Contract for Innovation: Innovation in play to improve child outcomes

Contract for Innovation: Innovation in play to improve child outcomes is sponsored by UKRI. This funding opportunity is for organisations to develop practical solutions that reignite the importance of play and increase access to high-quality, real-world play environments and experiences to improve the learning and development outcomes of children and young people.

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CfI: Innovation in play to improve child outcomes Organisations can apply for a share of £3 million, inclusive of VAT, to develop practical solutions that reignite the importance of play and increase access to high quality, real world play experiences, improving outcomes for children and young people.

Competition opens: Tuesday 15 September 2026 Wednesday 28 October 2026 11:00am UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), will invest up to £3 million from the UKRI Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunity Mission in this Contracts for Innovation competition. This is subject to us receiving a sufficient number of high quality applications.

The aim of the competition is to support organisations to develop practical solutions that reignite the importance of play and increase access to real world play environments and experiences, enhancing the quality and impact of play in improving outcomes for children and young people. Play is essential for children’s development, supporting cognitive, social, emotional and physical wellbeing.

Evidence consistently shows that play is one of the most powerful tools to improve children’s health, happiness, learning outcomes, creativity, resilience, and long term life chances. However, access to rich, inclusive and developmentally appropriate play opportunities is uneven.

Barriers to play include socioeconomic disadvantage, limited access to safe or stimulating environments, reduced time for unstructured play, and a lack of confidence or capacity among caregivers, educators and communities to facilitate play effectively.

In addition, modern societal changes and trends, including increased traffic, technology, urbanisation and shifting family dynamics, are causing a decline in the opportunities children have to partake in meaningful and enriching forms of play.

There is a growing need for innovative approaches that can respond to these challenges and support opportunities for children to engage in active, social, creative, imaginative and physically engaging forms of play, embedded across different settings and populations.

This competition is focused specifically on the role of play in shaping the home learning environment (HLE); the everyday interactions, relationships and experiences outside the classroom that are known to strongly influence children’s development and educational outcomes.

We are seeking evidence informed, innovative solutions that meet one or more of the following criteria: leverage play as a mechanism to improve children’s learning, development, health, happiness and wellbeing reduce inequalities in access to enriching play experiences and environments support families, caregivers, educators and communities to engage in and facilitate play strengthen the role of play across home, education, and community environments.

There should be a particular focus on opportunities that encourage different types of play, including social, imaginative, constructive, sensory and physically engaging play The Opportunity Mission programme has identified a series of specific themes we wish to target within this competition.

We are open to a broad range of projects using intervention programmes or services, behaviour change approaches, new delivery or partnership models, or design led and place based innovations to improve the quality, accessibility and impact of play.

In accordance with recently published government guidance on screen use for young children, your projects must strengthen face to face interaction between children, families and communities and increase access to real world play environments and experiences. Projects centred on screen based play will therefore not be eligible for funding.

Your solution should ultimately contribute to improved learning and developmental outcomes for children and young people through the enrichment of play across key stages of childhood. The definition of play within this competition incorporates what children and young people do when they follow their own ideas, in their own way, and for their own reasons.

Play is an activity which is freely chosen, personally directed, and intrinsically motivated. We recognise that it is not just children in the early years who benefit from play, but also older children and teenagers. Therefore, this competition includes children and young people up to the age of 18.

By the end of this phase of funding, projects must demonstrate robust evidence for practical approaches that can be delivered in real-world settings and adopted more widely by organisations, services and communities. This is phase 1 of a potential 3 phase competition. The decision to proceed with subsequent phases will depend on the outcomes from previous phases and assessment of separate applications.

Only the successful applicants from phase 1 will be invited to apply to take part in phase 2. In applying to phase 1 of this competition you are entering into a competitive process. This competition has a funding budget of up to £3 million, so we may not be able to fund all the proposed projects.

It may be the case that your project scores highly and receives positive comments from the assessors but we are still unable to fund it due to the portfolio approach we take. Any adoption and implementation of a solution from this competition would be subject to a separate, possibly competitive, procurement exercise. This competition does not cover the purchase of any solution.

We expect to receive a high volume of applications and will not be able to fund them all. We expect to award a maximum of 15 contracts. We consider a range of factors when determining whether to provide funding to applicants.

This includes an assessment of prior conduct, such as any outstanding payments owed to Innovate UK or UKRI. Such factors may influence the funding decision, potentially resulting in a refusal of funding or an award subject to additional scrutiny. We also reserve the right to adjust funding allocations for any of our competitions.

This may be in response to changes in policy, portfolio funding considerations or broader government funding decisions. This competition closes at 11am UK time on the deadline stated in this Innovate UK competition brief . We cannot guarantee other government or third party sites will always show the correct competition information.

Phase 1 projects can range in size up to total eligible costs of between £200,000 and £500,000 inclusive of VAT. Accessibility and Inclusion We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes making reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us.

You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance. We recommend you contact us at least 15 working days before this competition’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the competition deadline.

You can contact Innovate UK by email or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays). start on 1 February 2027 and end on the 31 January 2028 have total costs of between £200,000 and £500,000, inclusive of VAT Projects must always start on the first of the month, even if this is a non-working day.

You must not start your project until your Contract has been approved by Innovate UK. You must only include eligible project costs in your application. See our overview of eligible project costs .

If your project does not meet our criteria your application will be made ineligible and it will not be sent for assessment.

To lead a project, you can: be an organisation of any size, including those based in the EU, EEA or internationally work alone or with the subcontracted skills and expertise of others from business, research organisations, research and technology organisations, or the third sector (charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups) Contracts will be awarded to a single legal entity only.

The majority of the project work and key deliverables must be completed by the applicant and be carried out in the UK, and most of the funding spent within the UK. Subcontractors can be used, but only for specialist skills.

This competition will not fund you, or provide any financial benefit to any individual or entities directly or indirectly involved with you, which would expose Innovate UK or any direct or indirect beneficiary of funding from Innovate UK to UK Sanctions .

For example, through any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any entity as lead, partner or subcontractor related to these countries, administrations and terrorist groups . Use of animals in research and innovation Innovate UK expects and supports the provision and safeguarding of welfare standards for animals used in research and innovation, according to best practice and up to date guidance.

Applicants must ensure that all of the proposed work within projects, both in the UK and internationally, will comply with the UKRI guidance on the use of animals in research and innovation . Any projects selected for funding which involve animals will be asked to provide additional information on welfare and ethical considerations, as well as compliance with any relevant legislation as part of the project start-up process.

This information will be reviewed before an award is made. Up to £3 million inclusive of VAT has been allocated to fund innovation projects in this phase 1 competition. Contracts will be between £200,000 and £500,000, inclusive of VAT, for each project of 12 months.

We expect to fund up to 15 projects. This is subject to us receiving a sufficient number of high quality applications. Funding will be in the form of a contract.

We reserve the right to adjust funding allocations for any of our competitions under exceptional circumstances, for example, in response to changes in policy, portfolio funding considerations, or broader government funding decisions. Successful projects from phase 1 may be invited to a potential phase 2 to further develop their solution. The total funding available for the competition can change.

The funders have the right to: adjust the provisional funding allocations between the phases apply a ‘ portfolio ’ approach The contract is completed at the end of phase 1, and the successful organisation is expected to pursue commercialisation of their solution. You must select whether you are VAT registered before entering your eligible project costs. VAT is the responsibility of the invoicing business.

We will not provide any further advice and suggest you seek independent advice from HMRC. If you select you are VAT registered, you must enter your eligible project costs exclusive of VAT. As part of the application process VAT will be automatically calculated and added to your project cost total.

Your total eligible project costs inclusive of VAT must not exceed £500,000. If you select you are not VAT registered, you must enter your eligible project costs exclusive of VAT and no VAT will be added. You will not be able to increase total project costs to cover VAT later should you become VAT registered.

Your total project costs must not exceed £500,000. Research and development (R&D) Your application must have at least 50% of the contract value attributed directly and exclusively to R&D services, including solution exploration and design. R&D can also include prototyping and field-testing the product or service.

This lets you incorporate the results of your exploration and design and demonstrate that you can produce in quantity to acceptable quality standards.

commercial development activities such as quantity production supply to establish commercial viability or to recover R&D costs integration, customisation or incremental adaptations and improvements to existing products or processes Innovate UK may revoke our decision to provide funding without notice if government commitment for this initiative is withdrawn.

Contracts for Innovation competitions involve procurement of R&D services and are not subject to subsidy control criteria. This competition is run by the Authority under the Procurement Act 2023 (R&D exemption). Text update 25 September 2026: further clarification added to Projects we will not fund.

The aim of this competition is to support organisations to develop practical solutions that reignite the importance of play and increase access to real world play environments and experiences, enhancing the quality and impact of play in improving outcomes for children and young people.

We are seeking evidence informed, innovative solutions that meet one or more of the following criteria: leverage play as a mechanism to improve children’s learning, development, health, happiness and wellbeing reduce inequalities in access to enriching play experiences and environments support families, caregivers, educators and communities to engage in and facilitate play strengthen the role of play across home, education, and community environments.

There should be a particular focus on opportunities that encourage different types of play, including social, imaginative, constructive, sensory and physically engaging play We are open to a broad range of projects using intervention programmes or services, behaviour change approaches, new delivery or partnership models, or design led and place based innovations to improve the quality, accessibility and impact of play.

Your projects will need to improve face to face interaction between children, families and communities and increase access to real world play environments and experiences. Your project will need to strengthen the quality and accessibility of play as a pathway to improving measurable child development and learning outcomes.

The definition of play within this competition incorporates what children and young people do when they follow their own ideas, in their own way, and for their own reasons. Play is an activity which is freely chosen, personally directed, and intrinsically motivated. We recognise that it is not just children in the early years who benefit from play, but also older children and teenagers.

Therefore, this competition includes children and young people up to the age of 18.

a clearly identified target audience with evidenced rationale for why this group has a specific need for the proposed solution a clear theory of change, highlighting how the play intervention will lead to improved children’s learning and development outcomes a well articulated and feasible delivery model a robust monitoring and evaluation plan to measure associated child level outcomes strong safeguarding plans and protocols when working with children and families established partnerships for effective testing, delivery, spreading, scaling of the solution within the contracted period, where required Projects funded through this competition must have a clear and credible route to real world use.

Applications should demonstrate how the proposed work will move beyond concept development and into delivery, adoption and impact.

In particular, applicants must: demonstrate a credible and practical route to market, including plans to commercialise or otherwise embed the solution within existing systems or services develop a tangible output, such as a product, tool, framework, service model or platform, rather than undertaking purely exploratory or conceptual work set out clear plans for delivery and spreading, and scaling, including who the end users are and how they will access or adopt the solution show readiness to work with delivery partners, including public services, education or community organisations, where relevant commit to working collaboratively with UKRI and Department for Education (DfE) colleagues to support potential adoption, integration and wider take up of the solution following the project You must define your goals in your application and outline your plan for phase 1.

At this stage contracts will only be given for phase 1. In a potential phase 2 we will ask successful applicants from phase 1 to continue the development of their solutions. Your project will be reviewed internally by the UKRI team before being sent for assessment.

Your project may be rejected if you cannot clearly justify how it aligns with the specific themes and how you will achieve measurable child development and educational outcomes. Note that applications submitted without a clear theory of change will be unable to proceed to assessment. We want to fund a variety of projects spanning different solutions, themes and maturity levels.

We may also consider geographic spread, types of solution provided, and the age groups of children targeted. We call this a portfolio approach .

Your project must focus on one or more of the key themes: reducing structural, environmental or socioeconomic barriers to play designing inclusive play opportunities for underserved, disadvantaged or marginalised groups, or those with additional needs or disabilities reimagining play in urban, rural, community and outdoor environments, including approaches that increase children's access to safe and stimulating places, spaces and opportunities for play Enhancing the Quality of Play Experiences developing tools, interventions or environments that promote rich, developmentally appropriate play that includes face to face interaction and social connection supporting different types of play including active play, social play, imaginative play, outdoor play, sensory play, exploratory play, age appropriate risk taking play creating play opportunities that boost learning and foster creativity, problem solving and emotional development placing children and young people at the centre of the design of play spaces and experiences Empowering Caregivers, Educators and Communities building confidence, skills and understanding of the value of play among parents, carers and professionals supporting adults to integrate play into everyday interactions and learning, and strengthening relationships between children, families, peers, educators and communities strengthening community based approaches to play provision Play and Key Life Transitions supporting play during key developmental stages for example, early years, starting school, adolescence addressing disruptions to play during life transitions, for example, family changes, moving schools Systems and Service Innovation integrating play into education, health, and family support services developing new delivery models, partnerships or frameworks that embed play in systems or services improving cross sector collaboration to support children’s play supporting schools, community organisations, local authorities and family services to create indoor and outdoor play friendly environments embedding play opportunities within everyday community settings rather than relying on digital engagement tools Phase 1: prototype development and evaluation This can include prototyping, demonstrating, piloting, testing and validation of new or improved products, processes or services in environments representative of real-life operating conditions.

The primary objective is to make further improvements on products, processes, services or interventions that are not substantially set. Subject to outcomes and the availability of funding, a second and third phase of funding may be made available at a later date. Access to any further funding would be through a competitive process, open only to applicants successful in this phase 1 competition and is not guaranteed.

Phase 2 funding is to support real world implementation and testing.

Projects we will not fund We will not fund projects that: are not original in scope duplicates someone else’s work use Artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, including AI companions, AI assistants, AI powered parenting tools, AI generated play experiences or large language model based interventions use applications, software platforms or digital products where screen use is the primary mechanism for delivering play use mobile apps, online platforms, gamified interventions, virtual worlds or digital reward based systems use Augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR) or immersive screen based play experiences are primarily focused on increasing children's or parents interaction with digital devices include entertainment technologies whose primary purpose is screen engagement rather than play are consumer toys, toy development or toy commercialisation use solutions that are already delivered through existing parent, caregiver or practitioner interactions without a clear and credible element of innovation, adaptation, development, testing or novel application would directly duplicate other UK Government or EU funded initiatives you have already been funded to deliver are covered by existing commercial agreements to deliver the proposed solutions do not have UK families as direct or indirect beneficiaries lack a piloting, delivery or practical intervention component We recognise that technology may support administration, monitoring, communication, evaluation or operational delivery of a project.

However, technology must not be the primary mechanism through which children experience play or by which play is administered. Live briefing event: watch the recording Briefing slides are now available to download from Supporting Information. Text update October 15th 2026: We have updated Question 1 to ensure applicants can only select one of the given options.

By submitting an application, you agree to the terms of the draft contract which is available once you start your application. The terms of the contract are non-negotiable and are included in the draft contract. We reserve the right to change the terms and conditions if necessary.

The final contract will include any milestones you have agreed with the funding authority and will be sent to you if your application is successful. The contract is binding once it is returned by you and signed by both parties.

As the applicant you are responsible for: collecting the information for your application representing your organisation in leading the project if your application is successful You will be able to invite colleagues from your organisation to contribute to the application. A selected panel of assessors will review and score your application. You will be notified of the outcome and feedback will be provided.

Contracts for phase 1 will then be issued to all successful applicants. The application is split into four sections: You must read the guidance on applying for a competition on the Innovation Funding Service before you start.

Before submitting, it is the lead applicant’s responsibility to make sure: that all the information provided in the application is correct your proposal meets the eligibility and scope criteria all sections of the application are marked as complete You can reopen your application once submitted, up until the competition deadline. You must resubmit the application before the competition deadline.

Accessibility and Inclusion We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes making reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us. You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance.

We recommend you contact us at least 15 working days before this competition’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the competition deadline. You can contact Innovate UK by email or call 0300 321 4357.

Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays). This section provides background for your application and is not scored. Give your project’s title, start date and duration.

Who made you aware of the competition? Select a category to state who made you aware of the competition. You cannot choose more than one.

How long has your organisation been established for? Select a category to state how long has your organisation been established for. You cannot choose more than one.

What is your organisation’s primary focus area? Select a category to state your organisation’s primary focus area. You cannot choose more than one.

Project a nd scope summary Provide a short summary of your project. Describe your project briefly. Be clear about what makes it innovative and how it relates to the scope of the competition.

How does it tackle different aspects of the challenge and how will it provide an integrated solution? Give details of the lead organisation. Before you submit, we expect you to have discussed your application within your organisation.

Your answer for this section can be up to 800 words long. This section is not scored, but we will use it to decide whether the project fits the scope of the competition. If it does not, it will be rejected.

Provide a brief description of your project. If your application is successful, we will publish this description. This can happen before you start your project.

This question is mandatory, but we will not assess this content as part of your application. Describe your project in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information.

We have the right to amend the description before publication if necessary but will consult you about any changes. Your answer can be up to 400 words long. You must state the name of your organisation along with your full registered address.

You must also state the name and full registered address of any potential or confirmed subcontractors. We are collecting this information to understand the geographical location of all participants of a project. Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

The assessors will score all of your questions except questions 1 to 6 which are not scored. You will receive feedback for each scored question. Find out more about how our assessors assess and how we select applications for funding .

You must not include any website addresses or links (URLs) in your answers. Any website addresses or URLs included, will not be viewed or opened. Question 1.

Themes (not scored) Select one of the main themes from the specific themes list in the ‘Scope’ section of this competition. Enhancing the Quality of Play Experiences Empowering Caregivers, Educators and Communities Play and Key Life Transitions Systems and Service Innovation Question 2. Animal testing (not scored) Will your project involve any trials with animals or animal testing?

You must select one option: We will only support innovation projects conducted to the highest standards of animal welfare. Further information for proposals involving animal testing is available at the UKRI Good Research Hub and NC3R’s animal welfare guidance . Question 3.

Permits and licences (not scored) Will you have the correct permits and licences in place to carry out your project? We are unable to fund projects which do not have the correct permits or licences in place by your project start date. You must select one option: In the process of being applied for Question 4.

International collaboration (not scored) Does your proposed work involve any international collaboration or engagement? You must provide details of any expected international collaboration or engagement. You must include a list of the names and the countries, any international project co-leads, visiting researchers, or other collaborators are based in.

You must also include details of any subcontractors or service providers. If your proposed work does not involve international collaboration or engagement, your answer must confirm this. Your answer to each question can be up to 100 words long.

Question 5. Export licence (not scored) You must indicate whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance . You must select one option: Question 6.

Trusted Research and Innovation (not scored) You must explain if your proposed project work relates to UKRI’s Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) Principles , including: a list of any dual use (both military and non-military) applications to your research a list of the areas where your project is relevant to one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance and the status of any applications a list of any items or substances on the UK Strategic Export Control List If your proposed work does not relate to UKRI’s TR&I Principles, your answer must confirm this.

We may ask you to provide additional TR&I information at a later date, in line with UKRI TR&I Principles and funding terms and conditions. Your answer can be up to 400 words long. Question 7.

Proposed idea How does the project meet the challenge described in the competition scope? Provide a description of your proposed idea. Include a description of the current state of development or readiness of the idea.

You must submit a clear theory of change, highlighting how the play intervention will lead to improved children’s learning and development outcomes. This must be submitted as or part of an appendix for this question. Your answer can be up to 600 words long.

You must submit a single appendix as a PDF containing images and diagrams to support your answer. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

This question will be scored against this assessment criterion: ‘How well does the proposal meet the challenge? ’. Question 8.

Technical project summary What are the main technical challenges you are addressing? how you will address the challenge the main technical deliverables the research and development that will prove the scientific, environmental and commercial merit of the project what might be achieved by deploying the innovation to address the selected challenge Your answer can be up to 600 words long.

This question will be scored against this assessment criterion: ‘How valid is the technical approach? ’. Question 9.

Current state of the art and intellectual property Are similar products currently available in the market? How is your proposed project differentiated from them? You must include details of: any existing intellectual property (IP) its significance to your freedom to operate novel concepts you develop or employ You must explain how you would handle any intellectual property (IP) issues which might arise during the project.

If you are working with subcontractors (specialist skills only), include details of how you will maintain freedom to operate and fulfil the IP requirements detailed in the contract. Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

This question will be scored against these assessment criteria: how innovative is this project how much does the project develop or employ novel concepts, approaches, methodologies or tools for this area how well does the project demonstrate understanding of relevant IP and its significance on freedom to operate Question 10. Project plan and methodology Describe your project plan and identify the main milestones.

The plan for this phase 1 must be comprehensive. The emphasis throughout should be on practicality. Provide evidence that the solution works, can be made into