Supporting engagement in education
Supporting engagement in education
Supporting engagement in education
In this programme, we are seeking applications on any topic related to supporting the active engagement of young people in education.
Education can open doors to opportunity, employment and participation in society. Yet across the UK, many learners continue to face barriers that affect how they experience and engage with education. Longstanding inequalities remain a significant challenge, with children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds continuing to achieve lower educational outcomes than their peers. Concerns about attendance, engagement and wellbeing are also being felt across all four nations. In England, for example, 18.7% of pupils were persistently absent during the 2024–25 academic year, meaning they missed at least 10% of their schooling.
Engagement in education is shaped by much more than what happens in the classroom. Relationships with educators, support from families, connections to communities, a sense of belonging and clear pathways into future opportunities all influence how people experience education and whether they can participate fully. There is growing recognition of the importance of learner voice, inclusive learning environments and stronger connections between education, families, communities and employers.
Supporting Engagement in Education was created in response to these challenges. The programme seeks practical solutions that strengthen participation, foster a sense of belonging and create better educational opportunities and outcomes for people throughout their lives.
People across the UK are exploring new ways to improve educational experiences and ensure that more learners can participate fully in education and learning. This includes rethinking how learners are involved in shaping their education, how educators are supported, how achievement is recognised, and how education connects to future opportunities.
Many of the most promising approaches are emerging from those who are closely connected to the challenges they are seeking to address, whether through professional expertise, community involvement or lived experience. We are interested in practical ideas that can improve engagement in education and help more learners thrive.
The programme is designed to support people who want to learn from effective approaches elsewhere and apply those insights to challenges and opportunities in the UK.
Projects can come from a wide range of disciplines and sectors, but should demonstrate a clear connection to improving engagement in education. We are particularly interested in projects that explore one or more of the following areas:
- Strengthening participation and support around learning
Exploring how learners, educators, families, communities, employers and wider support networks can work together to improve educational experiences, participation and outcomes.
- Supporting educators and learning environments
Developing approaches that support teachers, education professionals and leaders to create engaging, inclusive and effective learning environments.
- Rethinking learning, assessment and achievement
Examining approaches that broaden how learning, achievement and potential are recognised. This includes alternative approaches to assessment, curriculum design and teaching practices that seek to be more inclusive, equitable and responsive to different strengths, needs and experiences.
- Connecting education to future opportunities
Exploring how education can better prepare people for employment, skills development, further study and participation in society. This may include initiatives that strengthen links between education, employers and communities or that help learners develop the knowledge, skills and confidence needed for the future.
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We are less likely to support projects that:
While we welcome a wide range of ideas, projects are less likely to be a strong fit for the programme if they:
- Focus primarily on an individual’s professional development rather than addressing a wider educational challenge or opportunity.
- Have limited relevance to improving educational engagement, participation, experiences or outcomes in the UK.
- Focus narrowly on a single educational setting or intervention without considering how the learning could benefit others.
- Do not demonstrate a clear connection to learners, education or learning.
- Do not show how the learning could inform positive change in the UK.
When developing your application, we encourage you to:
- Identify a clearly defined challenge or opportunity relating to engagement in education
- Explain how your project could improve participation, educational experiences or outcomes for learners
- Consider the different roles that learners, educators, families, communities, employers and wider support networks play in shaping educational experiences
- Demonstrate how your learning could contribute to positive change in policy, practice, systems or communities in the UK
- Think about who could benefit from your findings and how you might share your learning with others
We welcome applicants from a wide range of backgrounds, sectors and communities.
This programme may be of particular interest to:
- teachers, education professionals and leaders
- people working in further education, skills development and lifelong learning
- researchers, policymakers and those involved in shaping education systems
- parents, carers, governors and community advocates
- youth workers and those working in inclusion, wellbeing and social development
- employers and individuals working to strengthen links between education, skills and employment
- people exploring new approaches to learning, assessment, participation or progression
- individuals with lived experience of the challenges they wish to address
These are the projects supported under this programme. Exploring a similar issue will not count against your application, but we encourage you to consider your unique perspective and approach.
2026
How Teachers Navigate Identity and Inclusion: Comparative Insights for UK Schools
Neurodiversity and school food - creating inclusive school food systems for everyone
How inclusive English curriculum reform can make a National Year of Reading count
Belonging in Transition: nature‑based rites for Cross Culture Children and adults
Building Achievement Together: How Parents, Schools and Employers Can Partner to Close Education Gap
Creating belonging in schools through improved racial literacy for teachers
How flexischooling can improve children's educational wellbeing
Helping schools & grassroots organisations to inspire parents to read with their children aged 0-7
Bridging the Gap: Creating Holistic Education into Employment Transitions for Disabled People
Making the Invisible Visible: Teaching Children How Digital Infrastructure Powers Their Lives
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2025
Apprenticeship Intermediary Hubs - driving place based employer engagement
Intranational school twinning and exchange: building cohesion and combatting polarisation
Reimagining work experience to inspire, excite, and re-engage ALL school age learners in England
PPAWS –Promoting Pupils' Positive Attitudes and Wellbeing though School Dogs
The role of hope following mass traumatic events in schools
Fostering belonging to boost academic engagement in at-risk students
School & Beyond: Supporting Dyslexic & Neurodivergent Girls’ Next Moves
Success stories: Creating learning environments for Caribbean students to thrive
Inclusive Financial Literacy: Empowering Every Student for a Brighter Future
Prefer a word document?
Download the full programme brief
Education can open doors to opportunity, employment and participation in society. Yet across the UK, many learners continue to face barriers that affect how they experience and engage with education. Longstanding inequalities remain a significant challenge, with children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds continuing to achieve lower educational outcomes than their peers. Concerns about attendance, engagement and wellbeing are also being felt across all four nations. In England, for example, 18.7% of pupils were persistently absent during the 2024–25 academic year, meaning they missed at least 10% of their schooling.
Engagement in education is shaped by much more than what happens in the classroom. Relationships with educators, support from families, connections to communities, a sense of belonging and clear pathways into future opportunities all influence how people experience education and whether they can participate fully. There is growing recognition of the importance of learner voice, inclusive learning environments and stronger connections between education, families, communities and employers.
Supporting Engagement in Education was created in response to these challenges. The programme seeks practical solutions that strengthen participation, foster a sense of belonging and create better educational opportunities and outcomes for people throughout their lives.
People across the UK are exploring new ways to improve educational experiences and ensure that more learners can participate fully in education and learning. This includes rethinking how learners are involved in shaping their education, how educators are supported, how achievement is recognised, and how education connects to future opportunities.
Many of the most promising approaches are emerging from those who are closely connected to the challenges they are seeking to address, whether through professional expertise, community involvement or lived experience. We are interested in practical ideas that can improve engagement in education and help more learners thrive.
The programme is designed to support people who want to learn from effective approaches elsewhere and apply those insights to challenges and opportunities in the UK.
Projects can come from a wide range of disciplines and sectors, but should demonstrate a clear connection to improving engagement in education. We are particularly interested in projects that explore one or more of the following areas:
- Strengthening participation and support around learning
Exploring how learners, educators, families, communities, employers and wider support networks can work together to improve educational experiences, participation and outcomes.
- Supporting educators and learning environments
Developing approaches that support teachers, education professionals and leaders to create engaging, inclusive and effective learning environments.
- Rethinking learning, assessment and achievement
Examining approaches that broaden how learning, achievement and potential are recognised. This includes alternative approaches to assessment, curriculum design and teaching practices that seek to be more inclusive, equitable and responsive to different strengths, needs and experiences.
- Connecting education to future opportunities
Exploring how education can better prepare people for employment, skills development, further study and participation in society. This may include initiatives that strengthen links between education, employers and communities or that help learners develop the knowledge, skills and confidence needed for the future.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
We are less likely to support projects that:
While we welcome a wide range of ideas, projects are less likely to be a strong fit for the programme if they:
- Focus primarily on an individual’s professional development rather than addressing a wider educational challenge or opportunity.
- Have limited relevance to improving educational engagement, participation, experiences or outcomes in the UK.
- Focus narrowly on a single educational setting or intervention without considering how the learning could benefit others.
- Do not demonstrate a clear connection to learners, education or learning.
- Do not show how the learning could inform positive change in the UK.
When developing your application, we encourage you to:
- Identify a clearly defined challenge or opportunity relating to engagement in education
- Explain how your project could improve participation, educational experiences or outcomes for learners
- Consider the different roles that learners, educators, families, communities, employers and wider support networks play in shaping educational experiences
- Demonstrate how your learning could contribute to positive change in policy, practice, systems or communities in the UK
- Think about who could benefit from your findings and how you might share your learning with others
We welcome applicants from a wide range of backgrounds, sectors and communities.
This programme may be of particular interest to:
- teachers, education professionals and leaders
- people working in further education, skills development and lifelong learning
- researchers, policymakers and those involved in shaping education systems
- parents, carers, governors and community advocates
- youth workers and those working in inclusion, wellbeing and social development
- employers and individuals working to strengthen links between education, skills and employment
- people exploring new approaches to learning, assessment, participation or progression
- individuals with lived experience of the challenges they wish to address
These are the projects supported under this programme. Exploring a similar issue will not count against your application, but we encourage you to consider your unique perspective and approach.
2026
How Teachers Navigate Identity and Inclusion: Comparative Insights for UK Schools
Neurodiversity and school food - creating inclusive school food systems for everyone
How inclusive English curriculum reform can make a National Year of Reading count
Belonging in Transition: nature‑based rites for Cross Culture Children and adults
Building Achievement Together: How Parents, Schools and Employers Can Partner to Close Education Gap
Creating belonging in schools through improved racial literacy for teachers
How flexischooling can improve children's educational wellbeing
Helping schools & grassroots organisations to inspire parents to read with their children aged 0-7
Bridging the Gap: Creating Holistic Education into Employment Transitions for Disabled People
Making the Invisible Visible: Teaching Children How Digital Infrastructure Powers Their Lives
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2025
Apprenticeship Intermediary Hubs - driving place based employer engagement
Intranational school twinning and exchange: building cohesion and combatting polarisation
Reimagining work experience to inspire, excite, and re-engage ALL school age learners in England
PPAWS –Promoting Pupils' Positive Attitudes and Wellbeing though School Dogs
The role of hope following mass traumatic events in schools
Fostering belonging to boost academic engagement in at-risk students
School & Beyond: Supporting Dyslexic & Neurodivergent Girls’ Next Moves
Success stories: Creating learning environments for Caribbean students to thrive
Inclusive Financial Literacy: Empowering Every Student for a Brighter Future
Prefer a word document?
Download the full programme brief