Renewing our commitments to equality, diversity, and inclusion in education

Ambition Institute is one of 12 organisations to take part in this year’s statement, which is led by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) school leadership union. The statement highlights the work we have done in 2023/24 and sets out our EDI commitments for the coming academic year.

Hilary Spencer, chief executive at Ambition Institute, said: “Every child deserves a great education, regardless of their background or circumstances. We believe taking action to strengthen equality, diversity, and inclusion in education is crucial to achieving our mission and providing every child the best start in life.

“We are committed to developing a more equitable system for the education workforce, the pupils they teach, and within our own organisation, where everyone is included and feels a sense of belonging.

“We were pleased that our recent Ofsted inspection highlighted that “inclusive practices sit as core principles” across our programmes. We recognise that there is always more to do. We have updated our EDI Strategy for 2024-25 and look forward to making more progress over the coming year.”

In 2023/24, Ambition has:

• Designed and launched our NPQ for SENCOs programme, which will support school leaders to build inclusive cultures and develop high quality provision for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.
• Put diversity and inclusion at the core of recruitment and application processes for our new Initial Teacher Training programme, and within its programme design, to attract a diverse range of participants.
• Put our SEND specialists at the heart of designing our new Initial Teacher Training programme. This will ensure that our trainees learn to teach in a way that is inclusive of pupils with a wide range of learning needs, right from the start of their career, and that all children in their classrooms feel supported to succeed.
• Developed our ECF and NPQ programme materials with diversity, inclusion, and accessibility at the heart of our approach. 95% of NPQ participants now feel that we represent a diverse range of characteristics in our programme materials.
• Reviewed the eligibility criteria for all our programmes to ensure people from all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.
• Collaborated with Trusts and groups of schools to explore flexible working initiatives, to make sure that teaching is an increasingly inclusive profession.
• Trialled race equity training from Power the Fight and Class 13.
• Published our first report on the gender pay gap at Ambition, which we were pleased to report is 0.13% (median) and 0.62% (mean), compared to national averages of 14.9% and 14.3% respectively.
• Implemented a new anonymised recruitment platform, aiming to reduce unconscious bias from our hiring processes.
• Supported our staff affinity networks to deliver a range of initiatives, including creating spaces for colleagues with shared lived experiences, and raising awareness of different celebrations, experiences, and issues. Some recent initiatives include a series of blogs, Being Mixed Race, from our Race Equality Network, and events on maternal and child mental health from our Parents’ Network and the Mental Health and Wellbeing Network.

Over the course of 2024/2025 Ambition commits to:

• Standardise our approach to EDI across all our programmes, both in terms of programme materials and how the programmes are delivered by trainers.
• Update our contracts and quality assurance processes to clearly lay out the standards we expect from all our delivery partner organisations with regard to EDI.
• Review and introduce more ways to increase the representation of underrepresented groups at all phases of our teacher training and professional development programmes.
• Analyse retention, satisfaction, and outcomes by different participant groups (gender, ethnicity and disability status) across our ITT, ECF and NPQ programmes.
• Work with other lead providers, organisations, and schools to share insights and best practice on improving equality, inclusion and belonging.
• Seek partnerships with organisations that are specifically focussed on improving racial equality and inclusion for pupils with SEND.
• Continue to run our annual pay equity review.
• Review diversity in leadership positions at Ambition and explore options to increase the representation of underrepresented groups across the organisation.

Read the full statement here.