Louise Brown has been a parliamentary candidate, is a teacher, and Director of Educational Partnerships. She is a broadcaster on local radio.
In today’s complex educational landscape, fostering meaningful, sustainable partnerships between schools across sectors is not just desirable—it is essential.
The School Partnerships Alliance (SPA), a charity I had the privilege of attending a conference with recently, is dedicated to facilitating cross-sector relationships. SPA aims to create a more collaborative and effective education system for all children, regardless of their background. By researching, enabling, and promoting such partnerships, SPA ensures that schools can work together for the benefit of the next generation.
SPA is driven by a clear and compelling vision: to unlock the potential of cross-sector collaboration within the national education system. The charity works to break down barriers, encouraging schools to share resources, expertise, and best practices. At its core, SPA believes that strategic partnerships should serve as a vehicle for school improvement—sustainable, impactful, and mutually beneficial.
The focus of SPA’s work goes beyond mere goodwill or charity; it’s about creating meaningful, strategic collaborations with a long-lasting, positive impact. These partnerships can take many forms—from sharing teaching resources and professional development opportunities to joint extracurricular activities and collaborative research projects. The goal is to create an environment where schools can learn from one another, share strengths, and address weaknesses.
As Marcus Shepherd, Education Director at E-ACT, highlighted at the conference, disparities exist not only between independent and state schools but also within the state sector itself. Partnerships, therefore, can help address these internal disparities, ensuring that all schools—regardless of their sector—benefit from shared expertise and resources.
One of the most important aspects of SPA’s work is its focus on supporting disadvantaged pupils. Disadvantage is measured using several criteria, including postcode against a deprivation index, whether a pupil is a first-generation university applicant, housing status (e.g., owned, rented, or social housing), household income, eligibility for Pupil Premium (PP) or Free School Meals (FSM), and whether a child is a Looked After Child or a young carer. While there are other factors to consider, these indicators are widely accepted as reliable measures of disadvantage.
SPA’s partnership programmes have reached thousands of disadvantaged children across the country. Some schools have even implemented initiatives supporting over 1,000 disadvantaged pupils, with more than 100 of their own involved. The impact of these programmes is increasingly clear—not only in terms of academic progress, the sharing of specialist teachers being a key aspect of this, but also in the development of vital soft skills.
For example, students engaged in cross-sector partnerships have opportunities to participate in shared activities and mentoring. This is particularly powerful when older pupils mentor younger students in primary schools. Students involved in these initiatives report that they are able to share their passions, act as role models, and develop essential life skills such as leadership, teamwork, and communication. These partnerships not only create effective learners but also compassionate and confident individuals with a broader perspective.
Objective data supports the success of these initiatives. Schools have shown that students who participated in SPA’s programmes consistently score 1-2 grades higher in Progress 8 compared to their peers who were not involved. Additionally, university mentoring programmes have raised aspirations, with students gaining valuable insights into higher education and career pathways, which helps build their confidence and ambition.
There is growing evidence that these partnerships also positively impact students’ well-being. Some schools have implemented initiatives that focus not just on academic achievement but also on social and emotional development. For example, peer mentoring schemes and well-being programmes, in which students have mentors from both sectors, have been shown to improve engagement, boost self-esteem, and even address attendance issues.
These initiatives foster not only academic excellence but also the broader development of students as well-rounded individuals—well-prepared for the challenges of life beyond school.
Despite the clear successes of these programmes, a policy shift away from supporting them comes just as the DfE outlined its 2024 priorities for Pupil Premium funding.
These priorities focus on high-quality teaching in core subjects, targeted tutoring, and improving attendance. Many of the DfE’s current Pupil Premium priorities—such as enhancing teaching methods, providing targeted academic support, and improving student engagement—are already being addressed by SPA’s partnership programmes.
Through collaborative efforts, schools in both the independent and state sectors are working together to improve teaching, provide academic support, and enhance the overall educational experience for disadvantaged pupils. Moreover, the impact of these programmes extends beyond academic achievement to address students’ well-being, life skills, and social and cultural capital.
A growing body of quantitative evidence now underscores the long-term benefits of these collaborations. These partnerships are helping to level the playing field, boosting social mobility, and equipping young people with the essential life skills that will serve them well throughout their careers and personal lives. Research shows that these partnerships not only support academic achievement but also foster greater well-being, helping students develop resilience, confidence, and the mindset needed to succeed in the modern world.
If we are serious about addressing the root causes of educational inequality, we must look beyond traditional state-run solutions, and the reliance on policies that stoke division and envy, rather than fostering unity and progress, and embrace the untapped potential of cross-sector collaboration.
By fostering these collaborations, we can ensure that all children—regardless of background—have the opportunity to succeed. It’s time for bold action.
Let’s make cross-sector partnerships a central part of the educational agenda.
