New accountability regime: RISE, ‘stuck’ schools and profiles explained

Hundreds of ‘stuck’ schools will get up to £100,000 specialist support, it has been announced, as government sets out its new intervention regime.

A consultation has been launched today on school accountability reform, to run alongside Ofsted’s proposal to overhaul inspection with report cards.

Describing “stuck schools” as the “new front in the fight against low expectations”, education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “I will not accept a system that is content for some to sink, even while others soar.  

“The opportunity to succeed must be the right of every child. We simply can’t allow stuck schools to disappear off the radar.”  

Here’s your trusty Schools Week explainer of all you need to know …

1. Automatic academisation still for ‘special measures’ schools …

Ofsted will continue to identify schools in a category of concern: either ‘special measures’ or ‘requires significant improvement’ (the latter is to be renamed from the current ‘serious weaknesses’).

Despite repealing a ‘duty’ to academise such schools as part of its schools bill reforms, Labour said the “default intervention” for both maintained and academy schools put in ‘special measures’ “should be structural intervention”.

In such a case, a maintained school would become an academy and an academy would be forced to join a “new and strong trust”.

The consultation states this is the “best way to secure the necessary improvement”.

New regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) teams will also engage with those “in a category of concern to ensure that improvement starts immediately”.

2. … but those ‘requiring significant improvement’ to get mandatory RISE support

Schools rated ‘requires significant improvement’ will continue to academise, with RISE teams supporting “through the transition”.

But from September 2026, government plans to instead provide such schools with “mandatory targeted intervention”.

RISE teams would deliver “a bespoke package of challenge and support to target areas of weakness identified in Ofsted report cards, instead of moving directly to structural change”.

In such cases, Ofsted plans to conduct five monitoring visits “within 18 months, unless the issues have been resolved earlier”. A full inspection will then take place if it is still causing concern.

Rebrokerages or academy orders will “be the default if the necessary improvements have not been made”. Government will “also be ready, where necessary, to use other intervention powers in parallel”.

Government said they expect the number of schools facing intervention will double compared to current numbers.

3. ‘Stuck’ schools are back! (and will get £20m for support)

From this month, RISE teams will deliver “targeted intervention” to the more than 600 ‘stuck’ schools, educating more than 300,000 pupils.

Stuck schools are defined as those graded ‘requires improvement’ at their most recent inspection and also graded below ‘good’ at their previous one.

Government said they “need to do more to speed up improvement in these schools”.

Stuck schools were a thing a few years ago under Ofsted, and more recently called ‘coasting’ under the Conservative government, but the intervention was scrapped.

A £20 million pot has been set aside for support, with up to £100,000 in help available initially for each school. It suggests support will be varied, as the funding averages £33,000 per ‘stuck’ school.

This compares to the £6,000 provided through the previous trust and school improvement offer, government said.

When Ofsted report cards are introduced, the definition of a ‘stuck’ school will be updated to:

• Those that receive “an ‘attention needed’ rating against ‘leadership and governance’”, having been given a grade of “below ‘good’ – or equivalent – at their previous” inspection

If the school hasn’t “achieved new secure ratings… in all areas within two years, the default will be to move to structural intervention”, which means they will either be academised or rebrokered.

4. RISE teams will also ‘engage’ schools with ‘concerning pupil attainment’  

The work doesn’t end there for RISE teams.

It was previously revealed that schools will be split into “three tiers” – based on Ofsted’s new report cards – for RISE improvement support: universal help, targeted support, and intervention. 

Today, government has also revealed plans for teams to “engage” with schools – via their responsible bodies – where “there are concerning levels of pupil attainment, including large year-on-year declines”.

This is because Ofsted inspections are “periodic and some schools cannot wait until their next inspection to begin to receive help”.

However there is no further detail on this, nor when it might start.

5. Your governors might be sacked if you don’t follow RISE orders

Consultation documents also show the department, as a regulator, may use “its intervention powers to ensure engagement with RISE teams and the interventions they have arranged”.

For maintained schools, those could mean ordering their “governing body to enter into arrangements for the provision of advisory services, appointing additional governors and imposing an interim executive board, to help create the conditions for improvement”.

Phillipson will “publish detailed guidance” on how she will “exercise the power to intervene in schools” following the consultation.

6. 20 RISE advisers announced (and more to come)

The first 20 RISE advisers – school leaders with turnaround experience – have been named this morning. All but three have been seconded from academy trusts.

They will work alongside teams of civil servants.  

Schools Week revealed in November that this first batch of advisers would be handpicked by ministers. More will be selected through a formal recruitment process by April.

In advance of the launch of Ofsted report cards later this year, schools will be eligible for targeted support brokered by RISE teams if they fall into one of three categories:

• They were in line to be academised or rebrokered prior to the government’s decision to stop intervening in those with two or more below-good grades;
• Are considered a “stuck school” after two or more ‘requires improvement’ or below inspection ratings;
• If they “have not had a change of structure” since their last Ofsted visit

7. National Leaders of Education system axed

The consultation states that the RISE teams “will build upon and replace the National Leaders of Education (NLEs) programme which has delivered school-to-school support across the country” for several years.

NLEs will continue to help schools “until the end of their designations”.

They “may seek to work with the department as future RISE advisers or as part of high-quality organisations providing specialist support”.

The NLE system was only reformed a few years ago.

8. School profiles expected in 2025-26 academic year

Under the plans, the DfE will launch so-called school profiles. The new “digital service” will act as a “one-stop shop” for parents and professionals to view a “broad range of information” about a school.

It will feature information from inspection report cards, along with performance data, like exam results.

Officials will also “explore if it is helpful to allow easy comparisons, including between schools with similar characteristics, or in similar areas”. This could include school census figures.

The consultation states: “School profiles are an exciting opportunity. There are a range of options and possibilities for developing them, and there will be different views about what they should include.”

One option is whether to include information “from schools themselves such as its ethos or the breadth of, and pupil engagement in, curriculum enrichment activities”.

A “first version” of the profiles are expected to launch in the 2025-26 academic year, with further development expected based on “continuous user research”.