Ambition Institute has just published its NEW Inclusive Teaching Framework, designed for teacher educators, that sets out essential knowledge that teachers require in order to understand and meet a wider range of pupils’ needs in mainstream classrooms.

Ambition say: "Around half the school workforce have benefitted from initial teacher training, the early career entitlement, and national professional qualifications. These ‘golden thread’ programmes, shaped by our collaboration, have helped teachers and school leaders across the country build strong, evidence-informed foundations for effective and inclusive teaching. 

Many of you have told us there is a need to build on these foundations: teachers and leaders want access to additional knowledge to meet the increasingly wide range of needs in their classrooms. The Inclusive Teaching Framework was developed in response to conversations with partners starting back in 2024. 

Now, the government’s 2026 Schools White Paper and SEND consultation underlines the importance of this work. It sets out a clear intention for more children to be educated in mainstream schools, and introduces new training on inclusion and special educational needs and disabilities to support this goal."  

What’s in the Inclusive Teaching Framework 

The Inclusive Teaching Framework is designed for teacher educators. It sets out the essential knowledge that teachers require in order to understand and meet a wider range of pupils’ needs in mainstream classrooms. The framework: 

• Shares key insights in five areas of child development – speech and language, sensory, motor, executive function, and social and emotional development 

• Draws on the best available evidence from a range of specialist fields 

• Builds on ideas many teachers will have encountered through national professional development programmes or other evidence-led resources, so it’s accessible and relevant to teachers’ experience 

• Is the result of close partnership with specialists, including the National Association of Principal Educational Psychologists, Speech and Language UK, The Difference and The Royal College of Occupational Therapists.

The framework is a starting point for those who lead the professional development of teachers in mainstream schools. Leaders across schools, colleges, trusts, local authorities and teaching school hubs can use it to, for example, establish a shared language around inclusive teaching, identify knowledge gaps, and procure or design training to fill those gaps. 

Find the framework here.