The Department for Education has introduced the Inclusive Mainstream Fund (IMF) to help schools across England develop their inclusive provision. While different settings may have slightly different priorities, the IMF funding gives schools an opportunity to invest in improvements that help remove barriers to learning, improve accessibility, and create an inclusive school environment by design, helping every pupil to thrive. Now, you're probably wondering how you'll actually be able to use this funding. In this blog, we’ll briefly explain what the Inclusive Mainstream Fund actually is, which settings are eligible, and provide guidance about the many different ways schools can use the funding, from creating dedicated SEND spaces and nurture rooms to full inclusion bases.
The Inclusive Mainstream Fund (IMF) is a Department for Education grant available to eligible mainstream schools in England for the 2026-2027 financial year. It is designed to help schools and academies remove barriers to learning and participation, improve their accessibility and ensure inclusive practice across the whole school. This funding should be used alongside core budget allocations to strengthen inclusion.
According to the DfE, the inclusive mainstream fund will fund the following mainstream school providers (for the 5-16 year old range in England):
- Primary, secondary, middle and all-through maintained schools
- Primary, secondary, middle and all-through academies and free schools
- City technology colleges
In terms of criteria, there are no pupil-level criteria for the funding. It is allocated at setting-level, and it is up to your setting to decide how to allocate the funding after assessing the needs of your cohort and reviewing what is needed to effectively remove barriers to learning and create accessible, inclusive environments by design.
The Department for Education encourages schools to invest in improvements that support their 7 key areas of inclusive practice:
Ambitious leadership and long-term planning for inclusion
Early intervention and targeted support for children and young people with SEND
High-quality teaching that meets a wide range of learning needs
Enriching, accessible opportunities beyond the classroom
A positive school culture that promotes belonging, wellbeing and attendance
Strong partnerships with families and external professionals
More inclusive, accessible learning environments that reduce barriers to learning
How schools choose to make use of their funding will depend on their individual needs and priorities. However, since DfE aims are about creating inclusive school environments by design long-term, many settings are finding that creating dedicated spaces is one of the most practical, impactful ways to deliver these seven principles.
From SEND provision and nurture rooms through to intervention bases and flexible learning environments, these spaces can make a significant difference to how inclusion works in practice, immediately removing one of the most common barriers to learning - not having the right environment.
We know from working with SENCOs across the UK that, with growing numbers of pupils with SEND, mainstream schools have long been struggling to find the dedicated space needed to deliver quality and consistent SEND support. While school staff do an incredible job of making existing spaces work, it's never ideal for pupils to be receiving SEND support in a borrowed library area, hallway or staff room. Most mainstream schools were not originally designed for the level of SEND provision required today.
Using your funding to create dedicated SEND space provides somewhere that pupils can receive one-to-one or small group support, assessments, interventions and specialist teaching. It establishes a proper environment for support, a space that's inclusive by design.
Nationwide, we've seen a move towards mainstream schools creating onsite inclusion bases and inclusion hubs in order to strengthen their provision. These hubs provide a safe space for pupils to receive targeted support, helping them to thrive among their peers an stay a part of the school community. Throughout the week, the same building might be used for interventions, ELSA sessions, meetings with parents, multi-agency appointments, pastoral support and small group teaching.
This joined-up approach can really benefit pupils by giving them one space to access for all support services, from their morning transitions to an accessible space when they need to regulate away from the classroom. It can also make life easier for staff by keeping resources in one place, improving communication between different support teams, and reducing the time spent setting up and moving between rooms within the main school building.
Check out our inclusion hub case study video!
Nurture and wellbeing support is an important part of providing an inclusive, accessible education. Whether pupils are experiencing anxiety or depression or struggling with things at home, having access to a calm space where they can receive the support they need can make a huge difference to their wellbeing and ability to engage with teaching and learning.
Unfortunately, many schools are trying their best to deliver nurture and wellbeing support in offices and borrowed classrooms, meaning provision often has to move around the school depending on availability, more often than not being provided in areas unsuitable for pastoral conversations. That's why the inclusive mainstream schools funding is a good opportunity to invest in a dedicated nurture hub.
We design, manufacture and install nurture hubs to meet the needs of your cohort and school setting. These spaces give schools a welcoming, consistent environment for counselling, ELSA sessions, mental health support and more. They really help schools to create a school environment that's inclusive by design, ensuring pupils have access to the right support in the right environment when they need it.
Since one of the key points of the funding is providing accessible, enriching opportunities beyond the traditional classroom, a lot of schools have been in contact with us to discuss enhancing their provision with an accessible outdoor learning cabin. This is because our log cabins create reliable, year-round learning bases where pupils can step out of the traditional classroom and into nature, enjoying hands on learning opportunities.
A good example to take a look at would be Springfield Schools' accessible forest school cabin. Fitted with a central BBQ grill unit, the cabin allows pupils to experience fire in a safe environment, creating enrichment opportunities beyond the classroom like cooking, bushcraft and forest learning activities. Importantly, we designed the cabin to be wheelchair accessible, ensuring all pupils could access outdoor learning.
Inclusion managers and SENCOs regularly approach us about our sensory rooms and regulation spaces. Despite the huge benefits they can offer pupils, many schools simply don't have space for a sensory room within the main school building, and those that have previously carved out a small corner, nook or cupboard for sensory use are now finding that the space isn't fit for use or suitable to support a much larger volume of pupils who could benefit from sensory and regulation activities as part of an accessible, inclusive school environment.
Using your inclusion funding to invest in a modular sensory room or regulation space will give your pupils somewhere they feel safe and supported. Since our sensory spaces are fully bespoke, designed in collaboration with our partners at Sensory Technology, your sensory room can be tailored to the needs of your cohort. Your space may include comfortable seating, a ball pit, soft play and or a wide range of sensory equipment and exploratory resources.
Of course, sensory rooms aren't just beneficial for pupils with SEND. They're incredibly useful for all pupils, such as for supporting children with anxiety or any temporary challenges which may be affecting the child's ability to engage in their learning. At Oakridge School, they use their sensory room creatively to incorporate cross-curricular links to enrich students' learning. This includes using the sensory room for PSHE, using the colour monsters and linking them to emotions. Their sensory room is beneficial for the whole school, and it's a valuable part of everyday school life.
Some mainstream schools are looking to make learning more inclusive by offering vocational programmes and opportunities, such as skill-building and work-based learning for practical, hands-on experiences onsite at school. For many pupils, this style of working is much more accessible than traditional classroom-based lessons. They can build their confidence and independence as well as develop employability skills in an environment that actually feels engaging and geared towards their style of learning.
We work with schools to create specialist workshop spaces which break down barriers to learning. One example is Alfreton Park School, where we helped them to create a dedicated cycle workshop. It's now a fully equipped vocational learning space where students learn to maintain and repair bicycles, build practical skills and work towards qualifications. It gives pupils a practical learning environment and a different way to engage, helping them to discover their strengths and prepare for adulthood, all the while strengthening the school's inclusive provision.
Every eligible setting will have slightly different priorities, so making the most of the funding will look different for different schools. However, we can say that having the right physical environment has an important role to play in making the Department for Education's seven principles of inclusion a reality. From creating dedicated space for early intervention to establishing an inclusion hub which will benefit the whole school community, we help schools to create the inclusive spaces they need to help their pupils thrive.
If you're exploring how the funding could be used at your school, we'd love to help! Get in touch to discuss your project, or download your free digital pricing guide to browse our full range of buildings with pricing.
References:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-mainstream-fund-2026-to-2027/inclusive-mainstream-fund-for-schools-methodology-2026-to-2027
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-mainstream-fund-2026-to-2027/inclusive-mainstream-fund-for-schools-methodology-2026-to-2027#permitted-use-of-funding