March 2026 | The Inclusion Index Edition 3
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.
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Introduction
We started by listening to previously unheard voices in our schools — over 26,000 of them.
In 2025 we released our 26,000 Voices report, to capture the lived experiences of students, staff, and communities across the educational landscape. We have continued to build on this research with the Inclusion Index and Edition 3 speaks for over 34,500 voices.
We established two ranked leaderboards, one for students, one for staff, based on actionable metrics from our Kaleidoscopic Data.
We’re releasing the latest edition of the Inclusion Index to track the top 10 issues most affecting inclusion and belonging in schools.
Turn insight into action
The Index should help you understand what’s working, what’s not, and how to build capacity for intentional, evidence-based change.
We’ve identified the top 10 areas affecting inclusion and belonging in schools today by listening to 34,500 voices in education captured through the award-winning GEC Platform.
Triangulated through surveys, interviews and research workshops, this live national dataset exposes the gap between policy presence and lived experience. Kaleidoscopic Data reveals where inclusion is embedded and where it remains conditional.
Students
Below are the 10 most significant conditions shaping student inclusion and belonging.
Top-ranked area:
Inclusion
In a class of 30, fewer than 6 students say their learning needs are understood by most teachers
“I only get help once it’s written down. Before that, I just struggle.” (Student, Secondary)
No change in position from the Inclusion Index Edition 2
Kaleidoscopic Data: Neurominority students, particularly those without formal identification or individual support plans, are far more likely to report that their needs are not understood or responded to. This gap is most pronounced in KS3–5 settings, where support is often triggered by documentation rather than day-to-day need.
GEC View: Inclusion is increasingly experienced as conditional — dependent on formal recognition rather than lived experience. This leaves students with less visible needs most at risk of being unsupported.
Download the full Index to see the most urgent inclusion issues for students and staff—identified from 34,500 voices this Spring Term and ranked using Kaleidoscopic Data.
From our Founder
Evidencing Inclusion in a New Accountability Era
“Drawing on over 34,500 student and staff voices, triangulated through GEC Platform surveys, interviews and research workshops, this live national dataset exposes the gap between policy presence and lived experience. Kaleidoscopic Data enables us to see not only what is happening in schools, but how it is experienced across role, identity, phase and context — revealing where inclusion is embedded and where it remains conditional.
Across all three editions of the Inclusion Index, one message has strengthened: inclusion is less about aspiration and more about conditions. Students and staff are no longer asking whether inclusion exists. They are asking when it is allowed to exist — and for whom.
By surfacing the conditions shaping who feels safe, supported and able to thrive, this Index provides leaders with an evidence-informed lens to align strategy, funding and practice — strengthening the connection between policy ambition and daily classroom experience.
In this new accountability era, inclusion must be planned, resourced, embedded and demonstrable. Professional judgement remains essential — but it must be supported by intelligence that is relational, contextual and system-wide.
This dataset does not replace leadership. It equips it.”
Dr Nicole Ponsford, Founding CEO of the GEC and Lead Researcher.
Staff
Below are the top 10 areas affecting staff inclusion and belonging in schools.
Top-ranked area:
Staff Provisions
Only 35% of staff say wellbeing and support provisions meet their needs.
“Inclusion expectations keep growing, but support doesn’t.” (Teacher, Secondary)
⬆ Up eight places from the Inclusion Index Edition 2
Kaleidoscopic Data: Staff reporting mental health strain, long-term health conditions or identifying as neurodivergent are significantly less likely to say wellbeing support meets their needs.
GEC View: Wellbeing provision is experienced as uneven and conditional. Without structural adjustments, inclusion expectations become a driver of burnout rather than sustainability.