Innovation Pilot 2026-27
The problem.
The disadvantage gap remains stubbornly wide.
Pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds fall further behind at every stage of education - with gaps reaching nearly 19 months by age 16.
Persistent absence and low parental engagement are two of the biggest drivers of this gap.
NSN’s Innovation Pilot Programme 2026-27 invited proposals that improve attendance or strengthen parental engagement in education, with the aim of improving outcomes for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Expressions of Interest are now closed.
Thank you to everyone who submitted an Expression of Interest to NSN’s Innovation Pilot Programme.
We were delighted by the strong level of interest and the quality of applications received. It is clear that there is a real appetite across the education sector to test new approaches to improving outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.
We have invited a small number of applicants to progress to the next stage and develop full proposals. These will be assessed ahead of final funding decisions, which will be announced this summer.
We look forward to sharing more about the selected pilots in due course.