How the DfE plans to intervene in schools

The Department for Education has set out how its new regional improvement teams will intervene in underperforming schools this year and beyond.
The government’s aim is for Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) teams to work with 300 “stuck schools” this year.
It has appointed 20 advisers to start work on the programme and has today launched a consultation on how these teams will work in the future.
The move comes as Ofsted today launched its own consultation on a new framework to support it moving to school inspection report cards.
The watchdog has proposed moving to a five-point grading scale to judge schools across at least eight areas - with a separate “met” or “not met” judgement for safeguarding.
Here is everything you need to know about the DfE’s RISE announcement and consultation:
The RISE school improvement system
‘Stuck schools’
RISE teams will begin targeted intervention from this month at “stuck schools”, ahead of Ofsted moving to its report card system later this year.
“Stuck schools” are defined as those graded “requires improvement” at their most recent inspection, and below “good” at the inspection before this.
The DfE says there are more than 600 schools in this position.
Stuck schools eligible for RISE intervention will include those that were previously due to be academised or transferred to a new trust after 1 January 2025, as part of the previous government’s crackdown on coasting schools. This approach was scrapped under Labour.

To be eligible for intervention, schools also need to have had no change of structure since their last inspection.
At a launch event this morning, Sir Kevan Collins, the DfE’s lead non-executive director, said “the majority” of the 600 stuck schools are already academies.
Schools will be rebrokered if progress is not made through work with the RISE teams, he added.
An initial £20 million investment is going into RISE teams working with stuck schools.
Teams will draw up bespoke improvement plans with those schools, with the government making up to £100,000 available initially to each school for specialist support.
Definition of ‘stuck schools’ will change
The government is also planning to change the definition of stuck schools once Ofsted report cards are introduced. These cards will not give schools a single-word inspection judgement.
The new proposed definition includes schools that Ofsted rates as “attention needed” for leadership and governance, and that were graded below “good” - or equivalent - at their previous Ofsted inspection.
Schools requiring significant improvement
From September next year, the work of RISE teams will be expanded to some schools that Ofsted has placed in a “category of concern”.
Under Ofsted’s proposed new system, the lowest rating that inspectors can give a school in any individual area is “causing concern”.
If a school is rated as “causing concern” for leadership and governance, and has any other areas rated as “causing concern” - or is also failing on safeguarding - then it will be placed in special measures.
Schools where leadership is the only category “causing concern”, or where there are areas other than leadership rated as “causing concern but where leadership is not, will be classed as requiring significant improvement.
From September 2026, these schools will get targeted RISE support. Ofsted will monitor regularly and inspect the school after 18 months.
- Ofsted changes: Everything you need to know
- Interview: Sir Martyn Oliver defends report card plan
- RISE teams: First 20 advisers named
The DfE will academise the school or move it into a different trust if the necessary improvements have not been made at this point.
The DfE is proposing to continue academising or moving schools into a new trust if they are placed in special measures by Ofsted.
This is despite plans, under the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, to turn forced academisation for “failing” local authority schools into a discretionary - rather than mandatory -- power. The DfE said previously that this would open up a “broader range of levers to quickly drive up standards”.
However, at the launch event today, education secretary Bridget Phillipson told journalists: “I won’t flinch from, you know, converting failing schools into academies. It’s what I’ve done in my time as secretary of state, and there’s no change on that front.”
Intervening in declining schools
The DfE said it wants RISE teams to engage with schools where there are concerning drops in pupil attainment, including large year-on-year declines.
The department is asking whether people agree with RISE intervening on this basis, and what measure and approach the DfE should use for understanding if a school has had a sharp decline in results.
Replacing National Leaders of Education
The DfE said RISE teams will “build upon and replace the National Leaders of Education (NLEs)”.
The current NLEs will continue to support schools through the existing school improvement offer “until the end of their designations, and may seek to work with the department as future RISE advisers or as part of high-quality organisations providing specialist support”, the DfE said today.
Schools facing intervention set to double
The DfE expects that mandatory intervention, through both structural intervention and targeted RISE team intervention, will cover around twice the number of schools that are currently covered.
The government did not set out how many schools it expects to be involved with targeted RISE team intervention in total.
Role for schools rated ‘exemplary’
As previously announced, RISE teams will be expected to work across all schools providing a universal service, signposting to effective practice and bringing schools together to share knowledge and innovation.
Under Ofsted’s proposed new framework, the top rating for individual inspection areas is “exemplary”.
The DfE said this category will include schools that others can look towards to develop their own practice in particular areas.
RISE teams will draw from this as they signpost schools and trusts to the most effective practice and support all local schools to work together.
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