Guidance

RISE: London regional plan

Updated 3 July 2026

Applies to England

Plan purpose

The regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) regional plan sets out how universal RISE will be delivered locally to improve outcomes for all children and young people. By bringing partners together around the 4 national priorities, it provides shared direction, coherence and a practical framework for strengthening practice, building capacity and supporting sustained improvement.

The regional plan aims to:

• Translate national priorities into a clear local approach, ensuring evidence-informed work on reception-year quality, inclusive mainstream provision, attendance and attainment.
• Build on existing strengths, complementing practice already underway across schools, trusts, local authorities and the Greater London Authority (GLA), adding value, not duplication.
• Align with wider local strategies, recognising statutory and place-based responsibilities and stepping back where local authorities and the GLA are best placed to lead.
• Support and connect school and trust improvement, enabling collaboration on shared challenges and rapid spread of learning.
• Strengthen relationships across the wider system, including early years, health and care, recognising that progress – especially on inclusion – depends on multi‑agency effort.
• Provide a clear line into national reform, including developing special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) changes and the national priority on mainstream inclusion.
• Embed RISE within regional delivery, ensuring activity is coordinated, coherent and impactful.

Delivering RISE depends on every part of the system working with purpose. No single organisation can deliver improvement at the scale required.

The regional RISE plan calls on all partners to:

• bring their strengths, insight and leadership
• focus on actions that make the biggest difference
• share, test and refine practice quickly
• use evidence well
• contribute to a more connected, confident and resilient improvement system

This is not about doing everything. It is about doing what matters most, doing it well, and doing it together – so every child and young person can thrive.

Foreword by London Regional Director

I am delighted to introduce the London RISE regional plan, which aims to improve education and outcomes for all children in London.   

By building on strong relationships and furthering collaboration, we can share the best practice and excellence that already exists across London so that every child can flourish and succeed. The 4 national RISE priorities will inform our work, and we will focus on addressing the inequalities impacting the school sector.

The RISE programme for London will help us work together to address local needs, ensuring our strategies are effective for London’s unique challenges and opportunities. This plan outlines our priorities and how we will collectively work together to empower all schools to access high-quality support. 

London’s education system has demonstrated sustained excellence over many years, consistently performing above national averages and setting a benchmark for other regions. Yet this long-term success sits alongside real variation between boroughs, and persistent gaps for some groups. As we look to the future, this plan focuses on spreading excellence more evenly and addressing the inequities that remain.

London is a great capital city, but the streets are not paved with gold for everyone. We face some fundamental challenges, but we can address these together. Our aim is to build a high-quality inclusive education system that removes barriers and helps all pupils thrive. Be part of our mission to transform the future of every child in London. Together, we can ensure that every young person, regardless of their background, receives a world-class education.

Dr Vanessa Ogden CBE

Regional Director for London

Meet the London RISE advisers

A very warm welcome to our first regional plan. It is a privilege to work with you and our richly diverse, progressive capital city and successful education community as RISE advisers for London.   

Every child in London deserves a world-class education: one that raises aspirations, unlocks potential, and increases the chances of lifelong success. Together with teachers and leaders of education we aim to ensure that every child has a school where they can thrive, and that background is no barrier to success.    

Inspired by the spirit of collaboration and support enjoyed by London schools over the past 2 decades, we bring schools, trusts, local authorities, and dioceses together to ensure that great practice is visible, accessible, and shared. Through the universal service, we aim to empower all schools to access effective expertise, training, and peer support. We work across London to address the most pressing national and regional priorities. Where more intensive help is needed in a school, we will work alongside leaders to broker and signpost focused, high-impact support.

We will have succeeded when:  

• educational achievement for all our children is equally strong
• every child in London attends a school where they achieve and thrive
• expertise and support are readily available for any school that needs it
• collaboration to drive progress is the norm, not the exception, across schools, school trusts, local authorities and dioceses

We are a dedicated team with a range of backgrounds and experience in education and system leadership in maintained schools, local authorities, trusts and education partnerships.

Our goal is simple: a world-class education for every child, in every school. We are:

• David Boyle
• Rob Carpenter
• Matt Dickson
• Nina Dohel
• Annie Gammon
• Matt Jones
• James Page

We invite you to join us on this ambitious, aspirational journey – reach out to us by contacting london.riseregionalmailbox@education.gov.uk.

Regional focus for London

Over 2.8 million children and young people (aged 0 to 25) live in London, over 32% of our city’s population. They grow up in one of the most diverse, creative and opportunity rich places in the world. London’s scale and pace bring huge potential, but also unique pressures that shape the lives of young Londoners every day.

Over the last 20 years, London’s education landscape has been transformed. Once one of the lowest-performing regions, the capital is now consistently the highest. But behind this success story lies a more complex picture. Performance varies significantly between local authorities and London is home to both the strongest outcomes in the country and pockets of deep, persistent challenge. Many local authorities, education partnerships and trusts continue to invest in strong school-improvement partnerships, and London’s education networks remain a powerful source of expertise, innovation and collaboration. They are part of the glue that keeps our system connected, ambitious and constantly learning.

London now leads the country on Attainment 8 for all pupils, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds. But high averages can mask the reality for too many children. The disadvantage gap remains visible in every phase of education, from early years to key stage 4, and pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) still face significant barriers to achieving their potential.

London performs well, but success can make it easy to overlook the scale of need. Just 1% more young people achieving better outcomes here represents at least 14,400 more children having better life chances. In a city of this size and complexity, even small gaps translate into large numbers of children at risk of being left behind. Ensuring they are seen, supported and championed must remain at the heart of London’s priorities. Our approach therefore takes a wider, place‑based view: recognising the city’s demographic realities, different attainment patterns and the intersecting challenges faced by London’s communities.

London’s vibrancy, diversity and resilience are its greatest strengths - and so are its young people. Our challenge now is to ensure that every child can benefit from all this extraordinary city has to offer.

We have engaged extensively with partners across London about the RISE national priorities for our region through local authorities, dioceses, trust leaders and hubs. In addition, data has been assessed to identify regional focus areas: Explore our statistics and data. 

London’s priorities will focus on the following areas.

Reception-year quality

Significant variation remains across the region, particularly for pupils eligible for free school meals where there is variation in good level of development (GLD) outcomes. London’s priority will therefore focus on reducing these inequalities by strengthening focused support for disadvantaged pupils, improving outcomes, and ensuring that effective practice in high-performing areas is shared across the region.

Inclusive mainstream

The region demonstrates many strengths; however, these sit alongside variability between local areas. Developing a consistently strong sense of engagement, belonging and inclusion, so that all groups can achieve academically, requires an even more coordinated regional approach.

Attendance

Current data suggests London’s attendance rates are generally higher than other regions. However, our challenge is to avoid plateauing, fully return to pre-pandemic levels and beyond and ensure all groups of pupils have equally strong attendance.

Attainment

Attainment, with a focus on English and maths. Closing the gap for disadvantaged pupils across the region and raising attainment to pre-pandemic levels in those local authorities continuing to show a decline.

While these trends are evident across London as a whole, we recognise that there will be variation at school, trust and local authority level. Local contexts and individual school circumstances will continue to inform how these priorities are addressed in practice.

Reception-year quality

RISE support for reception improvement.

Overview

In 2024 to 2025, London was the top performing region in England for children achieving a GLD, with 70.7% reaching the benchmark, 2.4 percentage points above the national average.

At local authority level, there are strong performers, with GLD rates between 75% and 78.8%. However, there is a cluster of local authorities where outcomes are below the London average for all, or all bar one of the groups:

• free school meals
• English as an additional language (EAL)
• special educational needs (SEN)

London performs comparatively well for SEN pupils, as 54% of its local authorities report GLD outcomes for SEN pupils that meet or exceed the already above average London rate.

Outcomes for pupils eligible for free school meals are more uneven suggesting this is a key demographic requiring focused support.

Regional focus for London on reception-year quality

There are a number of programmes to support the development of reception-year practice, which is supported by the Best Start in Life strategy, which details the framework of national investment to support reception-year quality. 

Working with our stakeholders and informed by the data outlined above, our aims are three-fold. Firstly, we want every child in the region to achieve a strong start in life through a consistent high-quality reception year, with focused support for vulnerable groups.

Secondly, effective transitions should ensure every child experiences a positive and confident start to school. By strengthening consistency across settings and promoting shared expectations with families and partners, we can reduce variation in children’s early experiences and better identify those who may need additional support. This gives every child the best possible foundation for learning in reception and beyond.   

Lastly, we want to support leaders and practitioners to contribute actively to a culture of sharing effective reception practice with the intention of enabling schools with strong provision and outcomes, supporting others and strengthening partnerships between local nursery providers and reception year.

Proposed strategies to address reception-year quality in London

Activity 1: enhancing learning environments for free school meal pupils

We will work with leaders in schools and colleagues working in reception year to identify and share effective practice, with a particular focus on improving outcomes for free school meal pupils, using a range of approaches to disseminate learning across the region. From the Open Education events running through March 2026 and onwards, host schools and local leaders will champion priority areas including high-quality phonics delivery, and strong provision for speech, language and oracy development. To support wider reach and engagement, we will showcase best practice through a range of examples, such as the reception quality webinar series, VLOGs and case studies hosted on the RISE website.

Activity 2: supporting effective transitions

Building on the growth of school-based nurseries and investment in Best Start Family Hubs, we will strengthen the transition from nursery to reception. From May 2026, through sub-regional cluster sessions, we will explore effective transition practices and promote approaches that support strong family engagement. We will identify, share and disseminate best practice that schools and trusts can adopt in partnership with their local networks.

Activity 3: promoting best practice and expanding networks

We will work directly with schools, with RISE advisers building on the work of English hubs to promote best practice and expand networks.  We will also collaborate with the expanding early years stronger practice hubs (currently 2 in London) and the newly established RISE reception networks to increase regional capacity and strengthen early years leadership. Finally, from September 2026 we will also create a series of networking events linked to RISE reception year priorities and host them in a range of settings. 

Inclusive mainstream

RISE support for inclusive mainstream education.

Overview

London serves one of the most diverse pupil populations in the country, with notable variation in local contexts, needs and demographic profiles across 32 local areas and the City of London.

London’s inclusive mainstream landscape reflects both considerable strengths and significant variation, with the strengths demonstrating that an inclusive mainstream system is not only achievable but already operating effectively in many parts of the capital. For example, a higher proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan (EHCP) are educated in mainstream settings compared with the national picture, and many schools demonstrate strong inclusive leadership and well embedded practice.

The experiences of vulnerable children vary significantly between local authorities, schools and trusts, and phases. This reflects deeper inconsistency in the extent to which London’s mainstream system can identify needs early, deliver timely support, and sustain pupils’ sense of belonging and engagement.

London’s mission is therefore to reduce this variation so that inclusive mainstream practice is not dependent on postcode, leadership, or local context. A coherent, regionwide focus on mainstream approaches, earlier support, stronger belonging, and more stable pupil journeys is essential, both to prepare for SEND reform and to ensure that all children in London can thrive in their local schools.

Regional focus for London on inclusive mainstream

Early identification and early help

In some parts of London, we have well established systems that recognise and respond to needs early; in others, support is delayed, contributing to escalation and increased pressure on specialist services.

Inclusion bases, outreach services and focused support

The availability, quality, design, and purpose of inclusion bases vary significantly across London. This inconsistency contributes to different interpretations of what inclusive mainstream provision may look like and creates unequal access to specialist input within mainstream settings.

Belonging, attendance and exclusions

While London performs strongly overall, there are sharp contrasts. Vulnerable learners, particularly disadvantaged pupils, children progressing but capable of more, children supported by social care and children with SEND, experience inconsistent levels of belonging, instability around attendance, and how behaviour needs are understood and responded to.

Sharing what works at scale

There is evidence of strong inclusive mainstream practice in London; however, more can be done to ensure effective practice is disseminated and scaled to ensure consistent impact and outcomes across all local areas.

Proposed strategies to address inclusive mainstream in London

As such, to address the inconsistencies highlighted above, our proposed activities focus on the SEND reform principles of early, local, fair, effective and shared, and align with the commitments in Every Child Achieving and Thriving and the proposed SEND reforms currently under consultation.

Activity 1: strengthen early identification and timely support in mainstream

In London, we will aim to strengthen early identification and timely support in mainstream settings, ensuring that emerging needs are recognised sooner and addressed more consistently across London.

To support this, we will promote shared expectations for early identification and early help, alongside the use of evidence-informed tools and classroom-level approaches that enable staff to respond effectively to emerging needs. We will work closely with local areas to improve the consistency of identification practices and to ensure that pupils receive timely support without unnecessary delay or overreliance on external pathways.

Working collaboratively across the department and with partners across the region, including the London Improvement and Innovation Alliance (LIIA), we will also support local areas and education settings to prepare for the proposed SEND reforms, including the potential introduction of National Inclusion Standards and the potential development of Individual Support Plans (ISPs).

Activity 2: improve access to high-quality specialist and focused support within mainstream schools

We will also focus on improving access to specialist support within mainstream settings, so that more children can have their needs met earlier and closer to home. Our aim is to strengthen the consistency and quality of provision across London, ensuring pupils receive timely help without needing to escalate to specialist placements.

To achieve this, we will work collaboratively across the department and with partners across the region to enable local areas, trusts and schools to plan and commission high-quality local provision that aligns with both the needs of the London region and the ambitions of national SEND reform. This includes supporting the development and refinement of inclusion bases in mainstream schools and colleges, enabling pupils to access structured, time limited support within their own setting.

We will also strengthen outreach services that provide preventative support and early intervention, helping schools identify and respond to emerging needs before they escalate. In addition, we will support the rollout of the Experts at Hand offer, with the intention of broadening timely access to specialists such as speech and language therapists and educational psychologists across settings.

Activity 3: strengthen belonging, engagement and outcomes for vulnerable children and young people

Additionally, we will focus on improving belonging, engagement and outcomes for vulnerable children and young people across London. Our aim is to ensure that pupils who face additional barriers, including disadvantaged pupils, children who are progressing but capable of more, those supported by social care, and children with SEND, experience consistent, positive relationships and feel safe, connected and included in their school environment. Through this work, we want more pupils to benefit from stable, supportive and engaging school cultures that reduce disengagement, improve attendance and behaviour, and lead to stronger academic and wellbeing outcomes.

To achieve this, we will work collaboratively across the department and with partners across the region to support schools, trusts and local areas to strengthen practice, improve stability in pupils’ journeys through school, and embed shared expectations around behaviour, attendance and exclusion. This includes promoting more consistent approaches to transitions between phases and settings, as well as improving coordination between education and wider services so that support is aligned around each child.

Activity 4: embed inclusive practice through shared learning, collaboration and system coherence

Finally, we will build on London’s strong culture of collaboration by bringing together schools, trusts, local areas, and wider system partners, including LIIA, to share effective practice and improve coherence across the region. Through regional networks, learning events and focused support, we will strengthen the collective understanding of what a truly inclusive mainstream system looks like in practice. This shared learning will support the consistent implementation and scaling of inclusive approaches across London, helping to create a more aligned mainstream system in which every child can access high-quality, inclusive provision wherever they live.

Attendance

RISE support for improving attendance in schools.

Overview

Overall absence in London for 2024 to 2025 was 6.34% and persistent absence was 17.5%, both slightly below national averages. Current year-to-date data suggests both measures have since fallen back to 2023 to 2024 levels. This is indicative of the overall picture of London; while attendance rates are generally higher than in other regions, the challenge is to avoid plateauing and continue progress towards pre-pandemic attendance levels and beyond.

There are also notable gains to be made at the primary level. For primaries in 2024 to 2025, London had the joint highest regional overall absence rate at 5.34%. It also had the highest persistent absence rate of 14.05%, compared with 12% in the region with the lowest rate.   

Regional focus for London on attendance

Attendance drops in year 7 following the autumn half term. We will support responsible bodies to use year 6 attendance data to identify pupils at risk of lower attendance and help reduce the transition dip in year 7. We will ensure responsible bodies are focusing on parental engagement, and focused support for vulnerable pupils.

For pupils entitled to free school meals and those with EHCPs or accessing SEN support, pupils’ absence levels in London are lower than national averages. Highest absence rates amongst minority ethnic groups include Irish Traveller and Gypsy Roma at 19.6% and 14.2%, broadly in line with national averages. Absence amongst other minority ethnic groups is also broadly in line with national averages.

Our aims in London are to raise awareness and disseminate effective practices on the qualities of good leadership and school-level practices for managing attendance, with a focus on culture and relationships with families and pupils.

We will explore the underlying causes of reduced attendance at critical transition stages, particularly from years 6 to 7 and years 7 to 8. We will raise awareness of existing support for improving attendance in schools, with a particular focus on addressing the persistent disadvantage gap.

Proposed strategies to address attendance in London

Activity 1: strengthening school leadership to improve attendance

We will work with the sector to focus on leadership in schools to prioritise effective practice in managing attendance. This will involve mapping schools that evidence good levels of attendance pre and post-pandemic. Using the RISE universal service, alongside the attendance and behaviour hubs, to signpost schools showcasing strategies promoting excellence in high-quality leadership management of attendance. This will include recorded webinars, toolkits and practical resources from schools with strong attendance practices.

Activity 2: addressing transition challenges and attendance disparities

We will work with our attendance and behaviour adviser to share effective practice in schools analysing data to uncover underlying issues impacting transitions between year 6 to 7 and year 7 to 8. Additionally, we will work with the sector to develop focused strategies to improve attendance among key communities we most need to support in similar contexts as well as pupils with SEN who struggle with transitioning. 

Activity 3: empowering schools to improve attendance through RISE attendance and behaviour hub support

Our attendance and behaviour hubs will work with schools to provide support for attendance improvement. Hubs will support 60 schools intensively over a 3-term period, with 10 days of support. Approximately 280 other schools will be supported over a calendar year sharing best practices and networking. This means the hubs are collectively impacting 15% of all London schools, within a single year.

Schools and trusts in the London region will be supported to make full use of Department for Education (DfE) data tools, including the View Your Education Data platform and similar school reports. These tools will help leaders identify patterns in attendance, target interventions more precisely and monitor the impact of their strategies over time. Regional open days will be held in schools and will be a great, in-person opportunity for London schools to build a network. The enhanced offer includes a bespoke action plan written by a hub which will be quality assured by a sector expert.

Attainment, with a focus on English and maths  

RISE support for improving attainment in schools.

Overview

London achieves the highest attainment levels of any region nationally, including for disadvantaged pupils. However, whilst London’s system is strong, it is not consistently equitable. High averages mask pockets of underperformance concentrated in specific local authorities and pupil cohorts.

London still faces structural gaps that affect outcomes for disadvantaged pupils across London, impacting their future opportunities and chances. The underperformance of White working-class pupils and Black, African, Caribbean and Black British pupils means that focused, culturally informed interventions are needed. Data also shows significant variation across London boroughs in the size of the gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged cohorts.

Regional focus for London on attainment

Whilst average outcomes in London against all metrics are strong, challenges remain, with some local authorities failing to return to pre-pandemic levels at both key stage 2 and key stage 4, and some performing below the national average at key stage 4. We will focus on raising attainment in these boroughs to at least the London average.

There is also significant variation across London boroughs in the size of the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers. Whilst the gap at key stage 4 is generally between 5 and 10 Attainment 8 points, there is a range of between 1.9 and 18.5, and 4 local authorities with a gap over 15 points.

White British, Black, African, Caribbean and Black British pupils underperform when compared to their peers. High pupil mobility is also a factor which significantly impacts outcomes, with some pupils arriving in-year with a low ability and leaving before support has had time to influence outcomes.

Working with our stakeholders and informed by the data, our aim in London is to reduce the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers across all local authorities. We will explore this trend to see if statistically similar areas can learn and apply practices to best support all pupils, ensuring that all opportunities are equitable. By supporting the most vulnerable pupils, we will support all pupils.  

We also aim to focus support in local authorities with the highest attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers. We will explore the reasons behind the large variation in attainment in certain outer London boroughs and develop strategies with local authorities and trusts for closing the gap.

Furthermore, we seek to improve outcomes in maths and English for disadvantaged pupils, including a focus on White British pupils, Black, African, Caribbean and Black British pupils. We will focus on improving literacy and numeracy through the transition from key stage 2 to key stage 3, with an emphasis on disadvantaged learners.

Proposed strategies to raise attainment in London

Activity 1: raising attainment for disadvantaged pupils by identifying and sharing exemplary practice

Effective practice from high-performing schools was shared at the London Attainment Conference held last October and our roundtables which ran in December. These activities kick-started regional networking and began to establish new relationship building and the sharing of effective practice.

A wider programme of professional learning, including school visits, collaborative projects, and themed learning groups focused on practical implementation and peer support will continue into 2026 to 2027. 

Activity 2: focused support 

We will work with English and maths hubs to identify schools performing less well on attainment for disadvantaged pupils and explore additional support they might benefit from. Through enhanced data provision, schools will be able to make more meaningful comparisons against similar schools with comparable cohorts and characteristics to benchmark their performance. Schools making limited progress will receive focused support through diagnostic conversations and improvement planning, as well as access to tailored support from English and maths hubs. 

Regional themes

The work described above will not be possible without these themes that underpin all priorities.

Theme 1: place-based collaboration – leading for local children  

Why this matters

We believe that every child in London deserves a world-class education – one that raises aspirations, unlocks potential, and leads to lifelong success.

We are committed to a school system that works together, with a high challenge, high support culture that amplifies excellence. Inspired by the spirit of collaboration and support enjoyed by London schools over the past decades, we want to bring schools, trusts, local authorities, and dioceses together to ensure that great practice is visible, accessible, and shared.  

We will work equally with all schools and expert groups. Only by bringing schools and leaders together across all phases in London will we empower all schools to access the best expertise, training, and peer support. 

This will include:

• ensuring that the best expertise and support is readily available and collaboration is the norm, not the exception
• encouraging the expression and setting of moral purpose – in activity as well as culture
• schools taking responsibility for the well-being of all children in the region, not just those in their schools, but a place-based leadership approach that cuts across organisational boundaries, working positively with other services and professionals beyond the school sector
• all schools being part of a collective leadership model
• developing ever more sophisticated capabilities and skills in raising standards and closing gap
• the desire and capacity to regenerate whole communities through schools, learning and achievement in a local area

Theme 2: sharing data, creating understanding and using evidence

Why this matters

To collaborate effectively we need to build a shared understanding of the issues and challenges facing London. We want this to be a data-informed conversation, and we will work with partners across London to address the most pressing national and regional priorities based on the latest data and evidence.

Through the universal offer, we will empower all schools to access the most up to date data and supporting data tools, working together to ensure that learning and effective practice is disseminated across the sector.

This will include:

• mapping and signposting of current data sources and tools
• working with and through existing networks, research schools and subject hubs to share expertise
• sharing effective practice case studies
• identifying hot and cold spots for school improvement support to be able to signpost for support

Theme 3: using artificial intelligence (AI) and technology

Why this matters

AI and education technology, when used well, has the potential to support schools to reduce workload, improve teaching quality, and support inclusion. National policy now provides clear direction, training and evidence routes so schools can adopt AI safely and effectively. 

Our role in London will be to help schools and trusts use what works and use it safely - aligning with DfE guidance on product safety, practical training for staff, and new evidence programmes (EdTech Evidence Board and testbeds) that show which tools deliver impact. 

This will include: 

• signposting new quality assured AI tools as they develop and sharing through existing networks so all schools are aware and can access for example Oak National Academy’s AI lesson planning assistant Aila
• sharing examples of effective AI use (for example, planning, feedback and admin) supporting workload reduction for teaching and non-teaching staff
• building school‑level capacity, by supporting digital leads or AI champions to embed safe, effective practice within each school’s wider digital strategy
• helping leaders choose proven tools, by pointing to the EdTech Evidence Board, DfE impact testbeds, and the latest evidence summaries
• strengthening inclusion, by promoting assistive technology training for new teachers and sharing local examples where AI supports pupils with SEND, EAL learners and young carers

Theme 4: financial sustainability

Why this matters

Falling school rolls present a challenge to financial stability for schools across the country, however for schools in London the challenge is particularly acute. Falling rolls have generally affected inner London boroughs but most outer London boroughs have now started to see similar trends. A minority are seeing increasing demand for school places for example, in areas where there are significant new housing developments.

If we are to achieve our ambition for every child in London to receive a world-class education, we will need to work together to find creative ways to approach the impact that a changing pupil population has on London schools and the associated financial challenges it presents. 

DfE’s Education estates strategy sets out the steps the department will take below, and the London region will work to support the implementation of this within London.

This will include:

• supporting strategic planning at a local level – the department will work with the sector to develop a decision-making framework for the use of mainstream school space through demographic change
• ensuring that the department is balancing the opportunities created by the current fall in birth rates – including delivery of priorities such as support for children and young people with SEND, school-based nursery provision and Best Start Family Hubs – with a collective view on the long-term risks
• the department’s commitment to learning from strong local area approaches as we develop a framework that will embed best practice across the system and ensure the mainstream school estate remains resilient and flexible to changing local demand
• the department’s commitment to co-creating this framework with the sector and engaging with key stakeholders throughout 2026, with a view to publishing a framework in autumn 2026

Ambitions

Over the next year, the department will monitor our progress against the following RISE national priorities and regional theme ambitions in the London region.

• From January 2026, 10 attendance and behaviour hubs have begun providing direct enhanced support for 60 schools for attendance improvement and a further 280 as part of the regional offer, over the course of a year.
• From March 2026, we will run an Open Education event with over 100 schools opening their doors to share effective practice and develop new networks.
• From March 2026, the RISE Key sStage 3 Alliance will be established and focusing on building a regional network focused on key stage 3.
• From April 2026, 5 new reception networks coming online to support reception-year quality and oracy, in London.
• From May 2026, through sub-regional cluster sessions, we will explore effective transition practices and promote approaches that support strong family engagement for reception year success
• From September 2026, we will have created a series of networking events linked to RISE reception year priorities
• From September 2026, we will have developed a primary pan-London network which will include a focus on key stage 2 attainment and engagement.

How these ambitions relate to ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’

Reception-year quality

• The Best Start in Life Strategy sets out our national ambition for 75% of reception children to achieve GLD by 2028. We have agreed bespoke GLD targets for each local authority.
• Best Start Local Plans will outline how local authorities will deliver these ambitions across the full early years system (health, family services, education, childcare providers, Stronger Practice Hubs, schools and the wider community).

Inclusive mainstream

• A national ambition for a more inclusive mainstream system so that more children can be educated in a local mainstream school with timely, flexible and accessible support.
• The RISE regional plan sets out how RISE teams will deliver this through increased inclusion base provision in schools and strong local partnership working to support children with additional needs.

Attendance

• A national target to raise attendance by 1.3 percentage points from 2023 to 2024, reaching over 94% by 2028 to 2029 (equivalent to 20 million additional days in school).
• Every mainstream school will be set an Attendance Baseline Improvement Expectation (ABIE), which sets out expected improvements to support national progress.

Attainment

• The national ambition for the share of pupils achieving the expected standard in key stage 2 reading, writing and maths to rise above the 2019 peak (65% overall; 51% disadvantaged) by the end of this Parliament.
• In London, our ambition is for key stage 2 outcomes to reach 73% for all pupils and 63% for disadvantaged pupils by the end of this Parliament.

RISE universal school improvement architecture

The RISE: London page has a range of school improvement resources, including access to RISE hubs, networks, and practical tools to support your improvement journey.

We want to ensure that every school in London can access a pathway to improvement and that effective practice is shared, is easily accessible and builds on existing networks and good practice.

The RISE London team have engaged directly with all 33 local authorities in London and are mapping existing primary and secondary head networks, as well as engaging regularly with other key stakeholders.

Key enabling structures include:  

• Ongoing engagement directly between RISE Advisers and their link local authorities.
• The RISE London Reference Group, a regular meeting with strategic partners including, for example, the Association of London Directors of Children’s Services (ALDCS), the Church of England and Catholic Dioceses, Strategic Education Leaders for London (SELL), Research Schools, London Trust Leaders Network (LTLN), and London Councils.
• Continued joint working with the teaching school hubs and subject hubs that already operate within and beyond London.
• Regular engagement with the London Innovation and Improvement Alliance (LIIA) through key networks, including the Inclusive Mainstream Programmes in London Monthly Roundtable. This forum brings together DfE programmes focused on Inclusive Mainstream, supporting better coordination, alignment of activity, and reduced duplication of effort.

Setting out the current school improvement architecture means we can develop a shared understanding of the exciting landscape, which will help us to build on strengths as well as identifying where we might need to develop new networks or partnerships to address potential gaps.

As national developments come onstream we will integrate them into this architecture, so schools experience a consistent and coherent offer.

Regional delivery architecture

We will work with our partners across London so that we can offer a school improvement framework for London, ensuring it is accessible, well-connected and aligned to RISE priorities. 

Across London, there are several established delivery partners including: 6 Maths hubs, 4 English hubs, 10 teaching school hubs, 5 music hubs, and 2 Early Years Stronger Practice hubs, giving schools specialist access to subject expertise and professional development.

As they come onstream, national developments will also be incorporated including: 

• 5 reception networks coming online to support reception-year quality and oracy, in London.
• 10 attendance and behaviour hubs - our London attendance and behaviour hubs were established in late 2025 and are currently working with 20 schools on the enhanced programme, and a further 275 schools as part of the regional offer.
• The RISE Key Stage 3 Alliance (expected March 2026) a regional network focused on key stage 3.
• Primary pan-London network which will be developed following focused key stage 2 engagement.

Shared definitions

• Hub: a DfE designated school, selected through a criteria-based process, delivering against a defined methodology and Theory of Change.
• Network: a recognised (but not designated) sector led group focused on collaboration, best practice sharing, peer support and communication.
• Alliance: a nationally constituted, DfE initiated, time limited group of sector leaders brought together around a specific priority.

Future architecture 

Our ambition for London is that through the universal offer and the hubs, alliances and networks that we have outlined above we empower all schools to access the best expertise, training, and peer support. This will evolve as the needs of London schools change, informed by our collaborative and data-driven approach.

We want the approach to be inclusive and open to all. We will coordinate focused outreach and offer flexible delivery models so every school can take part in a way that suits their context.

Insight, feedback and impact 

We will work closely with the London hubs and networks to support delivery and ensure alignment with national expectations. Local intelligence from our engagement at local authority level alongside data on attendance, attainment and appropriate SEND indicators will help us to monitor progress and work in partnership to refine delivery as the landscape evolves.

Transition plan 

In London to move from the current landscape to the future architecture, we will: 

• continue our work to map existing hubs, networks and partnerships to identify where we have strengths across London and where there may be gaps in provision
• establish or strengthen networks where national developments require new infrastructure (for example key stage 3)
• work with our hubs, networks and alliances to ensure we aren’t at risk of duplication and to monitor engagement and reach

Governance and operational delivery 

The London RISE reference group provides strategic oversight, alignment, and direction across London, driving progress and ensuring activity is well coordinated, transparent, and connected to wider national and regional priorities.

As well as this group, London RISE advisers engage with sector stakeholders to gather local intelligence and lead locally on each of the national priority areas. This informs our assessment of RISE London’s regional picture and progress.

Operational delivery will be supported by regular engagement with hubs, networks and partners. We will actively invite schools, trusts, local authorities, dioceses and sector leaders to contribute to shaping and strengthening the architecture over time. 

For school, trust and local authority leaders, universal RISE in London is experienced primarily through engagement with regional and pan‑London hubs and networks aligned to the 4 national priorities. These provide access to evidence‑informed practice, peer learning and expertise. RISE advisers support navigation of the offer, help align activity with local priorities, and ensure coherence across London.

Your views on how best we can do that would be welcome. Email suggestions to: london.riseregionalmailbox@education.gov.uk.

Case study: SEND Inclusive Education Team (SENDIE): the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Background

The SENDIE team has strong relationships with a number of schools, particularly those with higher levels of need that request more support. This established relationship means that support can be provided at pace, without the need for any sort of formal referral. The established relationships expedite the process meaning support is more accessible and instant.

In this specific instance the school in question identified high needs in the reception year group and reached out for support shortly into the term. The SENDIE teacher visited the class, which had 6 children with EHCPs (education, health and care plans) and a number of children with high needs without EHCPs. Two of the children needed a different curriculum altogether, and 3 of the children had opted out of learning and were struggling with being in the classroom at all.

Their teacher is an ECT (early career teacher) who has had an extended period of absence due to medical need and there is a high turnover of support staff, although they had matched the ratios of children with EHCPs. The teacher had lost confidence and was struggling with meeting the needs of the class as well as individual students. Children were not engaging with the teaching taking place and asked the SENDIE team for some support.

What happened

The SENDIE teacher undertook a series of sessions focused on observing both individual pupils and whole-class systems and approaches. Meetings were held separately with the SENCo, headteacher, early years lead and class teacher to explore the factors contributing to the lack of organisation within the class, as well as the pervasive sense of overwhelm and negativity, in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the context.

Following these discussions, a support plan was put in place, including daily check-ins with the early years lead. Joint working was also established with the autism advisory team to agree a clear and coordinated plan of action. The plan focuses on the development of an intervention space, enabling pupils to access targeted support while continuing to be included within the mainstream classroom. The intervention space is off the classroom, with activities happening here to support regulation and attention, including:

• bucket time
• intensive interaction
• social skills group sensory play
• sensory circuits

The support for the school is still ongoing.

Successful interventions

Collaboration

• autism advisory and SENDIE visited and observed the whole class twice
• SENDIE and AAT (autism advisory team) reviewed environment and learning spaces with the teaching team
• met with EYFS (early years foundation stage) lead to discuss lesson structure and content as well as support with timetable, organisation and behaviour approaches
• liaison with SRP (specialist resource provision) team to arrange in reach support and sharing of expertise
• meeting with head teacher and SENCO to ensure SLT aware of recommendations in order to support implementation
• a clear plan of support was put into place with identification of who was supporting the school
• school standards lead adviser completed teaching and learning review and shared outcomes with SENDIE to understand senior leader priorities and recommendations which supported joined up working approach

Training in and modelling of good practice

• engagement model
• attention building
• lego therapy
• modelling requesting with communication board
• reducing language
• regulation
• modelling play opportunities
• sensory play
• attention autism (in reach from SRP)

Strategies were modelled by SENDIE teacher and then weekly support visits by SENDIE practitioner to support with embedding of strategies and interventions and upskilling staff.

Impact

• teaching assistants leading in the intervention space grew in confidence and took ownership of their teaching – the quality of their sessions then improved
• access to sensory play provided
• interventions up and running
• space is timetabled so there is no double booking or confusion
• children want to go there
• adults taking notes on progress, which is then shared with the teacher
• afternoons are much more manageable for the children and the staff
• children are more regulated
• children are more willing to go into their mainstream classes because they have had appropriate interventions
• children are developing their ability to attend an activity and develop the necessary pre-skills for learning
• school feels well supported and there are clear inclusion priorities – support given has ranged from senior leaders to teaching assitants working with individual children to ensure a joined-up approach
• increase in teacher confidence
• further support will be given as this year group move into year 1 as the interventions and adaptations will continue