The Authentic Leader

Academic Breadth: Because Children Aren’t Pancakes

The education white paper “Every Child Achieving and Thriving,” published this past Monday, 23rd February 2026, marks a definitive pivot from the performance table era of the last decade toward a more holistic, inclusive model. Every Child Achieving and Thriving proposes a generational £4 billion overhaul of the SEND system, transitioning away from a one-size-fits-all model towards a tiered, inclusive by design framework. At its core is the introduction of digital Individual Support Plans (ISPs) for every child with additional needs, intended to provide legally enforceable, day-to-day support without the need for a lengthy EHCP battle or a formal diagnosis. This is backed by a £1.8 billion Experts at Hand service, giving schools direct access to specialists like speech therapists and educational psychologists, and a £1.6 billion Inclusive Mainstream Fund for early interventions.

Furthermore, every mainstream school will be required to establish an inclusion base—supported by £3.7 billion in capital investment—to ensure specialist help is available locally, while National Inclusion Standards will be introduced to eliminate the postcode lottery and ensure consistent accountability across the country.

But it is not solely about SEND. A hundred others better qualified and more nuanced will write about the SEND aspects. There are other aspects I would like to share for us to consider.

This paper is less about hitting targets and more about fixing the foundations. However, the success of the Progress 8 reform and the Disadvantage Funding model will depend entirely on whether the Treasury treats this as a genuine investment or just a re-shuffling of the deck chairs.

By scrapping the EBacc and reworking Progress 8, the government is effectively admitting that a “one-size-fits-all” academic jacket was becoming a bit too tight for many pupils. Here is a breakdown of the specific aspects you highlighted:

1. The Progress 8 & Attainment 8 Reset

The decision to scrap the English Baccalaureate as a performance measure is a watershed moment. For years, the “EBacc bucket” was criticised for squeezing out the arts and vocational subjects.

• The Transition: The DfE proposes replacing the EBacc constraint with an Academic Breadth measure. This is expected to give equal weighting to creative subjects and the humanities, finally letting the arts out of the performance penalty box.
• A Tailored Measure: The new measure for children who start secondary school significantly behind is perhaps the most empathetic part of the reform. It acknowledges that a child’s progress shouldn’t just be a high-stakes race from a baseline they never reached; it allows schools to be recognised for the massive value they add to pupils following non-standard or supported curricula.
• Deadline: As you noted, the consultation on these metrics is live until 4 May 2026. This is a critical window for school leaders to ensure the new Academic Breadth doesn’t just become another version of the same old buckets.

2. The Enrichment Framework: From Extra to Essential

Moving enrichment from the periphery into the Ofsted inspection toolkit is a bold move. It changes the status of school plays, sports, and civic projects from nice-to-haves to accountability-haves.

• The Benchmark: The framework will set national standards for what a good offer looks like (covering arts, culture, nature, sport, and life skills).
• The Challenge: While this is a win for the whole child, it places a new burden on school budgets. To help, the government has announced a £22.5 million Enrichment Entitlement fund to support the 400 most disadvantaged schools in meeting these new benchmarks.

3. Disadvantage Funding: The Winners and Losers Risk

The shift away from binary Free School Meal (FSM) eligibility toward a more nuanced household income-based model is an attempt to catch the “hidden poor”—families who are just above the threshold but still struggling in the current economic climate.

• The Caution: I share the ASCL’s caution regarding the new funding model. Better targeting for our most vulnerable pupils is the right goal, but I agree with Pepe Di’Iasio that this shouldn’t be a ‘zero-sum game’. If the DfE isn’t putting new money on the table, they are effectively creating winners and losers, which will inevitably lead to financial instability for many schools. We need to see an increase in the total spend, not just a redistribution of the same budget
• The Policy Gap: The white paper commits to halving the disadvantage gap within a generation, but without a massive injection of fresh core funding beyond the specific SEND and teacher training pots, the redistributive model remains a point of high anxiety for the sector.

Other Big Picture Hits from the Paper

• Workforce Boost: A plan to recruit 6,500 additional expert teachers and a doubling of maternity pay (to 8 weeks full pay) to stem the retention crisis.
• SEND Experts at Hand: A £1.8 billion service providing schools with direct access to specialists (speech therapists, psychologists) without the need to fight for an EHCP first.
• Inclusion Bases: Every secondary school will be expected to host a dedicated inclusion base to support the Every Child Included mission.

Ultimately, this white paper marks a bold shift from a rigid, data‑driven culture to a more human, inclusive system. It replaces the old academic straitjacket with a tailored approach that treats the arts, enrichment, and specialist support as essentials rather than luxuries. But for this to be a true watershed moment — not just a reshuffling of deck chairs — the vision must be matched by sustainable new funding, ensuring that better targeting for our most vulnerable pupils does not destabilise the schools that serve them.