Top issues affecting student and staff inclusion in 2025
The GEC Inclusion Index
Helping 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.
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.
