November 2025 | The Inclusion Index Edition 2
Tracking the issues most affecting inclusion and belonging in schools.
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.
Introduction
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
GEC Inclusion Index - Students
| Rank | Theme | Insight |
|---|---|---|
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 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
GEC Inclusion Index - Staff
| Rank | Theme | Insight |
|---|---|---|