Creating an inclusive school culture that understands abilities and disadvantages

ANN McCARTHY, NACE, UK Despite attempts to make schools more inclusive, socio-economic disadvantage persists in negatively impacting attainment throughout young people’s education and beyond (Education Policy Institute, 2025). Too many students do not experience equitable opportunities to support either current success or mobility to educationally, socially and economically secure their futures. Barriers experienced throughout childhood and youth mean that many do not achieve as highly or widely as they otherwise could, leading to a diminished talent pool (Clare et al., 2025). The National Association for Able Children in Education (NACE) felt that it was imperative that this issue should be addressed. Our ‘making space for able learners’ initiative was launched in 2018 in response to a paucity of research-based evidence on which to build effective provision for the most able learners, who are often overlooked and underserved. The first report focused on developing an unders