The Britten Sinfonia has a very active and innovative education programme which is a dynamic force in leading much of the orchestra's work. Past initiatives have taken place in schools, community youth clubs, training centres for adults with learning difficulties, residential homes and prisons. The department is keen to maintain a cross-arts ethos. Projects often utilise literature resources, the visual arts, photography, dance and film extracts as stimuli for creative work and composition.

An example of a recent project is Inside Out, an after school music-making club for 8-13 year olds at Farley Community Centre, Luton, which has been running since 2002. November 2003 brought education work to the club extending from the Art of Fugue tour, involving Joanna MacGregor and tabla player Shri Sriram. This project also involved a local schools group as well as a jazz group.

Many of the projects culminate in performances at the venues where the Britten Sinfonia itself is performing in concert. The results of the education project are presented as a short introduction to the concert, preparing the listener for the piece constituting the inspiration for the compositional work.