Inclusive Mainstream Education

Published: September 26th, 2025

My last blog focused on the policy, in my granddaughter’s Lancashire high school, of teaching some lessons in mixed ability classes. I ended that blog with the plea – ‘let’s not separate children unnecessarily.’ The latest (2025) SEND Inquiry Report further stresses the need for inclusive mainstream education, as did the previous report of 2019. After many years of poor outcomes for children with SEND, the situation has still not improved. Something must be done. 

So my key question: what is Inclusive Mainstream Education (IME), and how can this ideal be fully achieved in every school? From this IME perspective, we might also ask – how can all schools be judged ‘good’ by OFSTED? Whilst educationalists and many parents feel that the inquiry report’s focus: that of strengthening inclusion for the benefit of all, parents do not want to see SEND legal entitlements diluted and made even more inaccessible and stressful. So both IME and legal support systems (EHCPs) must be made to operate more compatibly. 

So how might we define IME? Does this mean educating as many children as possible in mainstream? Yes. Does it also mean enabling all children to succeed according to their potential? Definitely. Does it imply more use of mixed ability teaching? Maybe? 

My last blog explored ‘mixed abilities’ as basically three groups of learners; SEND/below average, average and able.  But this three part classroom arrangement can only be a starting point for detailed lesson planning. We can never place children in boxes. Thirty children in any classroom means thirty individuals: each one needing to learn differently.

Is there any answer to this dilemma? Yes – there has to be. And government, working with parents and young people themselves, must seek to find these answers. Whilst cost and finances remain important, teaching that addresses multiple needs is not all about money. As a starting point, teachers and TAs must be better trained in the strategies that enable less able learners to achieve. Every classroom must have a TA, working in close partnership with the teacher. With regard to the National Curriculum, might there also be more flexibility? Does Shakespeare always have to feature? Might maths be made more practical for some learners? Is algebra accessible for every child? 

My final point – Parents, with its capital P. For many years, the positive role of parents in education has gone unrecognised. Schools have been missing out on a huge resource that could have raised achievement, lowered behaviour issues and reduced exclusions and absenteeism. School and parental partnerships are the way forward. The more parents know about what their child is learning, the more they can help. 

Diversity is surely the key word in 2025. For every child to succeed – differences must be recognised – with staffing effectively and efficiently organised to address every child’s need. 

Inclusive Mainstream Education. Let’s make it work! 

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