The Difference & Impetus

Part of the Engage Fund: a partnership with The Henry Smith Charity

Impetus’ experience and strategic insight, on aspects of our operational delivery and in supporting the leadership of our organisation, are already seeing us become a stronger charity and more potent force for change on the issue of exclusion.

– Kiran Gill, CEO, The Difference

The need: Since 2013 there has been a 40% rise in the number of pupils permanently excluded from school. We know pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds are four times as likely to get a permanent exclusion than their better-off peers.

Our charity partner: The Difference finds and trains tomorrow’s inclusive school leaders, working with pupil referral units and mainstream schools to reach thousands of young people across the country. They also identify inclusive best practice, share this across the education sector, and raise awareness of the challenges surrounding exclusion with key policymakers.

Our impact: With The Henry Smith Charity, we’ve partnered to provide The Difference with £360,000 to support their ambitions to get stronger, better and bigger. We’ll help them to complete their four-year pilot, testing a radical approach that will change the way we educate students at-risk of exclusion. In 2021 60% of school leaders on The Difference’s leadership programme progressed to a senior leadership position in a mainstream school with responsibility for inclusion.