The Area-Based Partnerships Association

These partnerships are locally rooted, school‑led organisations that bring together all types of schools to address shared challenges around quality and equity – issues that individual schools often struggle to tackle alone in a fragmented system.

Education partnerships typically:

• Take collective responsibility for improving education across a local area and strengthening outcomes for children and young people
• Act as a driver of improvement by connecting schools, brokering collaboration and encouraging innovation
• Help bridge divides between different types of schools
• Provide a structure that enables schools to work together effectively

The AEPA brings these partnerships together at a national level. Led by a steering group co‑chaired by Baroness Estelle Morris and Christine Gilbert CBE, the association includes both long‑established partnerships and those still developing. Its purpose is to share learning, exchange ideas and widen the conversation about the role of place‑based collaboration in the education system.

AEPA is built on these core principles:

• School‑led improvement is most effective when it is inclusive and collaborative
• Place matters; member organisations are rooted in their local communities
• Social, emotional and cultural development is part of our collective responsibility
• Partnerships benefit from having a national voice and presence

AEPA’s most recent report, Belonging and Excellence: The Importance of Local Education Partnerships (published November 2025), highlights the crucial role these partnerships play in reconnecting schools, communities and services to support children and young people to thrive. It explores how partnerships contribute to:

• Raising standards and improving outcomes
• Addressing disadvantage and strengthening inclusion
• Developing and retaining school leaders
• Building a sense of belonging and local collaboration

More information is available at AEPA.