In 2023, we’ve seen the gaps between lower-income and wealthier children widen, while the cost-of-living crisis has bitten deeper and driven up levels of child poverty.

We’re proud of the work of the FEA members despite those challenging circumstances, and the outcomes they have achieved. As daunting as the current situation is, our members remained focused on making a difference every day. Over the past year, our 283 members directly supported more than four and a half million children and young people. They also served more than 700,000 individuals supporting children and young people, including parents, teachers, school leaders, and governors.

We are also proud of what our team has done to enable our members to break down silos, join voices and increase their impact.

Highlights from 2022-23

80% of members took part in at least one FEA activity in 2022-23. This ranged from attending our Annual Summit or a Collective Action Working Group, to judging our Award Winners.

Here are some of our collective achievements in 2022-23:

We shared a unified collective message about what we want for education in England and how we can achieve it

• We convened Collective Action meetings for members to debate policy, discuss emerging evidence and align on campaigns, which more than half of all members participated in. These discussions provided rich insights on members’ policy priorities and advocacy activity to make education fairer.

• Our members built consensus around specific policy issues which they then led action on, such as supporting tuition for low-income students and expanding free school meals.

• We represented the interests of low-income young people in front of government leaders and decision-makers, including at the 2022 Conservative Party Conference, on All-Party Parliamentary Groups and in our letter to influence the Spring Budget.

• We captured the unified message of the Alliance in our Fair Education Manifesto, which included four specific and ambitious policy asks to influence policy priorities ahead of the general election.

We increased connectivity and coordination across the education system

• We hosted over 360 education leaders including FEA members, sector stakeholders and early-stage innovators at our Annual Summit at the Battersea Arts Centre.

• We launched our new cohort of 13 Award Winners at our Awards Announcement with over 170 attendees, including funders, members, and youth leaders.

• We convened regular online Working Groups for sharing best practice, discussing sector updates, and building capacity, involving over half the organisations in the Alliance.

• We launched our membership tools (an ecosystem map and membership directory) which provided members with in-depth information about pupil outcomes and service delivery nationally, and highlighted valuable insights for policymakers and funders about the cold spots to target

We increased diversity of leadership in the education agenda

• The 25 members of the FEA Youth Steering Group shared their expertise and leadership in all areas of FEA work and led their own advocacy work, including:

  • Speaking at the 2022 Conservative Party Conference on the issue of mental health

  • Judging our Awards selection process

  • Presenting at FEA Trustee meetings

  • Submitting evidence to the Education Select Committee’s Ofsted inquiry

  • Calling for the expansion of free school meals

• We provided 1-1 bespoke support to 28 organisations to build their capacity for how they engage young people in their work.

• Our Award judges and Award Winners were diverse leaders from across the education sector.

We nurtured innovation and scaled impactful and innovative initiatives based on need

• 67 education leaders from outside the Alliance attended the Innovation and Scale Booster at the Annual Summit, joined by many members. The Booster provided 1-1 clinics and group skill-building workshops to the individuals from the public and our membership with ideas for tackling educational inequality.

• We selected six Innovation Award Winners and seven Scaling Award Winners through a competitive process from 79 total applications.

• We supported Innovation Award Winners to prepare for their pilots by aiding them to establish their Theory of Change and essential organisation components including their legal structures, financial models and safeguarding practices.

• We launched bespoke support for Scaling Award Winners, establishing personalised plans for each Award Winner. We also launched a small grants programme that distributed over £40,000 through six capacity building grants. These grants were paired with funding from the Award Winners to generate over £70,000 of investment in their initiatives.

We hope that this report inspires you with the power of working together!

Thank you to our funders, trustees, advisors, member organisations and Secretariat for your dedication to making this work possible and for your unwavering commitment to our system-wide approach to enable all children and young people to thrive.