The New Enrichment Benchmarks: What Schools Need to Know Before September 2026
Enrichment has historically been treated as an “add-on” to education.
It is the club that runs after the important lessons have finished. The trip that takes place if there is enough money left in the budget. The activity that enthusiastic members of staff somehow find time to organise alongside their normal workload.
The government’s new Enrichment Framework takes a different position.
Published by the Department for Education in June 2026, the framework sets out eight national benchmarks against which schools and colleges can assess their enrichment provision. From September 2026, Ofsted’s inspection toolkit will also take account of the framework when considering enrichment as part of personal development.
What Is the New Enrichment Framework?
The Enrichment Framework is non-statutory guidance for schools and colleges in England. Its purpose is to help education providers plan, deliver, monitor and improve their enrichment offer. Although the guidance itself is non-statutory, its relationship with inspection makes it difficult to dismiss.
Ofsted has confirmed that its state-funded school inspection guidance will refer to enrichment “having regard to the Enrichment Framework” from September 2026.
Schools will not necessarily be expected to deliver enrichment in exactly the same way. A small rural primary school will have different resources from a large London secondary school. However, every school should now be able to explain the structure, purpose, accessibility and impact of its provision.
The Five Areas Every Enrichment Offer Should Cover
Every pupil should have access to activities across five categories:
Civic engagement
Arts and culture
Nature, outdoor and adventure
Sport and physical activity
Wider life and future skills
The framework also states that enrichment should take place regularly throughout the year, with at least some provision available during the school or college day. This could include lunchtime clubs, timetabled enrichment or activities incorporated into the curriculum.
This is important.
An annual sports day, one theatre trip and a small number of after-school clubs are unlikely to represent a complete enrichment strategy.
Schools are instead being encouraged to create a wider entitlement through which every child can encounter different experiences during their education.
The Eight New Enrichment Benchmarks
1. Enrichment Must Be Strategically Aligned
A strong enrichment offer should support the school’s wider priorities.
This could include:
attendance
attainment
behaviour
wellbeing
careers education
curriculum development
personal development
The offer should have the support of senior leaders and governors, with clear responsibility for its implementation and monitoring. Where appropriate, enrichment should also appear within the school development plan.
In practical terms, schools should be able to explain why each part of their offer exists.
A strength-training programme, for example, should not exist simply because equipment and a coach are available. It could be designed to improve physical confidence, introduce pupils to a new form of exercise, develop technical skills, support wellbeing or engage pupils who do not identify with traditional team sports.
The activity matters. But the purpose behind it matters too.
2. The Offer Must Be Broad and Well-Rounded
Schools must provide more than one type of opportunity.
A school with a strong football programme but little access to the arts, civic participation, outdoor experiences or life skills would not yet meet the spirit of the framework.
Pupils should encounter multiple and varied activities that are purposeful and enjoyable, and which can contribute to a thriving childhood and successful transition into adulthood.
This does not mean every school must run hundreds of clubs.
It means schools should examine their offer as a whole and identify where entire categories of experience may be missing.
3. Opportunities Must Be Communicated and Achievement Celebrated
A good activity has little value if pupils do not know it exists, families do not understand how to access it or the same confident group of children always secures the available places.
Schools should provide clear and timely information about:
what is available
who can participate
what participation involves
when activities take place
how pupils can join
The framework also asks schools to communicate high expectations for participation and to recognise both achievement and involvement.
Celebration does not need to mean rewarding only the best performer.
Schools could recognise attendance, commitment, improvement, leadership, teamwork, courage or the willingness to try something unfamiliar.
4. Pupils Should Help Shape the Offer
Enrichment should not be designed entirely on behalf of pupils without asking them what they need, enjoy or want to experience.
The fourth benchmark places pupil voice and choice at the centre of planning. Schools should also consider feedback from parents and staff, while creating appropriate opportunities for pupil leadership.
This does not mean that pupils dictate every activity.
Children can only request opportunities they already know exist. Part of good enrichment is exposing them to activities they may never previously have considered.
The strongest approach is therefore a combination of pupil voice and informed leadership: listening to pupils while continuing to broaden their horizons.
5. Enrichment Must Be Accessible
Having an activity on the timetable is not the same as making it accessible.
Schools are expected to consider the barriers faced by disadvantaged pupils, pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, young carers, care-experienced children and pupils who are persistently absent. They should monitor participation and take action when particular groups are missing out.
Common barriers may include:
cost
transport
timing
confidence
clothing or equipment
cultural concerns
disability access
limited awareness
fear of joining an unfamiliar group
A school may discover that it offers a large number of activities while participation remains concentrated among pupils who already have the most opportunities outside school.
Under the new framework, the number of clubs is less meaningful without knowing who actually attends them.
6. Schools Should Work With External Partners
Schools are not expected to possess all the staff, expertise, equipment and facilities required to deliver a complete enrichment offer internally.
The framework actively encourages partnerships with sports clubs, enrichment providers, charities, cultural organisations, employers, museums, colleges, universities and community groups.
This is a positive development.
A qualified external coach, for example, may be able to introduce pupils to resistance training, weightlifting, martial arts, dance or another specialist activity that the school could not safely or confidently deliver alone.
7. Enrichment Must Be Focused on Outcomes
The seventh benchmark may represent the largest shift in how some schools approach enrichment.
Schools should identify what they want pupils to gain and then monitor whether those outcomes are being achieved.
Possible outcomes include:
improved school engagement
greater belonging
physical and mental wellbeing
social and emotional development
essential skills
community engagement
educational progression
The framework does not prescribe one universal measurement system. Schools are expected to use methods appropriate to their context.
This could involve participation records, pupil surveys, skill assessments, attendance data, behaviour data, interviews, focus groups or structured reflections.
8. The Offer Must Continually Improve
Enrichment should not remain unchanged simply because “we have always done it this way”.
Schools should gather feedback from pupils, parents, staff and external providers. They should regularly review the quality of activities, participation among groups at risk of missing out, the balance between free and paid opportunities, and progress towards the intended outcomes.
An activity with low attendance is not necessarily a bad activity.
It may be poorly timed, badly communicated or unintentionally inaccessible. Equally, a popular activity is not automatically effective if it is failing to produce its intended outcomes.
The purpose of evaluation is not simply to remove programmes. It is to understand how they can be improved..
How Open Gym Supports School Enrichment
Open Gym works with schools to deliver inclusive, coach-led strength and physical activity programmes.
Our sessions can be adapted to pupils’ age, experience, needs and available facilities. Programmes can also be designed around clear outcomes such as physical confidence, movement skills, participation, wellbeing, teamwork and engagement with exercise.
For schools reviewing their sport and physical activity provision against the new enrichment benchmarks, visit the Open Gym School Enrichment Programme page or contact info@opengym.uk.
