Designing for inclusion: how the DfE’s £740m fund is reshaping schools
In a bid to overhaul mainstream school settings to embed SEND support through universal design, the Department for Education has set up a framework that centres on an Inclusive Mainstream Fund, backed by a £740 million investment.
The government previously revealed its intention to increase the number of inclusion bases and adaptations for school sites to ensure that more children with SEND can learn in a local mainstream setting, now confirmed by the recent white paper. The DfE’s framework proves that inclusive design is not the enemy of exceptional aesthetics.
This forces interior designers and architects to design spaces that are quieter, more intuitive, and fundamentally more human. Schools must produce and publish an explicit inclusion strategy by 31 December. The paper claims that it intends to support schools in building “calm and inclusive learning environments” and that it will take our education system into the 2030s and beyond.
Redefining the classroom layout
Specifically, how is the DfE redefining inclusive design in the classroom? There are three main structural layouts planned: inclusion bases (dedicated physical spaces inside mainstream buildings designed for intensive one-to-one or small-group specialist intervention); zoned social spaces (large-scale dining halls and common areas featuring distinct quiet seating zones positioned entirely away from high-traffic thoroughfares); and predictable layouts.
The DfE’s latest wave of inclusive design guidelines is completely re-engineering the relationship between school infrastructure and neurodiversity. For decades, inclusive interior design in education was treated as a peripheral compliance checklist – a ramp here, an automated door there. However, guidance treats environmental architecture as a core pillar of universal design, using interiors, furniture, and wayfinding to dismantle barriers to learning before they can manifest.
For the design community, this marks a monumental shift from standard, one-size-fits-all spaces to highly dynamic, empathetic, and intuitive learning landscapes. For example, navigating a chaotic, high-density school corridor is often a primary trigger for sensory dysregulation in neurodivergent or visually impaired students.
Among the plans, the DfE is phasing out standard, rigid rows of identical wooden desks in favour of an ergonomic, highly modular “kit of parts”. Modern inclusive classroom furniture must offer students agency over how their bodies interact with the environment.
Furthermore, classrooms integrate active seating options, such as wobble stools and integrated sensory rocking chairs, which satisfy a student’s vestibular system without causing learning disruptions. Group workstations leverage modular, organic geometry that allows classrooms to be rapidly reconfigured from collaborative clusters into private, individual desks shielded by acoustic privacy panels. Furniture layouts explicitly accommodate varied heights, physical capabilities, and assistive technical devices seamlessly, avoiding any sense of segregated or special needs.
Acoustics and micro-environments are no longer invisible design elements; they are now treated as critical architectural constraints that eliminate background reverberation that can distort speech or overwhelm sensitive sensory systems.
Importantly, the takeaway for designers is that if the learning environment negatively impacts pupils, expectations and standards of behaviour will not be consistent and high, which the government fears is still the case for many children.
Rejecting the ‘institutional cell’
A big hitter in the education design sector, Brookhouse, became involved with the project. Both Sam Wilkinson, junior technical designer, and Catherine Cornwall, project designer, explain that they aim to successfully reject the clinical “institutional cell” look while satisfying strict school maintenance requirements.
“Many schools come to us with a strict budget, and we see now that clients want something less artificial and opt to mix in boards with a faux wood finish,” Cornwall says. “A favourite as of recently has been wood effect surfaces which resemble a modern wood veneer and have a subtle texture to mimic the wood grains. They are soft to the touch and look very appealing in situ.”
A crucial component of the plan is to ensure that agencies consider solving visual overstimulation. Wilkinson adds, “The subtle eggshell texture found on most finishes helps to reduce the glare of lights. For schools with more strict requirements, LRVs [light reflectance values] are compared for each material to ensure high contrast and muted colours are chosen to reduce the overall brightness.
“When schools have the funding, we also recommend acoustic ceiling panels. Similar to traditional suspended ceilings, they offer more design interest while helping to reduce overall noise and light reflection.”
Including feedback from neurodivergent or non-verbal pupils is an important part of the process, but how to capture their perspectives accurately? Unfortunately, this is a challenge, as Wilkinson explains, “We rely largely on the comments of staff who work closely with SEN students. Very occasionally we get students themselves involved in the design process, and it’s always incredible what kind of things matter to them.
“A positive we are seeing is a rise in less conventional learning spaces like mobile tables and height-adjustable workstations. Some schools are shifting towards these really open-plan activities like robotics and want spaces that can adapt, and I’ve done some fun things with moving tables and trolleys that chain together and arrange in different ways.”
With the clock ticking on the December deadline for schools to publish their Inclusive Mainstream Fund allocations, designers need to flag this urgency to their clients. Cornwall advises, “We always say just get the designs decided on as early as possible. If you know what you want, it makes the process so much smoother. We often have clients going back and forth for a long time, and sometimes we get a client with a clear vision, and it just goes so much smoother.”
Holistic universal design
Inclusion rooms – previously known as isolation – were just that: something that resembled a prison cell, making students feel they were being punished and shoved into a disparate room rather than an environment to reflect and inspire. A common pitfall for schools is spending their entire allowance on a single, isolated “sensory room”. So how do designers convince risk-averse headteachers to distribute funding across a holistic, campus-wide universal design strategy?
“SEN provision benefits all students,” Cornwall says, “not just those who it is specifically designed for! We are seeing so many clients loving layouts designed for SEN and then wanting them implemented elsewhere in the schools because of how much the spaces are improved over the more traditional rooms. A space that is quieter and less bright is much more calming to students; a space that is adaptable can be used by multiple departments for a range of specialist activities.”
If the government’s strategy outlines the core principle of designing for difference as the default, when it comes to wall art, how do design agencies approach the blank canvas of a new inclusion base to bridge the disparity between reducing sensory overload while remaining emotionally engaging for neurodivergent pupils?
Design for Education mainly focuses on internal and external signage and wall displays. Jonathan Williams, director of the agency, explains, “I think the biggest mistake people make is assuming that an inclusive space must be completely plain or completely full of sensory features. The reality is somewhere in the middle.
“When we’re designing these spaces, we’re thinking about how it feels as much as how it looks. We want pupils to walk in and feel calm, comfortable and safe. That means avoiding lots of visual clutter, giving the eye places to rest and using graphics that have a purpose rather than just filling empty walls.”
The engaging and eye-catching wall art that Design for Education carries out ranges from nature-inspired work through to graffiti-style wall art. “This works well because it’s engaging without being overwhelming, and we always think about how the graphics can help pupils find their way around or understand how the space is used,” Williams says. “We sometimes create different zones depending on how the space is used, so we might have a sensory circuit outside classrooms where children need to regulate their behaviour, a calming zone and a more inspirational zone.”
To avoid creating a safe space without infantilising older students, Williams continues, “We don’t want a space to feel clinical, but equally we don’t want it to be so busy that it’s distracting. We tend to use calmer colour palettes with natural tones and introduce brighter colours only where there’s a reason to. The same goes for typography; we keep it clean, simple and easy to read.
“One important thing is making sure older students don’t feel like they’re in a primary classroom. SEND spaces shouldn’t feel childish. They should feel welcoming and age-appropriate while still supporting the pupils who use them. This can be done by using images or graphics that incorporate older children.”
Future-proofing and belonging
One of the huge problems facing students today is mental health. Williams takes this into account, stating, “Some of the coping strategies that we include, such as ‘growth mindset vs fixed mindset’ and ‘the power of yet’, are useful for all students. We also try to make sure inclusion bases don’t feel disconnected from the rest of the school. The design language should flow through the whole building, so pupils feel like they’re part of one school community.”
Collaborating with the diverse group of staff involved in the design process – such as senior leaders, teachers, SENCOs, support staff and, most importantly, students – to generate wall art concepts that are truly representative helps designers understand what schools are trying to achieve. Williams adds, “Every school is different, so we spend a lot of time listening before we start designing.”
Moreover, the 10-year revitalisation plan aims to transform the education estate into a climate-resilient, future-proofed environment. Because schools are making a significant investment, graphics must last. Williams says, “We use commercial-grade materials that can cope with the knocks and scrapes of everyday school life, but we also try to create designs that won’t look dated in a few years’ time. We want to create spaces that schools can continue using as their pupils and teaching evolve. A lot of our work includes natural themes because they’re timeless and help create a calm environment.”
Sarah Logan, director of Next Steps Education – an alternative provision – says of her and her partner Dr Liz Fancourt, “Liz and I come from a design view and from an emotional level. We designed Next Steps so that there were places for shy students, nervous students, those who want to stand out (highchairs), those who feel unsafe at school (Home Room), those who want to be ‘held’ and safe (The Snug). It comes down to the spaces we created, the materials that we used and the way we present the rooms.
“We also thought about giving students ‘ownership’ of the space to promote belonging. We recognised that a lot of our students come to Next Steps when others are not there, so from a student point of view, our Home Rooms could look very empty and transient. The art on the walls and the student comments is about giving presence and ownership to them. We’ve had students design the garden and even build raised beds as a maths challenge. It’s all part of giving them a sense of belonging and knowing a part of them is here at our centre. It helps students feel valued.
“The language we use to describe the centre and rooms was considered to promote inclusion too. Our centre is named ‘The Home Rooms’ because a lot of our students have Emotionally Based School Non-Attendance and was designed to provide a bridge between a home and a learning environment. Older students like to use this room when they first join us. Again, it says, ‘I’m safe’ and ‘we are not a school’. The names of the rooms – The Snug, The Garden Room, The Home Room, The Coterie – were also created to give a sense of belonging, safety and positivity.
“The non-verbal cue is that students are at the same level as us. There’s no ‘us and them’. If we support students to feel comfortable, then the right pace of learning will be easier. That’s the fundamental principle of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and that’s often overlooked in real-life settings.”
If these essential needs demonstrate how human actions are driven, should they not extend to a place where we spend the formative years of our lives?
Crucially, these should be incorporated into the DfE accessibility and inclusive design manual to ensure pupils are supported to become more balanced individuals. Not only has the number of SEN students doubled since 2016, but these needs create vital building blocks. Finally, the government is waking up and realising that if we offer inspirational design within schools, these students will feel less excluded as they become the majority, not the minority.