Commit Striova to your Inclusive Mainstream Fund strategy
Every mainstream school receiving the Inclusive Mainstream Fund publishes an inclusion strategy by 31 December 2026, setting out the activities it will fund and what each costs. Schools can commit Striova to that strategy as the way they deliver two activities: working in partnership with families of pupils with additional needs, and a consistent graduated approach.
- Inclusion strategy published on the school website
- by 31 December 2026, then every year
- IMF allocation must be used
- by 31 March 2028
Two activities
Where Striova sits in your strategy
The fund pays for activities under the seven principles of inclusion. Striova is how a school delivers two of them — each written here in the terms of DfE's inclusion strategy template.
Working in partnership with families of pupils with additional needs
Principle 6 — strong partnerships with families and wider services · Targeted
Families of pupils on SEN support, or where needs are emerging, receive a place on the Striova family app, given out by the SENCO. Families keep their own record at home and choose, item by item, what to share with school; the school asks for each family's views before every review, and can share its own record of support back with the family.
Evidence the school can cite: DfE's IMF best-practice guide, on schools working in partnership with families to support children; principle 6 names it.
A consistent graduated approach, from the moment needs emerge
Principle 2 — evidence-based support prioritising early intervention · Universal
The SENCO portal holds the school's SEN register, assess–plan–do–review cycles with targets and costed provision, the review dates and reminders, observations from teachers by secure link, and the EHC annual review documents — for every pupil on the register, whether or not their family uses Striova.
Evidence the school can cite: SEND Code of Practice 6.44 (the four-part graduated approach); DfE's IMF best-practice guide on support as soon as needs emerge, with or without a formal assessment.
The bundle
One agreement: the portal, and places for your families
- The school licence for the SENCO portal, for one year
- A block of Striova Pro places for families, given out by the SENCO from Your school → Striova licences
- A remote start-up session for the SENCO and key staff, and a short information session for families
- A completed activity description for your strategy, in the DfE template's terms
- The inclusion strategy figures from the portal at the end of the year, under the template's headings
| Places for families | 25 | 50 | 100 | 200 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price per place | £40 | £36 | £32 | £28 |
| Primary schoollicence £900 + places | £1,900 | £2,700 | £4,100 | £6,500 |
| Secondary schoollicence £2,400 + places | £3,400 | £4,200 | £5,600 | £8,000 |
Prices are a year, excluding VAT. A school's business manager confirms how VAT is recovered. More places can be added during the year at the block's price per place, for the months remaining. A multi-academy trust agrees one contract across its academies; each academy chooses its own block, because each publishes its own strategy.
Whether Striova fits your strategy is your school's decision: the Department for Education approves no product, and the school answers for how it uses the fund. We describe what the bundle contains; your strategy sets the outcomes you want and how you will measure them.
Places for families
A place belongs to the family
- A place gives the school no access to the family's account, their child's record or anything they write. A family shares with school only what they choose, item by item.
- A place never depends on the family connecting to the school or sharing anything.
- The school sees only whether a place was accepted. A place returns to the school when its pupil leaves, or when an invitation lapses after 30 days.
- A place lasts until the end of the agreement. A family whose place ends keeps their record, on the free plan.
New spend
What the fund can and cannot pay for
The fund cannot pay for activity a school already funds. A school already paying for Striova can fund what is new — the family places, or a whole-school roll-out — but should not move an existing licence onto the fund.
For your strategy
The wording, ready to adapt
A row for the template's “Activity in this academic year” table — shown for a primary school with 25 places. We send you the one for your school with the agreement.
| Description of activity | Activity type | Total budgeted cost |
|---|---|---|
| Working in partnership with families, and a consistent graduated approach (principles 6 and 2): a school licence for the Striova SENCO portal and 25 places on the Striova family app for families of pupils on SEN support or with emerging needs, given out by the SENCO. Families keep their own record and choose what to share; the school asks for family views before each review. Evidence: DfE IMF best-practice guide (family partnership; support as soon as needs emerge); SEND Code of Practice 6.44. Barriers: [the school's barrier numbers]. | Targeted (family places) and universal (the graduated approach across the register) | £1,900 a year + VAT |
At the end of the year the portal prints your inclusion strategy figures under the template's own headings — counts of the register, provision and its cost, reviews, and family partnership — for the review of the year. The figures name no pupil and rate no child.
Talk to us about your strategy
Tell us your phase and how many families you would like to offer a place, and we will send the agreement and the wording for your strategy.
Sources, all DfE on gov.uk: Developing an inclusion strategy using the inclusive mainstream fund, Inclusive mainstream fund: best practice for schools, Inclusive mainstream fund for schools: conditions of grant 2026 to 2027, and the Inclusion strategy template. General information, not advice about any school's grant conditions. See also our guide to what the Inclusive Mainstream Fund requires and the other SEND guides for SENCOs.