How would you spend £1000 for your school and students?

Let us know your thoughts via our The £1000 Challenge:
Your Vision, their Future 2026 Survey

By entering, you could bag your school a £1000 to spend on some of the ideas you share with us. Two runners-up will win a prize bundle of educational resources and books worth £250. The winners will be chosen by a select panel of judges. (See more about our wonderful judges below!)

It is free to enter! Fill in the short survey to be in with a chance to bring your ideas to life.

Deadline extended, entries are open until 21/02/2026.

We are always looking for better ways to support educators and ways for them to utilise their time and share their ideas. So, we want to know, as teachers and educators, what would be the most valuable way to spend £1000 for your school and students?

We know that in the current climate, schools and teachers are facing a multitude of hurdles. There are pressures on teachers to perform in these difficult circumstances while facing increasing funding pressures, staff cuts backs rising costs, old and failing buildings, and inadequate learning resources.

A snapshot survey by the National Education Union of 3,981 teacher members working in English state schools, carried out online in October 2023, reveals:

92% believe that current funding levels are not high enough to allow their school to employ enough teachers, or for other staff to support pupils’ learning.
85% believe their school is not able to provide appropriate learning resources for pupils because of current funding levels.
Two-thirds (68%) of teachers and leaders say that investment in school buildings has been insufficient. Just 15% have seen enough investment in upkeep of their buildings.

So how would you spend a £1000? We want to know what teachers in the classroom think would best support their students.

This isn’t just about books to help teachers; we want to know how you feel you could get the best value out of a limited budget of £1000 and understand the needs impacting teachers every day.

Let us know your thoughts in The £1000 Challenge: Your Vision, their Future 2026 Survey

Full Terms and Conditions can be found here.

What are we trying to achieve with this survey?

We have prided ourselves in producing resources for teachers, by teachers, to support education and learning. To do this, we are always looking for ways to better understand our community and how we can play a role that is valuable to teachers and educators.

One of the ways we do this is to listen to what’s missing, what actually can help in meaningful ways, and the best way for us to understand this is to hear from teachers and educators themselves.

There are lots of potential ways to achieve this, but we want to support the community of educators who work hard every day and reward them directly for taking time out of their busy schedule to share their thoughts with us. We feel this is a meaningful way we can use this money to help us better understand teachers’ needs as well as open an opportunity for the teachers and/or the school themselves to use the funds to achieve what they actually need.

Judges

David Allen

David, a former teacher, senior leader, and Deputy Headteacher, is currently an Associate Professor in Learning and Teaching at The University of Hertfordshire. He is also an author of children’s books and texts for educators and co-directs/ founded Let’s Do Drama!, a resource bank of easily accessible drama resources. David currently holds the position of Chair of the Association of Science Education and is the Lead of the Primary Science Enhancement Award for PSTT.

Rob Butlet

Rob is an experienced science teacher who spent the last twenty years of his career teaching science in a special school. Rob has held every role in education from support assistant to school leader. Since leaving the classroom, Rob has worked with teachers from hundreds of schools as a leader of professional development and loves meeting teachers with a passion for science education.

Leigh Hoath

Leigh is former Chair of the ASE and currently editor of Primary Science. She is a Professor of Science Education at Leeds Trinity University and Co-Founder of Climate Adapted Pathways for Education (CAPE).

Judging Criteria

1. Innovation & Originality (25%)

The “New” Factor: Is this a fresh idea, or an inspired “new twist” on an existing method?
Creative Problem Solving: Does the idea address a common educational challenge (e.g., student engagement, literacy, or mental health) in a non-traditional way?
Uniqueness: Does it stand out from typical classroom activities?

2. Potential Impact & Scalability (25%)

Student Benefit: How significantly will this improve the learning experience or wellbeing of the pupils?
Reach: Is it designed for a single small group, or could it benefit the whole school?
Longevity: Will the £1,000 create a one-off event, or will it fund something that provides value for years to come?

3. Value & Practicality (25%)

The “Can-Do” Factor: Is the project realistic? Can it actually be achieved within a school year with the resources available?
Budget Alignment: Does the £1,000 prize reasonably cover the costs of the vision, or is the idea too expensive to get off the ground?
Clarity: Is the plan well-thought-out with clear steps for implementation?

4. Inclusion & Accessibility (25%)

Equality: Does the project support students with diverse needs (e.g., SEND, EAL, or Pupil Premium)?
Community: Does the idea foster a sense of belonging or involve the wider school community (parents, local area)?

The £1000 Challenge: Your Vision, their Future 2026 Survey