Deadline: 12-Nov-2025
The Paul Hamlyn Foundation is accepting applications for its Teacher Development Fund to develop arts-based approaches which create equitable classrooms where all children learn and thrive.
This fund achieves this by: focusing on pupils who experience systemic inequity and enabling them to access and make progress in their learning; supporting arts organisations and schools working in equal partnerships to exchange and enrich their expertise; recognising teachers are critical to pupils’ outcomes; creating high-quality inspiring professional learning for teachers; enabling teachers and artist practitioners to learn and work together in the classroom; building a body of evidence and practice, and understanding how the work improves equity for pupils; and generating sustainable changes in teaching and learning in schools for the long-term.
Either a primary school or an arts or cultural organisation may act as the lead applicant, but all applications must demonstrate strong partnerships. Each project must involve between six and ten schools, with each school committing at least two teachers and one senior leader. Flexibility is possible for small rural schools. Participating schools must operate in the state sector and can include mainstream, specialist send or Alternative Provision settings. Projects may also involve teachers of Nursery and Reception classes in primary schools. Arts partners may include charities, community organisations, social enterprises, or not-for-profit companies active in the arts and culture sector.
All projects should focus on how arts-based approaches can build equity in schools to help pupils experiencing systemic inequity access and progress in their learning. A two-year professional learning programme for teachers will be co-constructed with project partners, drawing on evidence of effective approaches. The work may focus on any curriculum area or artform, including literacy, humanities, STEM, or broader themes such as critical thinking, communication, or mental health and well-being.
Formative evaluation is central to the programme, with projects expected to explore the impact of professional learning on teachers’ practice and pupils’ outcomes. Partnerships will be supported to adapt and refine their work through ongoing evaluation. Teachers, senior leaders, and arts partners will also collaborate to spread practice more widely across schools, embedding approaches beyond the core participants.
Over the course of the programme, funded projects will join a series of cohort learning sessions, offering opportunities to share experiences and strengthen practice. They will also become part of a growing community of practice that already includes more than 400 schools, supported through newsletters, events, and collaborative activities.
The deadline for applications is 12 November 2025 at 12 noon, and projects should be designed to last for two academic years.
For more information, visit PHF.
