Top issues affecting student and staff inclusion in 2025
The GEC Inclusion Index
We have established two ranked leaderboards, one for students, one for staff, based on actionable metrics from our data.
The aim being to help you track the issues most affecting inclusion and belonging in schools.
July 2025 | Edition 1
Introducing
We listened to the previously unheard voices in our schools. Over 26,000 of them. Some of what we heard was hard to hear but still we listened.
Then, using this research, we released our 26,000 Voices report, a landmark report that captures the lived experiences of students, staff, and communities across the educational landscape. And now, we are launching The Inclusion Index.
We have established two ranked leaderboards, one for students, one for staff, based on actionable metrics from our data.
We’re releasing the Index to track the top 10 issues most affecting inclusion and belonging in schools.
Turning data in action
The Index should help you understand what’s working, what’s not, and how to build capacity for intentional, evidence-based change.
Created from the voices of over 26,000 students and staff, this Index identifies 10 key behavioural areas that reveal how inclusion is really experienced—and where urgent gaps exist. These themes emerged through the GEC’s unique approach to Kaleidoscopic Data, which combines quantitative and qualitative insights to surface intersectional, lived experiences that are too often hidden.
Students
Below are the 10 key behavioural areas that reveal how inclusion is really experienced by students and where urgent gaps exist.
Belonging
Only 1 in 2 students feel like they "belong" at school.
This finding is mixed. Half and half with 1 in 2 students reporting that they feel like they "belong" at school. SEND, Global Majority, and LGBTQIA+ students feel least belonging; intersections intensify isolation.
⬆ Improving trend
Culture
Only half (50.1%) of our students say that they are "encouraged to be me" at school.
⬆ Improving trend
Representation
35.6% of students report that a "teacher looks like someone in my family".
⬆ Improving trend
Diversity
Around 61.2% agree that diversity is a feature of their daily experience.
⬆ Improving trend
Teacher Trust
Around 67.8% agree that teachers "help me do my best”.
⬇ Worsening concern
Inclusion
Fewer than half of students feel their learning needs are fully supported.
⬆ Improving trend
Attendance
13.9% say they have missed time from school due to "feeling unsafe".
⬇ Worsening concern
Safety
58.5% of students report a strong sense of safety.
⬆ Improving trend
Curriculum
Around 41.3% agree that they feel "seen" in the curriculum.
⬆ Improving trend
Wider curriculum
Around 61.2% agree that diversity is a feature of their daily experience.
⬇ Worsening concern
From our Founder
What does inclusion really feel like?
“We asked over 26,000 students and staff, and the answers we received weren’t always easy to hear—but they were impossible to ignore. human experience through both numbers and narratives. This isn’t about tick-boxes. It’s about humanising data. Making space for the real, messy, brilliant stories that shape how people belong (or don’t) in school communities.
The 10 behavioural areas in this Index reflect patterns we’ve seen across schools: behaviours that support or sabotage inclusion. They offer a way for school leaders to listen more deeply, act more intentionally, and track progress not just by compliance, but by culture. Backed by the GEC Platform’s report and support model, this Index becomes more than a diagnostic, it becomes a driver of change.
This is our call to action and our invitation to lead with empathy, evidence and equity.”
Staff
Below are the 10 key behavioural areas that reveal how inclusion is really experienced by staff and where urgent gaps exist.
Belonging
Only 1 in 2 students feel like they "belong" at school.
Just over half (58.3%)of staff in our schools feel they have a sense of belonging at work.
⬆ Improving trend
Culture
Only about 1 in 2 staff members feel that they can be their "authentic self" at work.
⬆ Improving trend
Professional opportunities
7 out of 10 staff believe they are not offered opportunities because of whom they are.
⬇ Worsening concern
Leadership and Values
Just 29.4% of staff feel their workplace reflects leadership and values.
⬆ Improving trend
Professional Development
Less than half of staff agree that they are offered relevant CPD.
⬆ Improving trend
Staff Provisions
52.6% of staff feel they are not offered provisions that meet their current needs.
⬆ Improving trend
Flexible Working
1 in 3 staff say they need to work more flexibly right now.
⬇ Worsening concern
Harassment & Discrimination
About 1 in 5 staff members have experienced harassment and/or discrimination.
⬇ Worsening concern
Curriculum
43.1% of staff say they feel their curriculum is diverse and inclusive for their students.
⬆ Improving trend
Wider curriculum
61.5% of staff agree the wider curriculum is available for as many students as possible.
⬇ Worsening concern