RISE Programme Opportunity Maximisation: Securing Your Connect the Classroom Wi-Fi Funding

If your school has been identified as receiving targeted support through the Department for Education’s Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) programme, you have already cleared the hardest hurdle. In most cases, your eligibility for Connect the Classroom Wi-Fi funding is already underway.

What happens next is less about applying and more about preparing.

For Business Managers across the South East, that preparation is where genuine value gets won or quietly left on the table. This piece is for school leaders who want to ensure their RISE identification translates into the strongest possible outcome: not just funded Wi-Fi, but the right specification, the right installation window, and a network that will remain fit for purpose well beyond 2030.

The Funding Picture in 2026

The numbers matter, so let us start there.

In February 2026, the Government confirmed a further £325 million in funding for the Connect the Classroom programme. That is roughly 50 per cent larger than the previous pot and is expected to support several thousand additional schools across England.

The programme sits within a wider DfE ambition: to narrow the digital divide in education by 2030 and to ensure every school meets six core digital and technology standards covering broadband, Wi-Fi, switching, filtering, cyber security, and cloud delivery.

In practical terms, the position is straightforward. If your school is RISE-supported, and your current Wi-Fi provision falls below the DfE’s specifications, you are eligible for a fully funded upgrade. The work is procured, installed, and signed off without being funded by your school’s own budget. The infrastructure becomes yours.

That is the headline. The detail underneath is where the opportunity becomes bigger, or smaller, depending on how you approach it.

What RISE Identification Actually Triggers

There is a common misconception that Connect the Classroom funding is open to applications. It is not.

The DfE contacts eligible schools directly, and RISE-supported schools sit at the front of the queue. If your school has been contacted, you should have received notification covering:

• Confirmation of eligibility under the current programme wave
• Indicative guidance on the scope of the upgrade (typically wireless access points, switches, and, where required, structural cabling and fibre)
• Information on supplier engagement and the Network Asset Form submission process
• The timeline within which work must be completed and final claims submitted

If you have received that notification and have not yet acted, the most useful thing you can do this week is reopen the email and read it properly. The window for completing works and submitting compliant claims is shorter than most schools assume, and the back end of the financial year tends to compress every supplier’s installation calendar.

The Specification Question: Where Schools Quietly Lose Value

This is the part of the conversation that matters most and is least discussed.

The DfE sets a minimum specification for funded networks. That specification includes Wi-Fi 6 (and increasingly Wi-Fi 7) access points, fully managed switching, structured cabling installed to British Standards, OM4 fibre where appropriate, and a network designed around current usage patterns rather than historic ones.

Here is the nuance: minimum specification is exactly that. A school that engages a supplier who simply quotes to the floor on what is fundable will end up with a network that meets the standard on paper but may not reflect how the school will actually use connectivity over the next five to seven years.

A few examples of where this matters in practice:

• Coverage planning. A site survey that assumes current device density rather than projected device density will leave coverage gaps the moment a school rolls out a new one-to-one initiative or expands its catchment.
• Switch redundancy. A funded specification may cover the switches you need today. Whether it covers the failover capability you need on parents’ evening or during an external exam window is a separate conversation worth having upfront.
• Cabling decisions. Cat 6A copper sits on the same funding line as lighter alternatives in many quotes, yet only the former offers long-term warranty coverage and a credible upgrade path to Wi-Fi 7 and beyond.

None of this needs to feel intimidating. It does, however, need to be specified before the supplier’s quote is submitted. Once the proposal is locked and funding is approved, scope changes become very difficult.

A Practical Action Plan for Business Managers

If you are the person inside the school carrying this project, here is what a strong preparation pathway looks like over the coming weeks.

1. Confirm your eligibility status in writing. If your DfE notification is unclear, or if you suspect you may be eligible but have not yet been contacted, request clarification. Funding administration is centralised, so a single email to the programme team will save you a fortnight of guesswork.
2. Commission an honest site survey. A site survey is not a quote. It is a diagnostic. Whoever conducts it should walk every classroom, every corridor and every outbuilding, log device density at peak periods, and produce a heat map you can read. If the survey arrives as a single page with a price, it is not a site survey.
3. Compare specifications, not just totals. When quotes come in, set them next to each other and review the access point count, switch model, cabling category, and warranty terms. A lower headline price often means a thinner specification, and a thinner specification often costs the school more in the medium term when usage grows past the design.
4. Plan the installation around your calendar, not theirs. Half-term and summer holiday windows fill up early. If you want minimal classroom disruption, the scheduling conversation needs to happen alongside the specification conversation, not afterwards.
5. Get your Network Asset Form signed off cleanly. This is the document that ties the funded works to compliance. A supplier who knows the DfE process will populate it accurately the first time. A supplier who does not will cost you a round of revisions and a delay you did not budget for.

Common Pitfalls Worth Avoiding

A few patterns we see across schools approaching this for the first time:

• Treating the supplier shortlist as a price comparison rather than a partnership decision. The cheapest compliant quote and the strongest long-term network are rarely the same thing.
• Underestimating the lead time on structured cabling. Anything involving running new Cat 6A or OM4 fibre needs to be planned weeks ahead, not days.
• Assuming “fully funded” means “no decisions to make”. The DfE funds the infrastructure. The shape of that infrastructure is still very much yours to specify.
• Forgetting that the network you install in 2026 will be carrying your school’s curriculum, safeguarding tools, MIS and cloud platforms for the rest of the decade.

Our View

Connect the Classroom is one of the more substantial pieces of central funding currently moving through the education sector, and the RISE-led wave of allocations is, by any sensible measure, an opportunity rather than a procurement chore.

The schools that get the most out of it will not necessarily be the ones that move first. They will be the ones who specify properly, choose a supplier who understands the DfE process, and plan the installation around the school year rather than the supplier’s calendar.

If you are a Business Manager and your school is part of the RISE-identified group, our advice is straightforward. Take a week to read your DfE notification carefully, commission a proper site survey, and have one good conversation about specification before you sign anything off. The funding is generous. The work beneath it deserves to be specified to match.

Find your dedicated Connect the Classroom resource here:

DfE Connect the Classroom Wi-Fi Upgrade for Schools

FAQs

What is the RISE programme?

The Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) programme is the Department for Education’s mechanism for providing targeted support to schools in England. Schools in the RISE cohort are automatically considered for related funding streams, including Connect the Classroom.

Do RISE-identified schools have to apply for Connect the Classroom funding?

No. The DfE contacts eligible schools directly. Schools do not submit independent applications. Once notified, the school works with an accredited supplier to specify the upgrade and complete the Network Asset Form.

What does Connect the Classroom funding actually pay for?

The programme funds Wi-Fi access points (typically Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7), managed network switches, and, where required by the existing infrastructure, structured cabling and fibre installation. The exact scope depends on the school’s current network and the DfE’s published minimum specifications.

Is the funding only for RISE schools?

RISE-supported schools are at the front of the queue, but the DfE has also identified additional schools outside the RISE programme whose Wi-Fi provision falls below the required standards. Those schools are notified directly.

What if our school has not been contacted, but we believe we should be eligible?

The simplest first step is to contact the DfE’s Connect the Classroom team directly. A good IT partner can also help you assess your current network against the published specifications before you make that approach.

How long does the process take from notification to installation?

Typically, several months, depending on supplier availability, site survey scheduling, and the complexity of the work. Schools that act promptly on their notification and plan installation around half-term or summer holiday windows tend to achieve the cleanest outcome.

What happens if we miss the funding window?

Connect the Classroom funding waves are time-limited, and final claims must be submitted within the published programme window. Schools that delay risk missing the current allocation and having to wait for a future wave that may have different eligibility criteria.