RISE

Next year schools will be supported regionally by groups of civil servants and advisers known as Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) teams.

The Department for Education has confirmed that the teams will be informed by the new Ofsted report cards due to be in use after September 2025. Based on the findings of Ofsted report cards, schools will be placed into one of three categories:

• Schools with minimal issues requiring universal support
• Schools requiring support with one or several issues needing targeted support
• Schools requiring intervention.

The RISE teams will play a role in supporting schools in the first two categories.

Minimal issues: For schools with minimal issues, RISE teams will develop a set of local area priorities, including in areas such as attendance and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). They will then signpost schools to hubs and leading schools, to help promote the sharing of good practice and support in these areas.

Targeted support: For schools requiring more targeted support, the role of RISE teams will be to commission help from a supporting organisation with a strong track record of improvement. This supporting organisation could be a trust, a local authority or another local partner. Matt Stevenson, deputy director for the South West, is reported in Tes as saying: “We certainly are envisaging that a lot of – not all of it – but a lot of the support that’s offered to schools through targeted support will be provided by multi-academy trusts.” The supporting organisation will create a support package for the school and commission wider support where needed. It is believed that the supporting organisation will receive funding to help with providing support.

Intervention: For schools needing intervention, there will be no role for RISE teams.  These schools will move into strong trusts, with delivery teams in the Regions Group  ensuring that this intervention happens.