The Department for Education's new Inclusive Mainstream Fund (IMF) is about much more than additional funding.
It signals a shift in how schools are expected to think about inclusion.
For years, many schools have worked tirelessly to support pupils with SEND, often balancing increasing levels of need with limited time, resources and capacity. The IMF recognises these challenges, but it also raises an important question:
How can schools move from reacting to needs when they arise, to creating environments where barriers are identified early and support is built into everyday practice?
By December 2026, schools receiving IMF funding will be required to publish an Inclusion Strategy that explains how they identify and meet predictable needs, strengthen inclusive practice and improve outcomes for pupils with SEND.
For school leaders, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is demonstrating a clear, evidence-informed approach to inclusion. The opportunity is building systems that help every child feel seen, supported and able to thrive.
What is the Inclusive Mainstream Fund?
The Inclusive Mainstream Fund has been introduced to help mainstream schools strengthen their capacity to support pupils with SEND and create more inclusive learning environments.
While the funding itself is important, the wider ambition is even more significant.
The DfE is encouraging schools to move beyond isolated interventions and develop sustainable approaches that improve outcomes over time.
This includes:
- Strengthening early identification
- Embedding evidence-informed practice
- Improving staff confidence and capability
- Developing a consistent whole-school approach
- Demonstrating impact through meaningful evidence
In short, the IMF is not simply about what schools do when difficulties emerge.
It's about how schools create the conditions for success before those difficulties become barriers to learning.
What schools will need to evidence by December 2026
The requirement to publish an Inclusion Strategy means schools will need to articulate more clearly than ever how they understand and respond to need.
The strongest strategies are likely to answer five key questions:
1. How do we identify needs early?
Many challenges affecting learning, wellbeing and behaviour begin long before they become visible in attendance data, attainment outcomes or referrals.
Schools need confidence that they are identifying needs early enough to provide meaningful support.
2. How do we understand the needs of our pupils?
Effective inclusion starts with understanding.
Schools need a clear picture of the emotional, social and developmental needs that exist across their school community, not just among those already receiving support.
3. How do we target support effectively?
Resources are finite.
Schools need evidence that helps them prioritise interventions, deploy staff effectively and ensure support reaches those who need it most.
4. How do we create a whole-school culture of inclusion?
Inclusive practice cannot sit with a single team or individual.
It requires a shared understanding across leaders, teachers, pastoral teams and SEND professionals.
5. How do we know our approach is working?
Schools increasingly need to demonstrate impact, not just activity.
That means measuring progress, evaluating support and using evidence to inform future decisions.
The five challenges schools are likely to face
While the goals of the IMF are clear, implementing them is not always straightforward.
1. Identifying needs before they become barriers
Many schools already collect large amounts of data.
The challenge is that wellbeing, resilience and executive functioning needs often remain hidden until they begin affecting learning, behaviour or attendance.
Without a structured way to understand these needs, schools can find themselves responding after difficulties have become entrenched.
2. Prioritising support in a resource-constrained environment
Every school wants to provide support for every pupil who needs it.
The reality is that leaders must make difficult decisions about where to focus time, staffing and intervention capacity.
These decisions are far easier when they are informed by clear evidence rather than assumptions.
3. Joining up information across teams
In many schools, valuable information exists across multiple systems and conversations.
SEND teams, pastoral teams, class teachers and senior leaders often hold different parts of the picture.
Building an effective Inclusion Strategy requires bringing those insights together into a shared understanding of need.
4. Demonstrating meaningful impact
Showing that support was delivered is no longer enough.
Schools need to understand whether support is improving outcomes and helping pupils thrive.
This requires consistent measurement and a clear way to track progress over time.
5. Building confidence across the workforce
Inclusive schools are built by people.
Staff need practical insights that help them understand needs, respond confidently and make informed decisions every day.
The best systems reduce uncertainty and empower staff to act with confidence.
How Motional supports each challenge
At Motional, we believe that meaningful support starts with understanding.
Schools cannot create effective Inclusion Strategies if they are relying on assumptions, isolated data points or incomplete information.
Together, we’ll help you understand the emotional wellbeing, resilience and executive functioning needs of your pupils, providing the insight needed to take action with confidence.
Understand needs earlier
Motional will help you identify emerging needs before they become barriers to learning.
Through evidence-based assessments, schools gain a clearer understanding of the challenges affecting pupils and can intervene earlier, when support is often most effective.
Turn insight into action
Collecting data is only valuable if it leads to meaningful change.
Motional transforms pupil insights into practical recommendations, helping schools target support where it will have the greatest impact.
Create a shared understanding across the school
Inclusion works best when everyone is working from the same picture.
Motional provides leaders, teachers, pastoral teams and SEND professionals with a common framework for understanding needs and planning support.
Support evidence-informed decision making
Every recommendation within Motional is grounded in research and linked to identified needs.
This helps schools move beyond intuition and make decisions based on evidence.
Demonstrate progress and impact
Motional helps schools measure change over time, evaluate the effectiveness of support and demonstrate impact with confidence.
This creates a stronger evidence base for Inclusion Strategies, school improvement planning and wider accountability requirements.
Questions school leaders should ask before spending IMF funding
Before committing funding, consider:
- Will this help us understand needs earlier?
- Does it strengthen our whole-school approach to inclusion?
- Will it help staff make more informed decisions?
- Can it provide evidence of impact over time?
- Does it support long-term improvement rather than short-term intervention?
- Will it help us create a stronger Inclusion Strategy for 2026 and beyond?
The most valuable investments will not simply add another programme.
They will strengthen the systems that help schools understand needs, target support and improve outcomes.
Beyond inclusion: creating a sense of belonging
The Inclusive Mainstream Fund represents an important opportunity for schools.
Not simply to improve provision, but to rethink what success looks like.
Inclusion matters. Every child should have access to the support, opportunities and learning experiences they need to succeed.
But true inclusion is not just about whether a child is present.
It's about whether they feel understood.
Whether they feel valued.
Whether they feel like they belong.
A child can be included in a classroom and still feel isolated. They can attend every lesson and still feel disconnected from learning, their peers or the adults around them.
That's why understanding needs matters.
When schools understand what is getting in the way of a child's wellbeing, confidence or engagement, they are better able to create environments where pupils don't just participate - they thrive.
At Motional, we believe belonging is the outcome schools are ultimately working towards.
Because when children feel seen, supported and understood, they are more likely to engage, build positive relationships, develop resilience and achieve their potential.
The journey to belonging starts with understanding.
