The Department for Education has today published the new Enrichment Framework, with an ambition to expose young people to a wide range of experiences helping them prepare for life and work.

The Framework aims to support enrichment across five themes:

• Civic engagement
• Arts and culture
• Nature, outdoors and adventure
• Sport and physical activities
• Developing wider life and future skills

Increasing access to enrichment opportunities is linked with a range of positive outcomes including developing key skills, growing confidence, resilience and agency, improving school belonging and academic attainment, supporting wellbeing and social cohesion.

The new Enrichment Framework sets out eight benchmarks against which schools and colleges can evaluate their own provision, using this to make improvements. The benchmarks are as follows:

1. A strategically aligned enrichment offer. Enrichment is underpinned by a school’s strategic vision and aligned with its wider priorities.
2. A broad and well-rounded enrichment offer. Pupils and students can access a number of diverse activities that are purposeful and fun.
3. A well-communicated enrichment offer that celebrates participation and achievement. This includes giving timely, accessible and clear information on activities, expectations and how to access it.
4. An enrichment offer shaped by the school or college community. Enrichment offerings reflect the context of each school and have a strong focus on student voice and choice.
5. An accessible and engaging enrichment offer. Opportunities are available to all students, and considers any additional needs for young people with SEND, care-experienced children and young people, and other groups with barriers to participation.
6. An enrichment offer that works in partnership. Activities are supported or delivered by high-quality external partners, in addition to internally developed activities.
7. An outcomes-focused enrichment offer. Clear student outcomes are identified and tracked over time, including school engagement, physical and mental wellbeing, and essential skills development.
8. A continually improving enrichment offer. Robust mechanisms are in place to evaluate and improve the quality and impact of enrichment activities, including by seeking feedback from different groups.

Sitting alongside the Enrichment Framework – which can be accessed in full here – are case studies, demonstrating how schools are delivering against the different benchmarks and providing insight for other schools to borrow from.

To coincide with the introduction of the new Enrichment Framework, the Department for Education has published additional materials including a self-assessment tool, action planning tool for schools, and signposting support available from relevant organisations, including the Youth Sport Trust.

The Government plans to introduce leading figures as ambassadors for each of these themes, to raise awareness and inspire participation. Ofsted will consider a school’s enrichment offer as part of the personal development theme, with parents able to use new school profiles to see their local school’s provision and opportunities.

Alongside the release of the new Enrichment Framework, the Government has also announced an Every Child Can programme, funded though the dormant assets scheme. It will support the delivery of new activity programmes across the same five enrichment themes, through schools, community programmes, weekend activities and holiday provision. Further information on the programme will be provided in due course.

Commenting on the announcement, Ali Oliver MBE, Youth Sport Trust CEO said: "We are excited to see the launch of the new Enrichment Framework, which has the potential to open up high-quality opportunities for more young people.

“We know participation in extra-curricular sport and other enrichment activities can have a significant impact for young people on their attendance, wellbeing, sense of school belonging, as well as supporting the development of key life skills. However, many pupils including those eligible for free school meals, those with SEND, and those with lower prior attainment are significantly less likely to participate in sports, arts, music and hobby clubs.

“By prioritising and making these opportunities more accessible, we hope this will help schools see the resulting benefits across all aspects of school life, while ensuring every young person has the chance to experience the positive impact of enrichment."

Meanwhile, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has published a new Social Connection Framework, which follows research showing this generation of young people is the most connected and yet most isolated generation in history. This Framework aims to raise awareness of the impact of isolation and loneliness and identifies some boys and young men are particularly at risk. It provides guidance to those working with boys and young men on how to identify and support those who need it most.

Within the guidance are risk factors to help practitioners identify loneliness or isolation in boys and young men, as well as suggestions for how programmes or sessions might be designed or adapted to provide effective support. In addition, the Framework highlights the impact successful approaches can have, including our Boys Move programme.

Boys Move is a professional development programme designed to equip educators with the principles of how to use sport and play to address the mental health and behaviour issues of adolescent boys, improve their wellbeing, and engage them with school. 74% of Boys Move participants report an increased sense of belonging and feeling more connected to others and 66% report experiencing fewer behavioural incidents as a result of improved emotional regulation, having learned to recognise personal triggers like anger and anxiety. You can find out more about Boys Move and its impact here.

Speaking after the release of the new Social Connection Frame, Youth Sport Trust's Head of Wellbeing, Chris Wright, said:

"The DCMS Social Connection Framework shines a crucial light on a modern paradox: our young people are more digitally connected than ever, yet they face unprecedented levels of isolation. At Youth Sport Trust, we know that boys and young men are particularly vulnerable to this hidden loneliness and likely to have poor mental health and social skills.

"By using the power of sport and play, we aren't just improving physical health; we are supporting social connection and building authentic communities. When nearly three-quarters of our Boys Move participants report a stronger sense of belonging, it proves that when we design physical activity with purpose through trusted adults, we can bridge the isolation gap and help boys feel truly connected."