Guidance

RISE: West Midlands regional plan

Updated 3 July 2026

Applies to England

Plan purpose

The RISE (regional improvement for standards and excellence) 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 mayoral strategic authorities (MSAs).
• Align with wider local strategies, recognising statutory and place-based responsibilities and stepping back where local authorities and MSAs 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 West Midlands Regional Director

This plan is our shared strategy for improving education and outcomes for children across our region. We will build on the commitments in Every Child Achieving and Thriving, SEND and reforms to children’s services to strengthen inclusive practice across all schools and settings.

The West Midlands has rich contrasts – from industrial heritage to buzzing cities, market towns to rural communities and areas of outstanding natural beauty. Our schools and trusts sit at the heart of communities, united by the ambition that every child thrives.

There is outstanding practice in classrooms, high-quality multi-academy trusts, dedicated local authority teams, and committed leaders and teachers. We are home to curriculum hubs, research schools and partnerships that improve practice.

Systemic challenges remain and must be our focus. Disadvantaged pupils in the West Midlands continue to face persistent attainment gaps, particularly in English and maths and at key stage 4. Attendance rates in some areas remain below pre-pandemic levels, especially in secondary schools. While we have inclusive excellence, practice is not consistent for all SEND pupils. Many children start school without the foundations to succeed.

Through RISE West Midlands, we will work with partners to address these challenges head on. Our priorities – raising the quality of reception year, strengthening mainstream inclusion, securing regular attendance and improving attainment – are rooted in what matters to our schools and communities. We will:

• mobilise regional expertise to drive system-wide improvement and close gaps for disadvantaged pupils
• support schools to embed inclusive practice so that every child can succeed
• strengthen early years quality by building practitioner skills and promoting school-based provision
• use data, research and innovation – including artificial intelligence (AI) and digital tools – to focus support where it can have the greatest impact

This plan reflects the voices of our partners, including schools, trusts, dioceses, local authorities, universities and community groups. It captures our shared determination to ensure that every child can achieve their full potential.

Together, we can rise to the challenge and deliver lasting change for the children and young people of the West Midlands.

Sue Lovelock

Regional Director, West Midlands Region

Meet the West Midlands RISE advisers

We are proud to share the first RISE regional plan for the West Midlands. It is a plan to raise outcomes and strengthen collaboration across our education system, reflecting a shared commitment to securing better futures for all children and young people through collective action, sharing brilliance, strong leadership, and governance.

As West Midlands RISE advisers, we are your advocates. We are privileged to work alongside school and system leaders dedicated to improvement, inclusion, and opportunity. Your leadership and expertise underpin everything we aim to achieve together.

Ours is a diverse and ambitious region, but one that faces significant challenges requiring coordinated and sustained action. Our vision is clear: every child, regardless of starting point or postcode, should attend a school or setting that is ambitious, inclusive, and continually improving. From the early years and primary phase into secondary, every child should secure strong foundations in reading, writing and maths.

All schools must have the mechanisms to ensure curriculum and teaching are focused on foundational knowledge. Enrichment ignites children’s wider passions, social capital, skills, and love for learning. All transition points are carefully planned, intentionally and effectively bridged. Secondary and post-16 education enables pupils to grow, attain and progress.

RISE is more than a programme. It is a way of working that empowers trusts, schools, local authorities, and dioceses to lead improvement, supported by robust data, professional challenge, and purposeful collaboration.

We are strengthening a universal RISE offer that connects schools to high-quality expertise, networks, and development. Where deeper support is needed, we will coordinate targeted interventions with responsible bodies, always focused on building long term capacity and sustainable improvement.

We will measure progress by improved achievement across all phases, more schools judged as meeting the expected standard or better, easier access to evidence and expertise, and stronger collaboration with shared ownership of outcomes across the sector. This plan reflects our regional context and the insight of leaders on the ground. It will evolve, but our ambition remains constant: a high performing, inclusive system that delivers for every child.

• Kate Brunt
• Herminder Channa
• Anita Cliff
• Lynsey Draycott
• Paul Drew
• Christopher Mansell
• Heather McLachlan
• Sharron Philpot
• Anthony Quinn
• Tom Twort
• Julie Waddington

Reach out to us by contacting: westmidlands.riseregionalmailbox@education.gov.uk.

Regional focus for West Midlands

We have engaged extensively with partners across the West Midlands about the RISE national priorities for our region through engagement with all local authorities, dioceses, trust leaders, and hubs. In addition, data has been analysed to identify regional gaps: Explore our statistics and data.

While these trends are evident across the West Midlands as a whole, we recognise that there will be variation across the region and at school level. Local contexts and individual school circumstances will continue to inform how our priorities are addressed in practice. In the West Midlands, we are focusing on the following areas to improve outcomes across the 4 RISE national priorities:

• Reception-year quality: enhancing early years outcomes across the West Midlands involves accelerating progress and increasing the proportion of pupils achieving good level of development (GLD) by the end of reception.
• Inclusive mainstream: inclusion bases, teacher training and sharing of good quality, best practice.
• Attendance: key stage 2 to key stage 3 transition, White working-class, and pupils with SEND.
• Attainment, with a focus on English and maths: disadvantaged pupil outcomes, key stage 2 outcomes in reading, writing and maths. High and rising standards in KS3 which culminate in improved attainment at key stage 4.

The West Midlands is home to a diverse and dynamic population, spanning major urban centres, historic market towns, and rural communities, each with a strong sense of identity and local pride. Children and young people across the region attend a wide range of state funded schools, from long established village primaries to large and growing secondary schools serving densely populated urban areas.

The region’s economic landscape is equally varied, shaped by longstanding industrial heritage alongside rapidly expanding sectors such as advanced manufacturing, digital technology, and health innovation, creating a vibrant environment for families and communities.

Pupil demographics across the West Midlands reflect the rich cultural, linguistic, faith, and social diversity of the region. Schools serve communities with differing levels of socioeconomic need, and educators work within a range of local contexts, from densely populated metropolitan areas to rural settings where travel distances and access to services influence how pupils and families engage with education.

The region also includes a significant number of children with SEND, contributing to a wide-ranging set of needs that schools and partners navigate each day.

Together, these characteristics create an educational landscape marked by diversity, distinct community identities, and a strong set of regional strengths. Schools, local authorities, trusts, and wider partners across the West Midlands collaborate closely to understand and respond to their varied contexts, ensuring that all children and young people benefit from high-quality education and opportunities to succeed.

The region’s story is one of shared ambition, adaptability, and collective commitment, with educators, children’s services and communities working side by side to secure positive outcomes for every learner. Working together across public services to deliver our corporate parenting role for looked after children.

Continually driving educational achievement for the most vulnerable children and young people through strengthened multi-agency partnership working.

Reception-year quality

RISE support for reception improvement.

Overview

In the West Midlands we have 67,217 children in reception year, across 1,781 primary schools. Early years development in the region shows a mixed picture when compared to national averages.

The highest performing local authority outperforms the national average in the percentage of children achieving a GLD (72.0% vs. 68.3% nationally), while the lowest-performing local authority area (61.8%) falls significantly below.

Regional focus for West Midlands on reception year quality

Over time, GLD rates in the West Midlands have mirrored national trends but improved more slowly. In 2024 to 2025, the gap with the national average narrowed from 1.5% to 1.4%. Pupils eligible for free school meals in the West Midlands outperform their national peers, while non-free school meal pupils lag.

The free school meals or non-free school meal performance gap widened slightly to 17.8%, from 16.7% in 2023 to 2024. The region ranks second highest nationally and highest outside London for free school meal pupil performance.

Historically, West Midlands pupils receiving special educational needs (SEN) support have performed in line with national GLD benchmarks, but 2024 to 2025 data showed a 0.2% gap, which narrowed from a 1.4% gap in 2023 to 2024. Pupils with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) consistently perform below the national average for pupils with EHCPs.

Both boys and girls in the region underperform nationally. The gender gap narrowed from 15.3% to 13.8% in 2024 to 2025. The gap between West Midlands boys and their national peers narrowed to 1.4%, while the gap for girls grew to 1.3%.

Proposed strategies to address reception year quality in West Midlands region

Activity 1: Sharing excellent practice through RISE reception networks

The Reception networks programme has been launched as part of the universal RISE offer to schools. It aims to strengthen reception-year practice by giving schools access to high-quality peer expertise. The programme is designed to complement, not duplicate, stronger practice hubs, creating a coherent, school-led route for improving reception quality and supporting the government’s broader ambition to raise early years standards.

Five lead schools in the West Midlands have been appointed and will have a fundamental role by sharing good practice approaches with participating schools to help them improve. The lead schools will be expected to:

• Be the reception improvement leader for the network with the shared vision to improve reception year quality nationally and setting a positive, ambitious tone.
• Collate and develop a set of key reception year materials and resources that can be shared with other schools.
• Design and chair a series of network meetings to share approaches with participating schools and enable rigorous discussion.
• Host visits and/or open days for school leaders in their network.
• Support participating schools to make changes to their practice and improve reception year teaching and quality.
• Attend quarterly meetings with Department for Education (DfE) and other lead schools to share practice and findings.

We will promote consistent engagement by tracking participation, with a particular focus on areas where reception outcomes are lower than expected based on contextual data. By summer 2026, all five networks will be fully established and operate effectively. Engagement will be monitored and analysed to inform support. Schools that actively participate in the networks will improve GLD outcomes.

Activity 2: utilising data to hold priority conversations

Regions Group will hold structured conversations about reception with responsible bodies where data indicates concerns. These discussions will cover contextualised GLD outcomes, early language needs, workforce capacity, and curriculum approaches.

The conversations will include agreeing clear improvement actions, with Regions Group monitoring progress to ensure timely improvements and committing to follow up conversations to ensure the right support or challenge is in place. The conversations will provide an opportunity to understand whether schools and local authorities are making effective use of the GLD tool and reports available to them.

Activity 3: success measures – national and regional targets and indicators

The department has formally set an ambition that, by 2028, 75% of children will achieve a GLD in the early years foundation stage assessment. The national GLD ambition requires each region and local authority to make proportional progress. To support this, local authorities in the West Midlands have been given individual GLD targets that reflect their local starting points and set out an expected improvement trajectory.

Alongside this, schools and responsible bodies are being encouraged to make use of the newly developed GLD toolkit and reports, which provide insights into specific areas for development and information regarding their predicted GLD outcomes based on pupil characteristics.

We will continue to monitor engagement with these, ensuring that they are accessed because of structured conversations with responsible bodies, and when new data becomes available.

Activity 4: bespoke school support

We will identify and support schools where reception outcomes are below contextual expectations, using data to pinpoint areas of need. Our focus will be on strengthening early language and numeracy, as well as improving early years foundation stage (EYFS) leadership, to raise the overall quality of reception provision, focusing on schools serving disadvantaged communities.

Regions Group will work closely with schools to understand the barriers they face and broker appropriate support from both regional and national offers. We will promote the importance of early language development, including encouraging more schools to register for and implement the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) programme.

In addition, we will support schools to engage with English and maths hubs, in preparation for the enhanced reception offers launching in September 2026. We will collaborate with English and maths hubs to ensure their support is well focused and reaches the schools most likely to benefit.

English hubs will help strengthen phonics, early language and reading, while maths hubs will support wider engagement with programmes such as Mastering Number to build early number sense.

We will also promote use of the new DfE transitions guidance to improve communication and collaboration between private, voluntary and independent (PVI) providers, nursery classes, and schools. This will include support for priority schools to strengthen transition for children with SEND, English as an additional language (EAL) or other vulnerabilities and to support all pupils with school readiness.

Inclusive mainstream

RISE support for inclusive mainstream education.

Overview

Inclusion in mainstream schools is multi-faceted, shaped by socio-economic context, rising levels of SEND need and varied pupil experiences across different school settings.

The West Midlands region is aligned with these national elements overall, with the differing trends across our 14 local authorities reflecting the region’s diversity. In 2024 to 2025, regionally, the percentage of pupils with EAL was above the national average in all phases, which is particularly prominent in our more densely populated local authorities of Birmingham, Coventry, and Sandwell.

There is a similar picture for pupils eligible for FSM. The percentage of pupils with current EHCPs across the West Midlands is below the national average in state-funded primary and state-funded secondary, although it is above the national average specifically in Dudley, Walsall, and Shropshire in the primary phase.

The percentage of pupils with SEN support (without an EHCP) is also above the national average. National and regional initiatives demonstrate that there is excellent, inclusive practice happening in our region’s schools and classrooms. This is endorsed by the early trends from initial inspections under the new Ofsted framework within the region. We are committed to facilitating the sharing of this, to ensure best practice across the whole of the West Midlands.

Regional focus for West Midlands on inclusive mainstream

Attainment data shows a mixed relationship between socio-economic disadvantage and outcomes across West Midlands local authorities. Attainment gaps are evident across all metrics, with the attainment gap for EAL and disadvantaged pupils being less than national averages at key stage 2 and key stage 4.

SEND data shows an above-average proportion of pupils reporting a SEN need, with notable growth in pupils identified on the autism spectrum, speech, language and communication needs and social, emotional, and mental health needs.

In 2023 to 2024, the suspension rate for pupils identified as receiving SEN support or an EHCP in the West Midlands was lower than the national average however, the rate of permanent exclusions for this pupil group is above national average.

This data, alongside sector engagement, highlights the need for continued focus and support on early identification of need, the use of adaptive teaching and a whole school approach to inclusion to provide consistency in practice and children’s experiences of inclusive mainstream education.

Proposed strategies to address inclusive mainstream in West Midlands region

Activity 1: support workforce development, including through the sharing of best practice

We will support workforce development and building confidence by ensuring all school staff have access to high-quality training and the sharing of evidence-informed best-practice, strengthening pedagogy.

We will promote take-up of the £200m SEND teacher training offer through our local networks, and sector partnerships. We are also committed to facilitating the sharing of best practice.

We will work closely with local authorities and local area partnerships to ensure their SEND reform plans fully embrace peer-to-peer sharing.

For school leaders, we will continue to support the sector to design best practice sharing mechanisms under Universal RISE and ensure that learning from the SEND and alternative provision (AP) change programme, including Early Language Support for Every Child (ELSEC), Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS), and Ordinarily Available Inclusive Provision (OAIP) is utilised across the region.

By drawing on our networks, including the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, Regional Improvement and Innovation Alliance (RIIA) and our Communities of Practice, we will bring together a strong regional voice and actively cascade best practice to strengthen inclusion in every community.

Activity 2: encourage growth of high-quality, consistent local SEND provision, including inclusion bases

The current inclusion base landscape will be mapped in partnership with local authorities to ensure a comprehensive understanding of existing capacity and unmet need, working on the assumption that all secondary schools will host an inclusion base.

Working closely with local authorities helps ensure provision meets local need, aligns with wider SEND planning and embeds inclusion bases within plans for SEND reform and any wider strategic capital investment demonstrating a strong ability to be agile and responsive.

Where it is our role to make the decision, we will work with our RISE advisers and DfE commissioned SEND advisers to ensure the proposals are of high quality. Additionally, we will continue to promote informed, consistent best practice by encouraging responsible bodies and practitioners to engage with local and the DfE national network for inclusion bases.

Activity 3:  tackle the gap for disadvantaged and SEND pupils during transitions

We recognise that successful transitions, between phases, settings and key points of vulnerability are central in supporting all children to thrive throughout their education.

Regarding inclusive mainstream, we will link closely with the region’s work on the attainment and attendance national priority areas to ensure inclusive mainstream remains a prominent theme, particularly at transition points.

We will continue to promote a range of resources, including the department’s attendance data tools and analytics, and our regional RISE conferences to enable school leaders and local authorities to develop and refine more focussed support for their individual pupil cohorts during transition.

Alongside our communities of practice and networks, we will facilitate practice sharing events, which will include a focus on transition, to empower leaders to continue to refine and develop transition practices and processes.

Attendance

RISE support for improving attendance in schools.

Overview

2024 to 2025 academic year attendance data highlights notable strengths in overall absence rates at secondary and special schools, as West Midlands performs better than the national average for all cohorts (all pupils, pupils eligible for free school meals), pupils with SEN support, and pupils with EHCPs).

However, there has been little post-pandemic year-on-year improvement in absence rates for free school meal pupils, while rates for non-free school meal pupils have been steadily improving. Areas of attendance that require improvement are the overall absence rates for all pupils, pupils with SEN support and pupils with EHCPs at primary, and the persistent absence rate for all cohorts in special.

The West Midlands also performs better than the national average for persistent absence in secondary schools for free school meals, SEN support, and EHCP.

Post-pandemic, among the five most represented ethnic groups in the West Midlands, absence rates were highest among White working-class pupils in secondary schools. There has been a minimal improvement in the attendance of White working-class pupils in West Midlands secondaries since the pandemic.

2023 to 2024 exclusions data highlights strengths in suspensions, with the rate sitting below the national average for all cohorts in secondary and special, and for all but EHCP in primary. However, there is a regional underperformance in the permanent exclusion rate for all cohorts at primary and special, as the West Midlands performs below the national average in these categories.

Regional focus for West Midlands on attendance

In 2024 to 2025, 7 local authority areas performed better than regional and national averages for overall and persistent absence rates at primary, whilst 6 areas performed worse than the averages for both.

At secondary, 4 local authority areas performed better than regional and national averages for overall and persistent absence rates and 5 local authorities performed worse than both averages.

In special schools, 7 local authority areas performed better than regional and national averages for overall and persistent absence, whilst 6 local authority areas performed worse in both.

Improving attendance is a key priority for the West Midlands, where overall absence rates have tracked close to, but slightly above national trends. Looking at 2023 to 2024 academic year attendance data, as a region our focus will be on improving attendance rates for: 

• pupils transitioning into early key stage 3
• White British disadvantaged pupils
• SEND pupils across all phases

Transition to KS3 

Absence rates in the region are slightly above national average in both primary and secondary schools. Post-pandemic absence rates have been improving from year 1 to year 7; however, this improvement is not maintained from year 8 onwards. 

The transition through key stage 3 will be crucial in ensuring that the good attendance rates at primary schools lead to improved attendance at secondary schools.

Disadvantaged pupils 

We recognise the role of school attendance as a protective factor for disadvantaged pupils and the importance of strengthening the role of education as a strategic partner in local multi-agency safeguarding arrangements.

In the West Midlands, disadvantaged pupils have an absence rate of 10.5% compared with 5.9% for their non-disadvantaged peers. Although disadvantaged pupils’ absence is below the national average, non-disadvantaged attendance is improving more quickly, widening the gap. This is most evident in secondary schools, where disadvantaged pupils’ absence has barely improved since the pandemic, while primary schools show lower and slightly improving rates.

Post‑pandemic, White British pupils in secondary schools have the highest absence among major ethnic groups, with little improvement, making White British disadvantaged pupils a continued area of focus.

SEND pupils

SEND pupils are absent more often than their peers, with 2023 to 2024 absence rates of 12.7% for those with an EHCP and 10.2% for those with SEN support, compared with the West Midlands average of 7.3%.

At primary level, both overall and persistent absence rates for pupils with EHCPs exceed national figures, making SEND pupils’ attendance (particularly in primary settings) a key regional priority.

Special schools in Birmingham, Shropshire, and Solihull record the highest overall and persistent absence rates, while those in Dudley, Staffordshire, and Telford and Wrekin have the lowest (Spring 2025 data). Permanent exclusions are also higher across the region for pupils with SEN support and EHCPs, especially in primary schools.

Proposed strategies to address attendance in West Midlands region

Activity 1: attendance and behaviour hubs

A total of 350 schools have now signed up to receive support from the attendance and behaviour hubs programme established in the West Midlands during the autumn term.

Three hubs hosted open days during the autumn, and going forward all hubs will host open days every term, each focusing on different aspects of practice that influence attendance and behaviour.

200 primary schools are engaged in the regional offer, and 10 primary schools are receiving the more intensive one-to-one support. Engagement among our secondary schools is also strong, with over a quarter of all mainstream secondary schools in the region now receiving support, and 12 receiving enhanced support.

We will continue to offer enhanced support to primary and secondary schools every term.

Activity 2: data-informed engagement with responsible bodies

We have been conducting targeted engagement data-informed conversations about attendance with responsible bodies across both the primary and secondary phases where data indicates that attendance in their schools could be improved compared to similar schools, particularly in the 5 to 15% absence band.

Action points will be identified in each of these conversations to help responsible bodies support particular focus areas to help accelerate attendance improvements with follow-ups where necessary.

Post-pandemic absence rates have been improving from year 1 to year 7; however, this improvement is not maintained from year 8 onwards. The transition through key stage 3 will be crucial in ensuring that the good attendance rates at primary schools lead to improved attendance at secondary schools and transition has been and will continue to be a key focus of these conversations.

Tools are signposted and referenced that can help schools monitor attendance, especially regarding specific groups such as pupils with SEN support and pupils eligible for FSM.

Activity 3: attendance conferences

Through the West Midlands attendance conference in March 2025, and in subsequent pan-regional and national conferences, we are putting a focus on key themes such as transitions between year groups, effective use of attendance data to inform processes and fostering a culture of belonging to encourage better attendance.

Engaging with school leaders, academy trust leaders and local authorities through these events has ensured all stakeholders are leading the drive to improve school attendance across the primary and secondary phases.

Activity 4: West Midlands communities of practice offer – attendance and behaviour

We are supporting the development of a regional attendance and behaviour community of practice, chaired by an experienced trust CEO based in the West Midlands, which brings together schools to share best practice from the attendance and behaviour hubs.

The community aims to strengthen and embed effective approaches across the West Midlands by creating a collaborative learning environment. Through this work, schools can trial evidence-informed projects, deepen professional knowledge through expert speakers and workshops, and access a range of practical resources that support implementation.

Participants also benefit from contextualised learning opportunities tailored to their school’s needs and from connecting with a wider regional network of practitioners and hubs, enabling collaboration, shared learning, and access to specialist advice.

Attainment with a focus on English and maths

RISE support for improving attainment in schools.

Overview

The West Midlands performs below national averages at every key stage except key stage 2, where outcomes are broadly in line. Disadvantaged pupils generally achieve comparatively well across early years, phonics, key stage 2 and key stage 4.

Attainment for pupils with special educational needs (SEN), and for White working-class pupils, remains a significant weakness, with both groups recording some of the lowest outcomes nationally across multiple stages. Performance varies notably across the region, with some areas achieving strong results across pupil groups and others demonstrating consistently weaker outcomes.

Regional focus for West Midlands on attainment

The West Midlands records the lowest SEND attainment in England. This applies consistently across all SEND groups, including pupils with EHCPs, pupils receiving SEN Support, and the wider SEND cohort. These outcomes indicate a persistent and systemic challenge in meeting the needs of learners with additional support requirements.

Although KS2 outcomes in the region are broadly in line with national averages, performance declines significantly as pupils move through key stage 3. By key stage 4, the West Midlands has the lowest national performance for the proportion of pupils achieving a grade 5 or above in English and maths. This pattern suggests a substantial drop in progress and attainment during the secondary transition phase.

For White British and White British disadvantaged pupils, outcomes also deteriorate markedly between key stage 2 and key stage 4. While both groups perform broadly in line with national averages at key stage 2, the West Midlands becomes the lowest‑performing region for these pupils at key stage 4 in terms of achieving grade 5 or above in English and maths. This represents a significant widening of the attainment gap as pupils move through secondary education.

Proposed strategies to address attainment in West Midlands region

Activity 1: key stage 2 West Midlands networks

We will use primary school leader networks where these exist or establish new regional networks with a focus on delivering activity to improve key stage 2 outcomes. Networks must include connections to maths and English hubs.

This activity is underway in all regions from February 2026, and a refreshed programme should be planned from autumn term 2026 and informed by this year’s key stage 2 outcomes in the region. We will direct regional and local leaders to resources such as the DfE writing framework and Oak National Academy; and engage with local authorities showing negative or minimal progress in reading, writing and maths outcome recovery to pre-pandemic levels (currently taking place at national level).

To support the sharing of best practice outlined in activity 2, it is necessary to ensure a clear focus on the 2026 round of key stage 2 assessments. Alongside establishing medium to long term networks, network leads were tasked with developing a series of webinars designed to support school leaders in preparing their pupils effectively for the 2026 assessments. These webinars and resources will be cascaded and shared widely.

Activity 2: key stage 3 and secondary networks

These key stage 3 and secondary networks will involve making use of established regional secondary school leader networks, or creating new ones where necessary, with a clear focus on improving the quality of key stage 3 provision and strengthening its impact on key stage 4 outcomes.

These networks will be aligned with the RISE key stage 3 Alliance, announced in the government’s response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review and due to launch in March 2026 with representation from each region. The alliance will support schools to access and develop high-quality key stage 3 practice and will facilitate collaboration on shared priorities and emerging issues.

Learning, innovation, and best practice developed within the alliance will be disseminated through its established regional networks. These networks will play a vital role in identifying effective practice, promoting innovation, and supporting its adoption across the region. A particular focus will be on reducing the attainment gap for White British pupils and improving the proportion of pupils achieving grade 5 or above in GCSE English and maths.

Activity 3: follow up key stage 2 attainment conversations with local authorities – summer term 2026

We will reconvene with the three West Midlands local authorities in July 2026, following our initial meeting in February 2026 on reading,writing and maths average annual growth and post‑pandemic recovery.

This meeting will provide an opportunity to reflect on emerging evidence from the 2026 key stage 2 outcomes, review progress against locally agreed actions, and consider where further national or regional support may be beneficial.

These follow up discussions will help build a clearer and more detailed picture of progress across areas from the first conversations and will further support the identification of where regional teams can strengthen coordination between schools, trusts and wider partners.

Given the variation in the depth of contributions at previous sessions, the follow‑up discussions will also allow us to provide challenge to areas where plans remain underdeveloped or are not yet sufficiently action‑focused.

Activity 4: summer round tables (planned for June 2026)

These round tables will follow on from the June and December 2025 round tables. They will provide an opportunity for executive leaders and stakeholders to understand what actions have been implemented since previous RISE and attainment round tables, building on previous best practice and to assess the impact of those activities to date. This will support ongoing efforts to identify opportunities to improve attainment among White working-class pupils.

To strengthen delivery, maths and English hubs will be integrated into the relevant regional networks, ensuring alignment between discussion, decision‑making and local support offers. The round tables will also be used to signpost specific activities available through the RISE maths and English hubs, with a particular focus on supporting schools with low or concerning attainment.

This will include directing schools to appropriate hub programmes, tracking engagement, and deploying hub support to meet identified local needs.

Regional themes

The activities set out in the regional focus section will not be possible without these themes that underpin all priorities.

Theme 1: leadership 

Strong and effective school and trust leadership is crucial to making progress against the national priorities, and so we will support schools, trusts, local authorities, and dioceses to support current leaders and develop a future pipeline of the best leaders across the West Midlands.

Leadership in the West Midlands is rooted in collaboration, innovation, and altruism. We have brilliant school trusts stepping forward to lead engagement with our West Midlands RISE communities of practice, to share their practice and engage their communities across the region. We want to encourage more leaders to feed into the system, sharing their expertise and supporting the development of others.

We are committed to developing a culture of giving back, where all leaders can share best practice, support and learn from each other.

Our regional focus will include:  

• Promoting take-up of national professional qualifications (NPQs), building on the region’s leading participation rate (7.9% in 2023 to 2024).  

• Supporting RISE advisers to broker mentoring, coaching, and peer networks for headteachers and senior leaders.  

• Encouraging peer-to-peer support for trust CEOs and chairs, particularly those new to the role, to foster a culture of openness and collaboration.  

• Strengthening RISE leadership networks across the region, including those focused on attendance, inclusion, disadvantage, curriculum innovation and role as a strategic safeguarding partner. 

• Highlighting and scaling successful leadership development programmes already operating in the region including through our universities.

Theme 2: financial stability

The overall core schools budget is increasing by £3.7 billion in financial year 2025 to 2026, and we are providing schools with an additional £615m in financial year 2025 to 2026 to support them with overall costs, including the costs of the 4% schoolteacher pay award and the 3.2% local government support staff pay offer. 

We are asking schools to do their part in ensuring that we are driving productivity across all areas of the public sector and maximising the impact of every pound of government spending. 

We know that many schools will need to reprioritise some of their budgets to go towards new pay costs as well as more generally ensuring best value from overall resources. We know that this is challenging but schools will not be alone in making these decisions – the department is supporting them through a suite of existing and new productivity initiatives.

The department will support schools in the West Midlands to ensure that their funding is spent as efficiently as possible. 

Schools are already making savings and bringing core operating costs down: for example, the 400 schools who participated in the department’s new energy for schools offer will save 36% on average compared to their previous contracts, which will free up vital funding to deliver for children and young people.

We are also making plans to secure better banking solutions for schools, getting them better returns on their cash balances. Additionally, all schools will be able to access services such as the Get help buying for schools service to get best value when procuring goods and our Teaching Vacancies Service to save recruitment costs.

We will continue to signpost trusts towards schools financial support and oversight (SFSO) guidance, tools, and support available from school resource management advisers (SRMAs).

Our regional focus will include: 

• Strengthening financial resilience in schools and trusts across the West Midlands through a mix of existing programmes and newly developed initiatives. 
• Maintaining clear signposting to SFSO guidance, tools, and support delivered through the schools commercial team and SRMAs.
• Fostering collaboration and peer-to-peer learning via regional forums and networks, highlighting effective practice and innovative financial strategies. 
• Tracking financial health across the region, identifying trusts facing risks and coordinating focused support to ensure resources are used effectively for the benefit of pupils. 
• Drawing on the West Midlands financial health and sustainability community of practice to share effective practice and support schools and trusts achieve and maintain efficient financial health.

Theme 3: local partnerships

We will support effective partnership working between schools, trusts, local authorities, dioceses, and other key partners, including health and social care, to take collective action on local challenges. This work will be focused on areas where issues are particularly acute or where engagement with support has historically been poor. 

Where the issues are most acute, we will deploy RISE advisers to bring additional capacity and expertise in support of local partnership working.

Our regional focus will include: 

• Building stronger partnerships between schools, trusts, local authorities, dioceses and wider services such as health, social care, and youth support, so that priorities are aligned and delivered in a coordinated way. 

• Integrating our schools into child safeguarding, recognising the role of education as a strategic partner in local multi-agency safeguarding arrangements and children’s social care reforms such as Families First for Children.

• Enhancing effort in localities with the most pressing issues – for example, high absence rates, exclusions, or low attainment – underpinned by joint accountability and collective action. 

• Looking at opportunities and solutions to cohere school improvement in our rural communities, where there are gaps in capacity and expertise.

• Deploying RISE advisers to strengthen local collaboration by aligning improvement strategies, brokering external support, and growing system capacity. 

• Engaging our local universities in both their civic role and through their schools of education to support continuing professional development (CPD), teacher training, research and knowledge exchange.

• Working with the West Midlands Combined Authority to ensure alignment of regional inclusive growth strategies, skills development, post 16 pathways and employment opportunities with education improvement.

• Aligning the post-16 Regional Improvement Teams (starting with the pilot in Birmingham) with the work of RISE to ensure there is a coherent offer.

• Creating opportunities for shared learning across sectors through regional events, peer-to-peer networks, and case studies that spread effective practice and encourage innovation. 

• Drawing on the learning and structures developed through priority education investment areas (PEIA), ensuring the experiences in Stoke, Walsall and Sandwell inform and enhance wider regional collaboration. 

Use the West Midlands RISE communities of practice to strengthen peer‑led collaboration. These are sector‑led groups chaired by experienced trust leaders, each focusing on a specific theme such as attendance, financial sustainability, SEND, writing, early years, leadership, culture, and the use of artificial intelligence (AI). They offer a space for schools, trusts, universities and local partners to share effective practice and develop practical solutions to shared challenges.

Theme 4: AI and education technology 

In the West Midlands, we will explore opportunities for schools and trusts to pilot and share best practice on AI and technology adoption. This includes collaborating with stakeholders across the region to ensure technology is used ethically, safely, and effectively. 

Our ambition is to ensure that digital tools, including AI, are not a substitute for high-quality teaching, but a powerful complement – freeing up teacher time for the relational, creative, leadership and pastoral elements of education that technology cannot replace. 

Our regional focus will include:  

• Establishing an AI and emerging technologies network to share the latest developments and best practice in this rapidly evolving field. 

• Supporting schools in trialling AI tools for lesson planning, assessment, and feedback to reduce teacher workload and enhance teaching quality. 

• Promoting the safe, ethical, and inclusive use of AI through staff training, policy development, and robust digital safeguarding. 

• Gathering and sharing examples of effective practice from early adopters, particularly highlighting how AI can support vulnerable learners and reduce inequalities. 

• Encouraging schools to appoint AI champions and form cross-functional leadership teams to embed innovation sustainably and strategically. 

• Ensuring alignment with the DfE’s 2025 digital strategy for schools, including initiatives such as the AI product safety framework, assistive technology training for new teachers, and the EdTech Evidence Board. 

• Drawing on the two West Midlands AI communities of practice to share effective practice and support schools and trusts to explore the safe and innovative use of AI.

Ambitions

The department will monitor our progress against the following RISE national priorities and regional theme ambitions in the West Midlands region over the next year.

Reception-year quality

• 5 reception networks established and operating effectively by the end of the current academic year.
• Evidence of data informed priority conversations with clear agreed actions and established follow up cycles.
• Increased use of the GLD data tool and reports by responsible bodies to inform practice.
• Progress of each local authority towards its individual GLD target.
• Increase in the number of schools in the West Midlands registered for and delivering the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) Programme.
• Increase in schools accessing English and maths hubs
• Improved transition process for children, particularly those who are vulnerable or who have additional needs.

Inclusive mainstream

• Approved SEND reform plans fully embracing best practice sharing.
• An increase of high-quality SEND provision, including inclusion bases across the region to meet need.
• Strong regional engagement in the DfE national network for inclusion bases
• Increase in best practice sharing events, through regional RISE conferences, regional networks, and new sector-led activity.
• Monitoring and analysis of engagement in best-practice sharing events
• Continued engagement with our inclusion-focused regional communities of practice

Attendance

• Attendance and behaviour hubs – enhanced support delivered to two cohorts of schools: further cohorts underway. Over 40 open days delivered.
• Continue to target engagement with responsible bodies across the region, promoting tools to aid schools to improve attendance and providing support and challenge.

Attainment

• A fully established key stage 2 regional network in place, with representation from all local authorities and a minimum of 60% of primary schools engaged.
• Increased engagement with maths and English hubs, demonstrated by year-on-year growth in the number of schools accessing hub programmes.
• Completion of a key stage 2 assessments preparation webinar series for 2026, delivered by network leads before the 2026 assessments, with feedback showing improved confidence among school leaders. We will build on these webinars to further enhance our approach for the 2027 key stage 2 assessments.
• Key stage 3 and secondary networks established or expanded, aligned with the RISE key stage 3 alliance, and attended by leaders from all local authorities.
• Regular dissemination of innovation and learning from the key stage 3 alliance, demonstrated by termly updates, events or resource-sharing through regional networks.
• Clear action plans agreed with each local authority showing specific areas in need of development at key stage 2, including milestones and support needs.
• Round table held with full attendance from regional leaders, hub representatives, and key local authorities.

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 education 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 West Midlands, our ambition is for key stage 2 outcomes to reach 64% for all pupils and 53% for disadvantaged pupils by the end of this Parliament.

RISE universal school improvement architecture

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

The West Midlands will develop and steward a coherent school improvement architecture that mobilises the strength of the regional system to support the delivery of RISE. This architecture brings together the collective activity of DfE funded or endorsed hubs, sector-led networks, and alliances, alongside the governance and operational systems that connect regional school improvement activities.

The RISE school improvement architecture will provide a framework for an aligned and responsive system that draws on local expertise, enables consistent communication with all schools, and supports equitable access across the region.

Core regional expectations

Enabling structures that connect the system and reach all schools

The West Midlands education landscape is characterised by a diverse and active network of partnerships which will provide the foundational conditions in which this architecture will operate and thrive. These structures include:

• Sector-led networks and forums: sector-led networks across the West Midlands enable schools to share effective practice, offer mutual support, and co-develop solutions tailored to local contexts.
• RISE advisers: our RISE advisers work alongside schools and responsible bodies, offering expert guidance and brokering support from across the system. They play a key role in connecting schools to the right resources at the right time.
• RISE hubs: schools can access a wide range of support through regional teaching school hubs, stronger practice hubs and curriculum hubs, attendance and behaviour hubs and research schools. These centres of excellence provide evidence-informed programmes and facilitate collaboration across the region. Hubs provide school-led improvement activity both nationally and regionally, building expertise across curriculum areas, teacher training, professional development, and careers education. Research schools, supported by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) champion the use of evidence-led teaching and learning practices across the West Midlands.

These structures will be strengthened and aligned to ensure they support the system enablers and provide consistent communication and engagement with all schools.

By supporting the system enablers and enabling these structures we will:

• Support diagnostic insight by building a shared understanding of performance and need.
• Mobilise collaboration between the system enablers.
• Support delivery by brokering solutions, mitigating risks, and coordinating regional responses.
• Provide clear communication channels to every school through established networks of partnerships and regional communications infrastructure.

To ensure equitable regional access, we will:

• Develop and apply clear criteria for how schools access hub support.
• Use data and diagnostic insight to focus offers where need is the highest.
• Monitor take-up across the sector.
• Use convening powers to reduce duplication and ensure coverage across geography, context, and phase.

Regional delivery architecture

The West Midlands currently hosts a range of existing hubs and networks which form the core of RISE delivery including:

• teaching school hubs
• stronger practice hubs
• maths hubs, English hubs, music hubs
• attendance and behaviour hubs
• research schools
• reception networks
• key stage 2 network
• key stage 3 network
• regional sector-led networks including The Education Exchange, Thrive at Five, National Consortium for Languages Education (NCLE)
• communities of practice
• universities
• other local networks (including post 16 and careers networks)

The region will integrate national developments as follows:

• reception networks: connected through local authority and trust networks to ensure coverage for all early years leaders.
• attendance and behaviour hubs: fully incorporated into the wider attendance priority architecture, with representation at regional attendance groups.
• key stage 2 regional networks: incorporation into a formal key stage 2 RISE structure.
• RISE key stage 3 Alliance: the region will establish a regional key stage 3 network aligned to the national alliance.

The West Midlands RISE team will support engagement across all parts of the system by:

• Mapping all networks and partners against the four national priorities: attainment, attendance, reception-year quality and inclusive mainstream.
• Utilising different levels of engagement to ensure appropriate involvement without duplication.
• Providing consistent updates and explicit expectations to all system enablers.
• Using existing gaps analysis to form new structures only where necessary.

Levels of engagement between the West Midlands RISE team and existing structures will sit within one of 4 levels. Engagement may transition between levels according to changes in the strategic purpose of engagement:

• Observe: stay informed and maintain awareness through listening and gathering intelligence.
• Influence: engage in monitoring meetings to discuss progress and influence direction or priorities where necessary. Share intelligence with internal stakeholders.
• Convene: facilitate discussions between stakeholders where risks or issues arise. Broker support and contact between stakeholders where relevant.
• Commission: agree objectives and fund or mandate activity where relevant.

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

The future steady-state RISE Universal school improvement architecture will include:

• coordinated RISE hubs across phases (reception, key stage 2, key stage 3)
• system-aligned sector-led networks at local and regional levels
• national alliances feeding into regional activity through aligned structures
• a coherent engagement framework

By using a consistent engagement framework across all partners, the system will work to embed system enablers as the foundation for operations within the RISE Universal school improvement architecture. This framework will ensure each activity is explicit regarding purpose, expected outcomes, monitoring and review points and avoid duplication by applying principles of ownership and clarity to avoid creating parallel structures.

The region will ensure inclusive reach and equitable access by:

• using hubs and networks to extend reach to all schools
• monitoring data and engagement to identify where reach is uneven
• establishing new networks only where persistent gaps remain
• ensuring all phases and geographies have access to a relevant hub or network

Insight, feedback, and impact

The region will ensure insight, alignment, and impact through consistent review points across all engagements and gathering quantitative and qualitative data to understanding effectiveness. Intelligence will be gathered at all four engagement levels to feed insights into strategic decision-making and risk management.

Regular feedback loops with the West Midlands RISE team and thematic groups will maintain alignment with national priorities and expectations to establish shared accountability across partners.

Transition plan

To move from the current to future architecture, the region will conduct a full mapping of existing structures against national priorities to identify gaps in phase, geography and need.

New networks will be established only where necessary and existing networks will be transitioned into RISE-aligned structures. West Midlands Regions Group convening powers will be used to identify suitable partners where no structure exists and activity will be commissioned only where partnership capacity is insufficient.

Risks such as capacity gaps, uneven engagement or duplicative activity will be monitored and mitigated through engagement and annual review cycles as per the engagement strategy. Clear communication will be maintained with all schools during change to strengthen collaborative governance through shared decision-making structures.

Governance and operational delivery

A West Midlands RISE regional delivery partnership will be established bringing together representation from for example, local authorities, dioceses, trusts, hubs, network leads, and RISE advisers.

The group will provide strategic oversight, alignment, and direction across the region, driving progress and ensuring activity is well coordinated, transparent, and connected to wider national and regional priorities.

Operational delivery will be coordinated through:

• a core RISE operational team within West Midlands Regions Group
• scheduled convening points aligned to monitoring and decision-making cycles
• regular communication to the sector through established networks

The region will invite partners to contribute insight, intelligence, and expertise through joining relevant RISE networks and thematic groups to participate in shaping the future architecture.

Email us at: westmidlands.riseregionalmailbox@education.gov.uk

Case study: The Education Exchange West Midlands (TEEWM)

Bringing together leaders from schools, colleges and trusts across the region to collaborate, innovate, and make a tangible difference in education for all children. 

The challenge

Children and young people in the West Midlands achieve at lower levels than those in many other regions in England. For example, 62.9 per cent of pupils in the region achieve grade 4 and above in GCSE English and mathematics, compared with a national average of 67.1 per cent.

In addition, almost half of households are located within the 20 per cent most deprived areas nationally, presenting significant contextual challenges for schools and communities.

In response to this landscape, a group of trust, school and college leaders came together, united by a shared commitment to strengthen educational provision and outcomes across the region. They committed to working collaboratively rather than competitively and to securing collective buy-in to the philosophies of The Education Exchange from as many education providers as possible.

The philosophies underpinning The Education Exchange are clear and values-driven:

• if an organisation benefits from The Education Exchange, it commits to contributing back when it is able
• resources and approaches developed using public funding should be made freely available where they would benefit children in other schools
• every school has expertise and strengths that can support others

Working collaboratively

At the heart of TEEWM is a culture of professional friendship and generosity, enabling educators to share proven strategies, resources, and expertise to accelerate improvement at no cost. The concept emerged when a steering group of local trust leaders visited The Education Exchange in Yorkshire and the Humber.

The model they observed demonstrated how trusts and educational organisations could work together to drive sustained school improvement across a region. Recognising the potential to replicate this approach locally, leaders established The Education Exchange West Midlands at the end of 2024.

Impact

Within its first 15 months, TEEWM has seen varying degrees of engagement from 1,188 schools across the West Midlands and neighbouring areas. More than 100 schools have received direct support, with trusts and local authorities working in partnership to coordinate and target assistance.

One example is a local authority maintained special school that received support across curriculum development, behaviour systems, leadership structures, learning environments and financial planning. This collaboration culminated in a joint project with the local authority to enhance the school’s physical environment, with over 70 volunteers contributing during the summer holiday period. The initiative improved both indoor and outdoor spaces and demonstrated the strength of community engagement in supporting education.

In addition to direct school support, TEEWM has facilitated open invitation events and targeted sharing opportunities for schools and trusts. For example, more than 70 educators from across the region attended two dedicated deep-thinking days, designed to provide structured time for reflection and strategic planning. Outcomes included one trust identifying a significant collective budget saving, alongside strengthened school improvement strategies across participating organisations.

TEEWM has also established sustainable professional networks, enabling leaders to exchange expertise and mobilise resources for the benefit of all children, particularly those facing disadvantage. This has supported the effective facilitation of half termly network meetings, free resource sharing, and targeted training for specific leadership roles.

What has worked well and next steps

Through the delivery of multiple support projects, TEEWM has begun to address longstanding cultural barriers, including a historical tendency towards competition rather than collaboration within the sector. As demand for support from schools, colleges, trusts, and local authorities has increased, the network of leaders contributing expertise has expanded. Work is now underway to formalise a regional database of freely available expertise.

Looking ahead, TEEWM will continue to build momentum and extend its impact for children, families, and communities across the West Midlands and beyond.

It will work in partnership with other support providers aligned to the regional plan, including RISE teams, strengthening collective capacity to address shared challenges and accelerate improvement at scale.