GEC Inclusion Index - Student - Key Behavioural Area 7
Attendance
“I have missed time here due to feeling unsafe.”
13.9% agree
⬇ Worsening Concern
So what?
Attendance is too often treated as a compliance metric — a percentage to be improved. But for nearly 1 in 5 students in our GEC 26,000 Voices dataset, absence is a direct response to feeling unsafe. That means, on average, six students per classroom are staying home to avoid bullying, trauma, or harm.
This isn’t a behavioural issue — it’s a wellbeing and inclusion crisis.
📣 What We Heard
“I’ve stayed home because I couldn’t face another day of being called slurs. No one stops them.”
“I came out as trans and people laughed at me in the corridor. A teacher heard and didn’t say anything.”
“It’s too loud and too much. I get overwhelmed and no one notices until I shut down or explode.”
The GEC Platform: Proven Solution
The GEC Platform doesn’t just track who shows up — it captures why students might not. By gathering anonymised, identity-sensitive voice data, it reveals which groups are missing school “because I am me” — and offers school leaders the tools to respond.
See how Batley Trust used this in their own words.
Used by schools across the UK and internationally, the platform links attendance with safety, inclusion, and trust. Where GEC data is used, schools have seen lower reported fear-related absences and higher re-engagement — particularly among LGBTQIA+, SEND, and Global Majority students.
Because when students feel safe, they come to school. And when they’re seen, they stay.
The Kaleidoscope View
Our Kaleidoscopic Data reveals that absence due to feeling unsafe is not equally distributed.
Students with SEND, particularly neurodivergent learners, frequently reported sensory overwhelm, social stress, and a lack of regulation strategies.
LGBTQIA+ students, especially trans learners, described chronic bullying and staff inaction.
Global Majority students reported racism, stereotyping, and religious microaggressions — often unchallenged by adults.
Non-disclosure students, including those with undiagnosed or hidden identities, reported the highest levels of internalised shame, distrust, and absence-related anxiety.
“I’m not diagnosed with anything, but I know I think differently. Teachers think I’m lazy. That makes me feel like school isn’t for me.”
This is where Kaleidoscopic Data shines: surfacing the invisible absences that traditional registers miss. These are students who are quietly opting out of education not because they don’t want to learn — but because school doesn’t feel safe enough to show up.
The consequences ripple outward. Students reporting absence due to fear also scored lowest in:
Trust in teachers
Representation in the curriculum
Access to identity-affirming spaces
Participation in wider curriculum and enrichment
This creates a negative feedback loop: the less safe a student feels, the more they disengage — and the harder it is for schools to re-engage them.
Next Steps & Free Stuff
Read “Labour Must Rethink Schools’ Whole Relationship with Data” – an urgent call to humanise attendance strategies
🔗 Read the article
📌 Explore the GEC Pinboard
✍️ Read more blogs in the GEC KnowHow
📊 Use the GEC Score Card to see how your school measures up.
