The EEF Schools’ Guide to Implementation highlights three behaviours for effective, lasting change: Engage, Unite and Reflect. At its core, the guidance stresses the importance of building a shared understanding, uniting staff and stakeholders behind a clear purpose and embedding routines for reflection and continuous improvement.
Pupil Premium funding exists to help schools close the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers. But this funding only has real impact when it’s used strategically – rooted in evidence and reinforced by collective effort.
Our ‘UNITE’ framework offers a structured, whole-school approach to engaging all members of the school community — staff, families, governors and parents — around the mission of equity. By grounding implementation in shared values and ongoing learning, UNITE puts the EEF’s guidance into action in a way that is both practical and sustainable.
What are the different elements of ‘UNITE’ and how to use them
U: Understand the barriers
Begin with a thorough exploration of the challenges disadvantaged pupils face in your context. These may include academic, emotional, behavioural and environmental barriers, such as limited access to resources, unstable routines or poor health and wellbeing. Avoid generalisations by diagnosing the specific needs of your pupils — what’s true in one setting may not be in another. A precise understanding helps ensure support is well targeted and meaningful.
- Use multiple sources of evidence — internal data, pupil voice, family feedback and local insight — to deepen understanding.
- Reflect critically on assumptions and biases to sharpen the accuracy of your diagnosis.
N: Nurture the culture
Cultivate a shared belief that every pupil can succeed, regardless of background. This requires emotionally intelligent leadership, storytelling and clear communication to ensure everyone feels aligned in purpose and part of a meaningful mission.
- Promote a shared belief that all pupils can achieve great outcomes.
- Lead with moral purpose, aligning the school’s values and vision with inclusive practice.
- Use stories, assemblies, staff meetings and community events to consistently model and reinforce a culture where these values are lived, not laminated.
- Celebrate diversity and challenge stigma in both internal and external communications.
I: Intelligent use of evidence
Select strategies that are right for your setting and feasible to implement. Help all stakeholders — including teaching assistants, governors, and parents — understand what the strategies are, why they’ve been chosen, and what high-quality implementation looks like.
- Select strategies with strong evidence of impact that match your school’s context.
- Build staff and community understanding of why selected approaches work and what high-quality implementation looks like.
- Avoid quick fixes — prioritise approaches with lasting benefit.
T: Teach and support consistently
Prioritise high-quality teaching as the most powerful lever for closing the disadvantage gap. Unite staff through a shared pedagogical vision and invest in training that supports consistent, inclusive classroom practice.
- Prioritise high-quality, inclusive teaching across the school.
- Invest in staff Development and coaching to ensure consistent classroom practice.
- Ensure targeted academic support and wider strategies (like attendance, wellbeing, family outreach) align with teaching priorities.
- Engage parents and carers through workshops, regular communication and practical guidance to support implementation and learning at home
E: Evaluate and sustain
Foster a culture of continuous improvement. Involve staff, families and community partners in reviewing what’s working, what’s not and what could be refined. Sustained progress relies on regular reflection, shared ownership of outcomes and a willingness to adapt.
- Monitor implementation carefully — are the strategies being enacted as intended
- Involve staff, families and pupils in reviewing progress and refining the approach.
- Embed effective practices into school systems so they outlast individual staff members.
Everyone in the school community — teachers, support staff, leaders, parents, carers, governors and community partners — has a role in tackling disadvantage. When we ‘UNITE’ around this goal, we create the conditions where all pupils — not just some — can achieve and thrive.
Read the EEF’s Guide to the Pupil Premium, online here.