The Department for Education’s new Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) teams have started working with 32 “stuck schools” with the “most urgent” need for improvement.
In a media briefing on the school improvement plans this week, the DfE said the programme is set to expand from April, when 50 new advisers will be appointed to join the 20 announced last week.
There are currently around 400 stuck schools that will receive intervention through the RISE programme, but more are expected to be added to the DfE’s list once Ofsted’s new report cards are up and running.
‘Urgent’ need for school improvement
The government has launched a consultation on its plans for RISE teams, which runs until the end of April. It proposes that the teams carry out mandatory intervention for stuck schools.
Stuck schools are defined as those graded by Ofsted as “requires improvement” at their most recent inspection and below “good” at the previous inspection.
From next September, schools that Ofsted has judged as requiring significant improvement will also receive RISE support.
The DfE said this week that the urgency of the programme is “critical” and that the schools in question have waited far too long for support.
It said that, once RISE teams had engaged with stuck schools, discussions about an improvement plan would happen “within a matter of a few weeks”. This would identify the right support organisation and confirm which resources are needed, officials said.
The DfE expects the vast majority of stuck schools to have improvement plans in place by March 2026, but said there may be some that have only recently been added to the programme at this point.
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.
To be eligible for RISE team intervention, schools also need to have had no change of structure since their last inspection.
There are more than 600 schools meeting the current Ofsted criteria for stuck schools, but around 200 of these have had a structural intervention since their last inspection, meaning RISE teams are currently aiming to work with a stock of around 400 schools.
The 32 schools being prioritised
The DfE said the first 32 stuck schools being prioritised are those that were lacking a good plan towards a structural intervention as of the end of 2024.
Tes has asked the DfE for the list of the 32 schools and for more information on exactly how they were prioritised. The DfE has said it is not naming these schools.
The DfE is planning to move to a new definition of stuck schools once Ofsted introduces a new inspection framework with report cards from November this year.
These reports will not give schools an overall effectiveness grade but will rate schools on a five-point scale across eight to 10 areas.
The new definition of stuck schools will be those that Ofsted rates as “attention needed” for leadership and governance, and that were graded below “good” - or equivalent - at their previous inspection.
Avoiding conflicts of interest
RISE advisers will start discussions with the responsible body for a school on the areas that are most in need of improvement, before putting together a bespoke improvement plan with areas for priority, action and improvement.
They will also agree which provider will help to deliver support.
DfE officials said this provider will be based on wherever “the best capacity sits” and could be a multi-academy trust, a DfE-funded hub or a local authority.
The DfE said it will be able to use the indicators of quality and inclusive education that it has already developed for trusts to help to identify the right support.
Officials have also pointed to Ofsted’s plan to create a new “exemplary” top grade for the sub-judgements that it gives to schools. Those schools identified as being “exemplary” in a particular area could be used to help with bespoke interventions in other schools, the DfE suggested.
The DfE said that having a wide team of advisers available will allow it to avoid conflicts of interest arising when it comes to choosing who will provide support for schools.
£20m funding with more to come
The government last week announced that it would spend £20 million on RISE teams. The DfE has now clarified that this covers 2025-26, but indicated that funding is expected to continue beyond this date, given that introducing regional improvement teams was one of Labour’s key manifesto pledges.
As Tes reported last week, the advisers will have the flexibility to be able to work in different regions.
The DfE said each of the RISE advisers will have a lead region but that “within the constraints of geography and reasonable working, we will absolutely be looking to use that cohort flexibly”.
DfE will ensure schools engage
The DfE said that it will always intend to work in partnership with the responsible bodies for schools that receive RISE team support.
However, it said in its consultation document that it may use intervention powers to ensure that there is engagement with RISE teams and the interventions they have arranged.
The DfE added: “The RISE adviser’s job, ultimately, is to make a recommendation and decide on behalf of the secretary of state the right support for the school and the responsible body.”
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