Inclusive Mainstream Fund

£400 million is in mainstream school budgets for 2026-27, no application needed.
WhimsyLabs is the kind of provision this fund was written for: accessible virtual labs that give every pupil full practical science, with the participation evidence your inclusion strategy needs, on the devices you already own.

🎁 FREE Demo Access
📝 Inclusion Strategy Support
💰 Formula-Allocated Funding
Get Strategy SupportWhat You GetDoes My School Qualify?

The Money Arrives Automatically. The Strategy Does Not.

The Inclusive Mainstream Fund gives mainstream schools in England £400 million in 2026-27, the first instalment of £1.6 billion over three years announced in the Schools White Paper. Allocations are formula-driven, so there is no bid to write. The obligation runs the other way: from December 2026, every school must publish an inclusion strategy showing how it removes predictable barriers to learning, and the spending has to make that strategy true.

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Already Allocated

£400m to mainstream schools in 2026-27, formula-allocated alongside your core budget. No application, no bidding round.

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Strategy Due December

Every school publishes an inclusion strategy from December 2026, and is held accountable against it.

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Science Is a Named Barrier

Physical, sensory and equipment barriers in practical science are exactly the "predictable barriers" the fund tells schools to remove.

What WhimsyLabs Provides

We help you turn an IMF spend line into inclusive practical science that evidences itself, with free demo access and inclusion strategy support to get you started.

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FREE Support for Schools

  • Free Demo Access: Try the full WhimsyLabs platform before you commit a penny
  • Strategy Wording: Adaptable text for the practical science section of your inclusion strategy
  • Inclusive by Design: Every pupil performs the full practical themselves in our virtual labs, with no diagnosis-gated adaptations
  • Early Support Signals: WhimsyCat flags struggle and disengagement to the teacher from pupil actions, on the day
  • Participation Evidence: Per-pupil practical participation and progress records, by pupil group
  • Browser & VR-Capable: Runs on the Chromebooks and PCs you already own
  • Teacher Onboarding: Help getting your science team up and running
  • Ongoing Support: Help throughout the year, including inspection preparation
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Your IMF Allocation Can Cover

  • Evidence-informed provision that removes predictable barriers to learning
  • Universal, whole-school approaches rather than pupil-by-pupil bolt-ons
  • Early support delivered without waiting for diagnosis or statutory process
  • Resources and software that strengthen inclusive universal practice
  • Staff development that embeds inclusive teaching in subjects

💡 Tip: A whole-school WhimsyLabs subscription is a small fraction of a typical allocation, serves every pupil rather than a handful, and generates the participation evidence your December strategy commits to.

Inclusion Strategy Support Included

The strategy document is the accountability mechanism. We make the practical science section easy to write and easy to defend.

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Strategy Wording

Adaptable text for the DfE template: the barrier named, the universal provision, and the evidence measure, ready for your December publication.

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Evidence Pack

Research summaries on accessible practical science and SEND engagement, ready to drop into your strategy's evidence base.

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Ofsted Alignment

How the provision maps to the September 2026 inclusion toolkit: all four pupil groups, owned at subject level, evidenced per pupil.

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Provision Design

Where simulated practicals sit alongside your hands-on programme so that every pupil does every practical, every time.

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Strategy Review

We'll review the practical science section of your draft strategy and suggest improvements before you publish.

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Demo Access

Free demo of WhimsyLabs so your SENCO and science lead can see exactly what pupils will experience before any spend is committed.

The 2026-27 Timeline

The fund, the new Ofsted toolkit, and the strategy deadline all land this school year. Contact us early in the autumn term to have provision and evidence in place before December.

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Allocations in Budgets

From 2026-27

Published allocations, no application needed

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Ofsted Inclusion Toolkit

September 2026

Inclusion inspected subject by subject

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Inclusion Strategies Published

From December 2026

→ Contact us in September/October

Does Your School Qualify?

If you are a mainstream school in England, the short answer is yes. Here's the quick checklist:

✅ Your School Receives IMF If:

  • You're a local authority maintained mainstream school, academy or free school in England
  • Separate funding streams cover 16 to 19 providers (£83m) and early years (£47m)
  • Allocations arrive by formula, published on GOV.UK alongside conditions of grant
  • Spending decisions sit with your leaders, governors and trustees

🔬 WhimsyLabs = Fundable Inclusive Practice

  • Inclusive by design: every pupil performs full practicals, no adapted side-versions
  • Early support without diagnosis: struggle is spotted from pupil actions and flagged to the teacher
  • Evidence generates itself: participation and progress records by pupil group
  • No capital spend: runs on the devices in your cupboard

Get Strategy Support From WhimsyLabs

Planning your IMF spend or drafting your inclusion strategy? Register your interest and we'll send your demo access and strategy support materials within 48 hours.

Spend It Where the Barriers Are

The schools that get the IMF right will pick named, predictable barriers and remove them completely. Practical science is one of the clearest candidates in the building, and the evidence writes itself. Read our full guide to spending the Inclusive Mainstream Fund on practical science.

Partner With WhimsyLabsOfficial GOV.UK Fund Page