EEF publishes inclusive teaching guide as schools prepare inclusion strategies

The Education Endowment Foundation says strong classroom practice, careful adaptations and better monitoring should sit at the center of school inclusion plans.

A teacher supports a small group of pupils during a classroom intervention in a UK primary school setting.

The Education Endowment Foundation has published a new Guide to Inclusive Teaching to help mainstream primary and secondary schools in England develop evidence-led inclusion strategies before the end of 2026.

The guide, published on July 6, 2026, is aimed at school leaders, classroom teachers, SENCos, teaching assistants and wider school staff. It focuses on supporting pupils with additional needs, including pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, through everyday classroom practice and targeted support where needed.

The EEF says all schools are required to publish inclusion strategies by the end of this year. The new guide sets out a two-part model covering universal classroom approaches and adaptations or additional support for pupils who need them.

The guide places explicit instruction, effective feedback, scaffolding, positive teacher-pupil relationships and calm classroom environments at the center of inclusive teaching. It also warns that some well-intentioned adaptations can reduce challenge, lower expectations or make it harder for pupils to develop independence.

Alongside the guide, the EEF has released scenario-based professional development resources for teachers and school leaders, designed to support staff discussion and implementation.

Guide warns against over-adaptation

The EEF’s two-part model asks schools to examine what they do every day that is especially important for pupils with additional needs, and what adaptations or extra support may also be required.

The guide says the two parts should be treated as “complementary and overlapping, rather than sequential steps.” Strong universal provision is presented as the foundation, with adaptations and targeted support planned alongside whole-class teaching.

The EEF also challenges the assumption that more adaptation automatically leads to more learning. It says ineffective adaptations may hinder learning by oversimplifying tasks, reducing pupil thinking, making teachers create artificial task differences, lowering expectations or limiting independence.

Effective adaptations, according to the guide, are task-specific, informed by ongoing assessment, proportionate, timely and linked to whole-class planning. The EEF says adaptations should often increase the intensity of high-quality teaching, such as through more modelling, feedback or opportunities to practice, rather than changing the nature of the lesson.

Technology included in wider inclusion model

The guide includes digital technology as one possible form of support, but stops short of presenting technology as an automatic route to better inclusion.

The EEF says technology can make teaching more accessible, including through visualizers, speech-to-text tools and other classroom aids. It also notes that evidence includes examples of digital technology producing negative as well as positive outcomes.

The guide says schools considering technology should ask whether the support is appropriate and accessible, whether there is evidence for the approach, whether it enhances teaching and learning, how it links to wider classroom practice, and how implementation will be supported through training.

The same caution applies to targeted interventions. The EEF says small-group and one-to-one interventions can help pupils make progress, but should supplement rather than replace strong everyday teaching.

Schools given implementation resources

The EEF guide includes sections on implementing, monitoring and sustaining inclusive teaching, with a focus on setting a small number of priorities, supporting staff over time and checking whether adaptations and additional support are helping pupils learn.

Professor Becky Francis CBE, CEO of the Education Endowment Foundation, says: “With an increasing focus on inclusion, teachers and school leaders are looking for practical, evidence-informed guidance. Our guide is designed to help schools meet that need.

“Inclusive teaching is one of the most powerful ways to promote equity in education. As the guide shows, it is not a niche or SEND-specific concern, but a whole-school approach that benefits every pupil while helping those who need it most.”

The Guide to Inclusive Teaching and accompanying scenario-based training resources are now available to schools. The EEF says the materials are intended to help schools develop inclusion strategies and embed inclusive practice across mainstream primary and secondary classrooms before the end-of-year strategy deadline.