Inclusive Mainstream Fund (IMF)
The conditions of grant and DfE's guidance for 2026 to 2027, summarised for SENCOs and school leaders, in DfE's own terms.
What is the Inclusive Mainstream Fund, and which schools receive it?
It is DfE grant funding of “over £500 million per financial year over the next 3 years” for inclusive practice in mainstream schools. The 2026 to 2027 conditions of grant cover mainstream maintained schools, academies, free schools and city technology colleges for the 5 to 16 age range, including reception. Schools receive one payment for the 2026 to 2027 financial year: local authorities are paid at the end of June, and academies in early July. New and growing schools receive their allocation later in the year.
What must the school publish, and by when?
An inclusion strategy statement for the 2026 to 2027 academic year, published on the school's website by 31 December 2026 and updated every year after that. It must include detail of the activities invested in to alleviate barriers to learning and participation, with their budgeted costs. DfE publishes a template; a school that does not use it must still cover the barriers identified across its cohort, the activities, the intended outcomes and a review of the previous academic year. A multi-year strategy is allowed if it is reviewed annually and says so on its cover page. Inside a multi-academy trust, each academy publishes its own.
What are the seven principles of inclusion?
Every activity the fund pays for must align with at least one of them. In the conditions of grant's own words: ambitious leadership and governance that embeds inclusion; evidence-based support prioritising early intervention; high-quality adaptive teaching with curriculum designed for all learners; enriching provision beyond the classroom that all children can access; a safe and respectful culture fostering belonging and attendance; strong partnerships with families and wider services; and inclusive environments with continuous improvements to accessibility.
What can the fund not be spent on?
The conditions of grant rule out five things: general school running costs or operational expenditure; subsidising spending on pre-existing activity; time for staff to undertake activities unrelated to inclusion; capital works; and any activity that does not align with at least one of the seven principles. DfE's guidance also says the fund is a supplement rather than the only source of funding — inclusive activity should still be funded from the school's core allocations, including the notional SEN budget.
How should a school choose what to fund?
DfE describes a five-step cycle, similar to the pupil premium strategy: understand the commonly occurring barriers to learning and participation in your cohort; use evidence to consider inclusive practice; develop the strategy; deliver and monitor it; then evaluate and sustain it. The approaches chosen must be evidence-informed. The guidance says to implement fewer approaches well, and recommends that in the first year most schools focus on a small number of impactful activities. It also says the picture of barriers should not be limited to the needs already on record, and should draw on classroom observation, assessment and engagement with families and pupils.
Can unspent money be carried forward?
Yes. Funding carried forward must be used by 31 March 2028, and it must be accounted for in the inclusion strategy statement for the academic year in which it is spent.
Who checks how the fund was used?
Schools must keep clear records of income and expenditure for the grant. DfE will review a sample of published strategy statements against the conditions of grant, and the strategies will be available to Ofsted inspectors to consider when evaluating inclusion. Schools may pool funding only where there is suitable financial governance to keep spending within the conditions, and each school must still publish its own strategy every year.
Where are the official documents?
On gov.uk: the Inclusive mainstream fund for schools: conditions of grant 2026 to 2027; Developing an inclusion strategy using the inclusive mainstream fund and the inclusion strategy template, both published under Inclusive mainstream fund: support for school leaders; and Inclusive mainstream fund: best practice for schools. Read the conditions of grant for anything that decides whether a particular cost is allowed — this page summarises them and is not a substitute.
Striova keeps a school's SEN register, its graduated-approach cycles and its costed provision in one place, and prints the support plan on Birmingham's, Warwickshire's or Coventry's layout, and under the Code's headings for every other authority.
General information about the SEND system in England, not legal advice, and not advice about provision for any individual pupil. Where a page names a regulation or a paragraph of the SEND Code of Practice, read it alongside the source.