When we sat down with the Prime Minister last year alongside our partners and Lewis, young people made one thing clear: inclusion cannot be an add-on.

The publication of Every Child Achieving and Thriving suggests that message has been heard.

We have long argued that inclusion and attainment are two sides of the same coin. Standards cannot rise if children are left behind. It is significant to see this principle reflected in the paper, particularly alongside its strong focus on attendance. With 32 million days of learning lost in 2023/24 — hitting disadvantaged pupils hardest — the government’s national attendance target rightly recognises that being in school is foundational to closing the gap.

Our Nothing Happens in Isolation campaign set out the case for action across four areas. The White Paper shows meaningful progress in each.

1. Embedding inclusion into accountability and the curriculum

The forthcoming Pupil Engagement Framework effectively functions as a national inclusion framework – one of our core recommendations. If backed by resource and clear delivery accountability, it could ensure inclusion is not optional, but expected.

We have also consistently called for a curriculum in which every student can see, feel and hear themselves reflected. The White Paper signals clear intent to strengthen belonging and representation through curriculum design so it speaks to all students.

2. Increasing personalised support for vulnerable learners

The stronger emphasis on embedding SEND provision within mainstream schools aligns closely with our call to equip schools to meet diverse needs earlier and more effectively. Expanded training, clearer expectations and earlier intervention represent important steps forward.

3. Building a more diverse and inclusive workforce

The government’s commitment to work with Mission 44 to diversify the teaching workforce is reinforced in the workforce plan, which places a more inclusive profession at the heart of its ambition to recruit 6,500 additional teachers. Representation matters, not only for fairness in the profession, but for belonging and aspiration in classrooms.

4. Tackling exclusion beyond the school gates

The White Paper recognises that improving outcomes requires action beyond school. Barriers to attendance and belonging often stem from wider challenges — mental health, housing instability, safeguarding concerns or unmet need. Stronger parent–school communication, clearer expectations around engagement, Best Start Family Hubs for early intervention, Families First Partnerships to support attendance, and deeper collaboration between schools, local authorities, safeguarding teams and police all reinforce the anchor role schools play within their communities.

Areas for focus as delivery moves forward

In many respects, the architecture for a more inclusive system is now in place. The next phase will be about ensuring it is implemented with ambition, clarity and consistency.

Attendance targets alone will not shift the dial. Recovering millions of lost school days will require sustained investment, practical support and early intervention for pupils already at risk of persistent absence. The Pupil Engagement Framework will be most effective if it is accompanied by dedicated resource and strong delivery accountability.

The proposed SEND reforms are promising. As the government takes them forward, a careful and considered approach will be vital, bringing parents, young people and the education sector with it so that children with additional needs are supported confidently and consistently, and no young person is left behind as the system evolves.

We would also encourage the government to embed youth voice at the heart of delivery. Young people should not only be consulted; they should actively shape the development and implementation of these reforms. This means capturing richer data on student experience — nationally and locally — including belonging, safety, engagement and wellbeing, alongside academic outcomes. It also means creating structured routes for young people to inform policy within the Department for Education itself, ensuring lived experience informs decision-making from design through to delivery.

Greater transparency would further strengthen accountability. Publishing consistent data on off-rolling, internal alternative provision and managed moves would support families and communities to understand how inclusion is working in practice, while helping the system learn and improve.

There is also an opportunity to go further on alternative provision. A clear national framework to raise quality and consistency, alongside a commitment to phase out poor-quality provision by the end of this Parliament, would ensure that inclusion extends to the settings serving some of the most vulnerable young people.

Finally, the commitment in the National Youth Strategy to ensure every young person has access to a trusted adult by 2035 is welcome. As reforms progress, there is an opportunity to align this ambition more closely with the Schools White Paper — particularly by ensuring that young people most at risk of exclusion can access sustained support from a trusted adult as part of joined-up prevention strategies across education, youth services and wider children’s services.

Despite the challenges ahead, the direction of travel is clear. The foundations for a more inclusive education system are being laid.

When we left our meeting with the Prime Minister last year, it felt like an opportunity to reset the system around inclusion. The publication of the White Paper shows that reset has begun.

Now comes the harder work: turning architecture into action to ensure that every child, in every classroom, feels the change.

Jason Arthur,
CEO, Mission 44