All schools must produce an inclusion strategy by the end of the calendar year, the government has said, with £400 million per year in “inclusive mainstream” funding to help develop and implement them.
The Department for Education has said the pot of money, announced alongside its white paper last month, will provide the average secondary school with around £48,000 per year and the average primary school £14,000 per year.
This is aimed at helping schools implement new expectations for inclusion, which involve developing an inclusion strategy and creating inclusion bases for pupils with additional needs.
New details on the inclusion strategy and how government expects schools to create a “universal offer” have been published by the Department for Education this morning. Here’s everything schools need to know.
1. Inclusion strategy by December 31
The DfE has said schools should produce an inclusion plan by December 31, 2026.
According to the new documents, schools’ strategies should set out how leaders will “ensure high quality ordinarily available provision which meet children’s needs” and fulfil conditions of the inclusive mainstream grant.
Strategies should also report on the “commonly occurring, predictable needs” within a school’s cohort, and the “barriers to learning pupils with additional needs face”.
They should also set out the activities and approaches taken to support the strategy and meet the needs of the cohort.
Strategies should be published on schools’ websites and updated every academic year. Schools also have an option to develop multi-year strategies.
They should also be available to Ofsted inspectors to consider when evaluating inclusion.
Full guidance on how to develop an inclusion strategy is set to be published this spring.
2. £400m funding
£400 million in annual funding inclusive mainstream fund over three years “will help support mainstream schools in the transition towards a reformed education system that is inclusive by design”, the DfE said.
The average mainstream secondary school will get approximately £48,000 in 2026-27 academic year on top of its core funding allocations, while the average primary school will receive £14,000.
Schools will be expected to use their funding to better understand the needs of their cohort and strategically plan whole-school approaches to inclusion through their universal offer.
The funding can also be spent on developing targeted support for pupils, the DfE said.
3. Principles of the universal offer
New details have also been given around expectations of what schools should provide through their “universal offer”.
In the proposed tiered system of SEND support, schools should have a this universal offer to meet the needs of their wider cohorts.
Targeted or targeted plus support would then be available to pupils with additional needs that cannot be met through the universal offer.
Schools offers should be grounded in the government’s “seven principles of inclusion”, which are:
- Ambitious leadership and governance that embeds inclusion
- Evidence-based support prioritising early intervention
- High quality teaching with curriculum designed for all learners
- Accessible and enriching provision beyond the classroom
- A safe and respectful culture fostering belonging and attendance
- Strong partnerships with families and wider services
- Inclusive environments with continuous improvements to accessibility
