The regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) programme is a Department for Education (DfE) initiative which aims to break the link between young people’s backgrounds and their future success.
RISE teams will operate at 2 levels:
- providing bespoke targeted interventions to eligible schools
- being a universal service to all schools
How improved connectivity can help schools receiving targeted intervention
The schools receiving bespoke targeted interventions can apply for DfE funding to improve their internet and wifi network speed before the end of February 2026.
For leaders of schools in the RISE programme, improving network speed can help with operational improvement, school performance and strategy.
- Full access to digital improvement tools, enabling leaders to benchmark performance and identify priority areas with confidence.
- Support shared online planning and resource development. Reliable connectivity allows teachers within a school to collaboratively develop lesson plans, share successful intervention strategies, and build resource banks through cloud-based platforms.
- Improved support for SEND and inclusion. High-quality connectivity allows learners to use assistive techand access interventions. It also supports learners with communication difficulties to use digital devices.
- Better access to digital curriculum resources allowing teachers to incorporate video, virtual trips, simulations, and interactive whiteboards that can increase engagement and deepen understanding, particularly for visual learners.
- Enable real-time formative assessment and feedback. Reliable connectivity allows teachers to use digital assessment tools that provide instant checks on learner understanding, enabling adjustments to teaching during lessons.
Improved connectivity can also help RISE advisers
From the RISE advisers’ perspective, the benefits of improved connectivity in the schools they work with relate to delivering the targeted interventions, monitoring impact and facilitating collaboration.
- Timely and accurate school data through better access to learner data systems, enabling advisers to suggest specific interventions and monitor improvement effectively.
- Enhanced ability to conduct remote engagement, increasing opportunity for regular check-ins, coaching sessions and progress reviews.
- Reliable access to DfE’s digital benchmarking tools, allowing advisers to compare schools, identify patterns and share relevant best practice.
- Reduced resistance to change, as schools with better digital infrastructure can implement improvement recommendations more quickly.
Schools that are part of the RISE programme, and the RISE advisers working with them should make sure they don’t miss the opportunity to improve network connectivity with this DfE funding. The work must be completed and claimed by the end of February 2026.
