About us | NACE

About NACE

The National Association for Able Children in Education (NACE) is a charity, working with schools, education leaders and practitioners to improve provision for more able learners and increase challenge for all.

Our vision is that all young people, including the more able, can develop their abilities without limits – no matter what barriers to learning they may face and no matter what school they attend.

This vision can only be achieved when schools focus on identifying and meeting the needs of the most able learners – including those at risk of underachievement and disengagement – and on creating a whole-school culture and environment of “challenge for all”. Every child has the right to experience cognitive challenge, to discover and develop their abilities. This is key to inclusion, equity, and social justice.

We support schools to achieve this through:

Membership

Annual membership covers your whole school, supporting you to embed consistent, effective approaches to provision for the more able and challenge for all. Includes access to our members' resource library, live and recorded CPD webinars, networking opportunities and more.

CPD

Continuing professional development (CPD) for teachers and school leaders with a focus on high-quality provision for more able learners and challenge for all. This includes bespoke whole-school training, on-demand courses, live conferences, workshops and network groups.

Challenge Development Programme

Supporting school leaders in their ambition to ensure more able learners achieve their potential in the context of challenge for all. Founded on the NACE Challenge Framework, a well-established tool for whole-school review and improvement, with accompanying resources, consultancy and CPD available.

Our core principles

The education of more able learners is a whole-school endeavour
which should be embraced by school leaders at all levels.

Addressing the needs of more able learners can raise achievement
for a much wider group of learners in a school by increasing challenge for all.

Providing for more able learners is about creating a curriculum
which gives opportunities for all children to flourish.

Considering the needs of more able disadvantaged learners
is crucial to ensuring an inclusive and fair curriculum.

Ability can be revealed across a range of specific domains, or more generally,
and not only in traditional academic subjects.

An ethos and culture of high expectations and aspirations is integral
to any school providing for more able learners.

Teachers are central to providing challenging and enriching education,
and their professional development is paramount.

Ability is a fluid concept: it can be developed
through challenge, opportunity and self-belief.

Note on language:
We are aware that the language of “ability” can be problematic; read our discussion here.

Vision, mission and goals

2025
Impact Report

NACE research

Work with us:

We work with a diverse network of schools, trusts, partner organisations and funders, united by our shared vision and values.
To learn more about how you could get involved, please get in touch.

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About NACE

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