What is the Accelerator programme? 

The Accelerator is a year-long strategic partnership designed to embed a consistent, professional approach to essential skills from Key Stage Three through to Sixth Form.

By the end of the first year, you will have:

• Strategic leadership - a trained ‘Skills Leader’ equipped to drive and sustain school-wide change.
• A consistent standard - a shared language for essential skills across KS3, KS4, and Post-16, creating a cohesive journey for every student.
• Measurable progress - robust data to support Personal Development, inclusion reporting and Gatsby Benchmarks.‍
• National recognition - a Skills Builder Award, showcasing your school’s commitment to excellence and student outcomes to parents, employers and inspectors. 
  

How the Accelerator programme works 

As part of a selected cohort of UK secondary schools, you will work alongside a dedicated Skills Builder Education Associate to translate national guidance into a manageable, whole school strategy. 

This partnership provides 1:1 expert support from a qualified teacher, alongside full access to our curriculum and assessment model. By combining specialist staff training with peer learning opportunities, we ensure your team can confidently track every student’s progress against a proven national standard - without adding to teacher workload. 

What could you do on an Accelerator programme?

The programme is designed to be flexible, allowing you to align the Universal Framework with your specific 2026-27 goals.

You might use the programme to:

• Strengthen curriculum design - align departmental plan and enrichment programmes with the Universal Framework to ensure a cohesive, school-wide strategy for learning.
• Meet Gatsby Benchmarks - seamlessly integrate essential skills into your approach to careers-related learning.
• Support Work Experience - help students articulate their strengths during work experience programmes and interviews.
• Embed oracy and communication - use the Framework to provide a measurable approach to oracy, preparing students for the communication demands of university and apprenticeships.‍
• Drive inclusion and wellbeing - use our assessment tools to provide quantifiable evidence of progress for all learners, ensuring those with additional needs are equipped with the independence skills they need for life after school.

Students on an Accelerator Programme make twice the progress building their essential employability skills.