New era of accountability to drive up standards for all children
Nearly 100,000 more pupils set to benefit from targeted support through expanded school improvement teams, driving up standards where it’s needed most.
Almost 100,000 more children in stuck schools will benefit from new school improvement teams, as the government sets out the next phase of its work to drive up standards for young people and give parents the confidence that their child is receiving the brilliant education they deserve.
The expansion comes alongside wider reforms, as Ofsted today (Tuesday 9 September) confirms it will replace single headline grades with new report cards, and government responds to its consultation on proposals to strengthen accountability, provide more information to parents and drive high standards.
From this term, teams of school improvement experts - called RISE teams - are nearly doubling their reach to 377 schools and almost 100,000 more children.
Made up of 65 advisers, selected as the best of the best in driving school standards, the teams are now due to reach more than 200,000 children in total, working with ‘stuck’ schools that have received consecutive poor Ofsted judgements.
And later this term, the government will consult on how these teams could directly support schools with the lowest levels of attainment, recognising the need to go further and faster to raise standards for pupils.
The Department for Education has also announced it will launch a powerful online platform that will enable head teachers to benchmark their school’s performance against other, similar schools – for example by size or deprivation levels.
The tool will show Heads their school’s strengths and weaknesses across key metrics, including attainment, compared with their peers while also enabling collaboration to share best practice. Testing begins this academic year and builds on the success of the government’s AI-powered attendance reports, which already helps heads identify where they’re falling behind and how to catch up.
The reforms come ahead of the government’s forthcoming schools white paper, which will set out an ambitious vision for improving outcomes for all pupils – in particular those with SEND and from white working class backgrounds.
Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said:
Every child deserves a brilliant education – and that means a system that’s relentlessly focused on strong accountability that puts children first.
New school report cards will raise the bar for standards across the board, shining a light on what’s working and where change is needed. By providing a fuller picture of school performance – from attendance and behaviour to inclusion – we’re giving parents the transparency they deserve and schools the tools to improve.
From school inspection to new technology, to experts who have been there and done it – through our Plan for Change we will use every lever we can to boost the life chances of our children and ensure aspiration is not just the preserve of some, but the right of each and every young person, wherever they grow up.
New data published today shows that across primary schools being targeted by RISE teams, 43% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in 2024 compared to 62% in state-funded mainstream schools.
Similar trends can be seen across behaviour and attendance with the suspension rate for pupils in schools receiving targeted RISE more than twice as high as in those that don’t, and the percentage of pupils persistently absent in secondary schools receiving support standing at 34.9% compared to the national rate of 25.6%.
The impact of RISE can already be seen across the country. Astor Secondary School, which was one of the first schools to benefit, said RISE has given them the opportunity to strengthen their approach to assessments, refine curriculum planning and embed high-quality teaching, including inclusive teaching for SEND students.
Lee Kane, headteacher at Astor Secondary School in Dover, said:
We are really excited to be a part of RISE; it feels like a bit of an accolade. I think some might assume it is just another department initiative – a passing trend. But, in our view, it is absolutely not that.
Our involvement has seen us partnered with Mulberry Schools Trust and, together, we have established a working partnership focused on key fundamentals and on co-producing agreed initiatives and adaptations that will ensure sustainability beyond the programme.
It has provided the framework for us to share expertise, trial new strategies, and reflect on their impact in a genuinely collaborative way. Being part of RISE will help us create something enduring.
The government is also today confirming it will introduce new ‘school profiles’ for parents – an online one-stop-shop that will give parents a complete picture of their local school, from attendance to attainment, helping families make the best choices for their children’s future.
Clearer information and support for parents is widely backed with 77% of respondents backing school profiles as the go-to source for school performance information.
The government’s consultation response also confirms that the Department will continue to convert the worst performing schools to academies, and expect that combined with RISE, there will be twice as many mandatory interventions on average than in the two years before the policy change.
These reforms come alongside wider government work to boost young people’s life chances, including revitalised local family services, the expansion of free school meals and reforms to keep children safe and bring every school up to the standard of the best, through the Children’s Wellbeing & Schools Bill.
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