaching Centre (RTC) in Buenos Aires. From 2021 onward, the British Council's role focused on delivering classes from the Buenos Aires RTC and providing teacher development support.
TELT was commissioned to conduct a deep-dive evaluation of the British Council's contribution to the programme.
TELT's Role
TELT was appointed by the British Council to design and deliver an independent evaluation of its involvement in Ceibal en Inglés. The brief focused on synthesising existing monitoring and evaluation evidence to construct a clear narrative of impact, capability, and long-term value as a delivery partner within a national education system.
Methodology
TELT applied a mixed-methods evaluation approach drawing on both primary and secondary data sources, including:
- Review of public and internal British Council documentation
- Interviews with Ceibal managers, British Council staff, teachers, academics, and sector officials
- Three large-scale online surveys targeting remote teachers, classroom teachers, and the Uruguayan public
- Comparative analysis against international large-scale ELT reform programmes
Programme success was assessed against original objectives, British Council evaluation questions, long-term M&E outcomes, and internationally recognised principles of good practice. The evaluation also produced a series of recommendations for potential improvement.
The publicly accessible version of the report is available at americas.britishcouncil.org/programmes/ceibal-report.
Outcomes & Impact
The study was not intended to provide a complete history or comprehensive description of this large and long-standing programme. TELT focused on those elements where there were transferable lessons for organisations engaged in similar programmes, building a foundation of evidence around the British Council's contributions, work, and capability as a delivery partner.
Since publication, outputs have achieved significant international reach:
- 4,472 downloads of the full report
- 4,339 downloads of the summary report
- 2,256 registrations for the public launch event
- 70,658 views of the recorded launch session
- 2,908,581 views of associated short-form informational videos
Metrics as of end 2025
The report now serves as a reference point for organisations designing or commissioning national ELT programmes.
