We are delighted to announce the winners of the 2026 Natspec Innovation Awards.
These awards recognise and celebrate innovative practice in the specialist further education sector. They shine a light on initiatives that have clearly resulted in improved outcomes for students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.
Our seven winners were celebrated in a vibrant online ceremony, packed with students and staff from shortlisted colleges. They will now go forward to be considered for the prestigious Kathryn Rudd Award which will be presented at our national conference on 9 June to the most innovative category winner.
Chair of the judging panel, Jim Aleander said:
“This year, the panel was extremely impressed by the variety of innovation demonstrated across every category. The awards provide a valuable opportunity for shared learning and the spread of innovative practice throughout the sector. Every shortlisted project is having a meaningful impact on the lives of young people in colleges. By showcasing this work, we hope to inspire others to embrace new approaches and innovation, ultimately enhancing the life chances and opportunities of learners attending specialist colleges across the country.
A standout feature this year across categories has been the evidence of greater student involvement in shaping innovation within the curriculum, with several entries showing true co-production of the innovation described.”
Winners
Curriculum innovation
Shortlist:
ESPA – Culture, Law & Liberty: London 25
William Henry Smith Specialist College – Rolling the Dice
Winner: William Henry Smith Specialist College
Through Rolling the Dice, William Henry Smith Specialist College uses Dungeons & Dragons to support students with social, emotional, and mental health (SEMH) needs in a fun and original way. It uses collaborative storytelling and roleplay as a therapeutic and educational tool, developing empathy, creativity, negotiation, and resilience, skills often underdeveloped in SEMH learners.
The project has enabled students to overcoming barriers to success that previously had seriously restricted their life chances, and there have been significant and sustainable improvements in social, emotional and mental health which has enabled the students involved to thrive academically.
Category judge Nigel Evans said:
“This is a creative and original approach to linking several curriculum areas, personal development and the opportunity to explore emotions in a safe and structured way. Involvement by students was fundamental to the project, resulting in excellent engagement and sustained improvements in attendance, motivation and skills development. The extent of the involvement with external groups was excellent, building on students’ needs and interests.”
Innovative interdisciplinary working
Shortlist:
Mercury College – Transforming Lives Through Innovative Interdisciplinary Practice
Winner: Mercury College
Through innovative interdisciplinary working, Mercury College have developed ways to support students with significant behaviours of concern that severely restricted access to learning and the community. A fully integrated team such as Behaviour therapists and psychologists and Speech and Language therapists, along with the education team and care colleagues, worked within a shared, co-delivered model. Unlike traditional approaches where professionals operate separately, this initiative embedded joint assessment, modelling, and daily strategy implementation across all environments.
This project’s innovation lies in its seamless collaboration and real-time adaptation, ensuring consistency, safety, and personalised progression. By combining behavioural science, communication strategies, therapeutic input, and educational planning, the team created a unified pathway towards independence, reducing risk and improving learner outcomes.
Category judge Lorraine Mulroney said:
“This project created a culture of interdisciplinary working and applied this to an individual’s specific learning needs. As a result, a student with significant behaviours of concern was able to access re-engage with learning, access the community safely, and genuinely achieve life-changing independence.”
Innovation in student voice
Shortlist:
Derwen College – Confidence in the Community: Student Voice and the Purple Pound
Mercury College – Leading My Own Support
Winner: Derwen College
Through this project, Derwen College learners were empowered to shape accessibility within their local community. Students met with a Parish Councillor who is also the Area Manager of the Co-op to advocate for more inclusive shopping experiences, identifying communication barriers as a key obstacle to independence. Students co-designed a bespoke app, Shopping GRID, on college iPads, which can be highly personalised, enabling them to manage lists, request assistance, and complete transactions independently.
This innovative approach has allowed students to apply their advocacy and independence skills across a wider range of real-life situations, further embedding student voice and inclusion in the community.
Category judge Poppy Garton said:
“The benefits seen included increased self-advocacy, confidence, budgeting skills, and real-world communication. The impact extends beyond individual learners as the local Co-op has strengthened inclusive practice, awareness of accessibility has grown, and this is a sustainable, student-led model for community change which they intend to widen to other local businesses.”
Innovative approach to equality, diversity and inclusion
Shortlist:
Rotherham Opportunities College – Ulley Country Park: Enhancing Accessibility and Inclusion through Art and Nature
Aurora Foxes – A Meal to Change Minds
Winner: Rotherham Opportunities College
Over 40 students with SEND were involved in designing, creating, and installing accessible features in Ulley Country Park. Working collaboratively with Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, Groundwork Yorkshire, and local artists, students designed and installed hedgehog houses, bird boxes, a giant bug hotel, and a striking nature-inspired mural by the artist Jamie Steward. They also helped create a hand-carved, wheelchair-friendly sensory bench by sculptor Heather Crompton, a new sensory wall, and improved handrails, ensuring accessibility and sensory engagement for all. This has led to greater visibility and representation of SEND students in community cultural and environmental projects.
Category judge Jeff Greenidge said:
“This approach is innovative because it positions SEND students as co designers of accessibility solutions, rather than recipients of support. It integrates real-world design, environmental stewardship, and local community collaboration into SEND education. This has the potential for creating long-term cultural change in the community.”
Innovative approach to mental health and wellbeing
Shortlist:
ESPA – Student-Led Wellbeing Action: Self-Care Gift Bags for Women’s Refuge
Derwen College – Sleep Matters project
Portland College – The Transformational Impact of Donkey Assisted Therapy
Winner: Portland College
This project represents a pioneering approach within Innovation in Mental Health and Wellbeing through the introduction of Donkey Assisted Therapy (DAT). The college has trained its own herd to work therapeutically with learners whose trauma and adverse childhood experiences limit access to education. Unlike traditional counselling models, DAT integrates therapy into daily college life: donkeys support outdoor sessions, classroom regulation, and even accompany learners to meetings when additional reassurance is needed.
This approach is innovative in combining trauma-informed practice, peer-led delivery, and curriculum integration within a SEND setting. Students co-design sessions, lead peer activities, and English and maths is embedded into practical tasks, strengthening both wellbeing and achievement. Learners have developed resilience, emotional regulation, communication skills, and have a renewed confidence, creating lasting improvements in both education and quality of life.
Category judge Richard Caulfield said:
“While animal-based therapy itself is not new, the college invested in an Equine Therapist and using Donkeys in an education setting and having learners lead sessions themselves is a real innovation. There was really strong evidence that learners’ wellbeing scores have improved and there was also improved attendance. The college has also seen dramatic improvements in behaviours that seemed impossible and learners who previously refused exercise will walk miles with a donkey.”
Innovative routes into employment
Shortlist:
Creating Tomorrow College – Embedding College Campuses, not just Work Experience, in Live Working Environments
ESPA – Metal & Punk Art: Battle Jacket & T-Shirt Enterprise Project
Pinc College – Creative Enterprise
Winner: Pinc College
The Creative Enterprise programme is a one-year, studio-based pathway that combines creative practice, enterprise education and personal development to support young people with SEND into self-employment. Developed in response to student voice, it recognises that many talented creatives, particularly neurodivergent learners and those with SEND or EHCPs, do not see traditional routes such as university or apprenticeships as the right fit. Unlike typical classroom-based study programmes, students are able to have a full academic year to become self-employed artists within their own rights, being commissioned for live briefs from the business sector and other sectors who require support from creative artists. They also get access to a Level 2 qualification that gives them the skills to put their own business plans and financial forecasts together.
The programme is highly personalised around each learner’s strengths and niche practice, with mentoring from self-employed artists and support to access start-up funding. As a result, students gain paid commissions, real-world experience, increased independence and the confidence and skills to sustain successful creative careers and contribute to their local economies.
Category judge Laura Davis said:
“Pinc College looked at industries which are not often considered for disabled and neurodivergent young people – the creative industries which often require people to be freelance and self employed. They brought in industry professionals and paired them up with young people with a creative passion and built infrastructure to help them achieve their dreams but introduce them to the reality of working in this industry. It was wonderful to see this aspiration being encouraged for young people within the SEND system.”
Innovative use of technology
Shortlist:
Creating Tomorrow College – Virtual Confidence: How BodySwaps Virtual Reality is Revolutionising Personal Development & Employment Outcomes
Beaumont College – Learner Voice – using technology to enable all
Activate – Switch-adapted technology transforming access to learning for PMLD learners
Winner: Activate
Activate is creatively harnessing adaptive controllers and switches to support students to interact with a range of physical objects and tools. This approach repurposes everyday tools into powerful access devices, allowing learners to take part in real, meaningful activities rather than observing passively. The innovation is not the equipment alone, but how flexibly and creatively it has been applied across the whole curriculum.
Through this innovative use of assistive technology, there are new forms of interaction between learners and staff. Enabling students to be more engaged and more active in their environment has a range of benefits including in motivation, attention and understanding. These benefits are taken with them from college to their home life as well.
Category judge Tim Coughlan said:
“Through this project, Activate enhanced the potential for learners to take part in activities ranging from food preparation to craft and games. They showed that there was so much creative thinking by staff and students in considering how these controllers can be employed. You could see it was both very practical and a lot of fun.”