One of the many takeaways from the Schools White Paper published in February is that a new Pupil Engagement Framework is to be developed, with help from pupils, parents and schools. It will be designed to measure and improve student belonging, safety, motivation, and inclusion, aiming to increase attendance by 20 million days by 2028/29. When this framework lands later this year, it will allow all schools to measure the key factors that determine pupil engagement in education – and make improvements as a result.
In 2025, ImpactEd Group, along with the Association of School and College Leaders, the Confederation of School Trusts, Challenge Partners and the Reach Foundation, launched national research to understand the role of pupil engagement in school outcomes. The resulting report defines pupil engagement as being the commitment and enthusiasm that students have towards their relationship with their school and its activities and describes prior academic literature as having divided school engagement into three components: cognitive; emotional; and behavioural.
The Schools White Paper stated that by 2029 the government expects “every school to monitor pupils’ sense of belonging and engagement”. Currently around 60% of schools report they measure factors around engagement.
CLA is particularly interested in the way in this new approach links to our evidence and value narrative work. Our Capabilities Framework sets out the capabilities developed through Arts subjects and experiences within and beyond schools, across three pillars: being, becoming and belonging; relating; and cognition and creative thinking. These in turn encompass seven capabilities that have personal benefits for the child or young person – which lead to societal benefits: agency and wellbeing; collaboration, communication and empathy; and creativity and interpretation.
CLA and the Royal Shakespeare Company will soon co-publish Rapid Evidence Reviews across Arts subjects which examine knowledge, skills and cognitive benefits, but also consider how Arts subjects deliver agency, empowerment, personal development, identify formation and health and wellbeing as significant benefits. This evidence has important implications for pupil engagement: all expressive Arts disciplines offer pathways to success and engagement, and we look forward to sharing these Reviews in May.
It is helpful here to look back at the findings of the ImpactEd research. Data was gathered from more than 100,000 pupils from hundreds of schools across England. The resulting report shows disparities by year group, gender and background. The research revealed patterns which can inform the upcoming pupil engagement framework and can enable policy makers to understand why they exist, how best to respond and what can work to promote engagement in different contexts. At the time SchoolsWeek highlighted six key takeaways:
- Year 7 is a flashpoint: Data shows the transition to secondary school marks a cliff edge for pupil engagement; their enjoyment of school drops from an average score of 6.0 (out of 10) in Year 6 to just 3.8 in Year 7, falling further in Year 8.
- Attendance is deeply connected to engagement: It perhaps seems obvious, but the report confirmed it is helpful to combine attendance and engagement rather than separating them in terms of data. “Secondary pupils in the top quartile for engagement in the autumn term were 10 percentage points less likely to be persistently absent than those in the bottom quartile. Persistent absence, lateness and behavioural challenges are often visible symptoms of deeper disengagement.”
- Target ‘belonging’ strategies: Pupils eligible for free school meals consistently reported lower levels of trust, belonging and enjoyment, and these gaps widen across the secondary years. “Belonging affects how a child sees themselves, whether they believe school is ‘for them’ and whether they stick with it.”
- Girls are more driven but more vulnerable: Girls report higher levels of academic motivation but are also significantly more likely to feel unsafe or anxious about school, particularly in Years 7 to 9. One in three girls in these years does not feel safe at school.
- Positive staff engagement drives pupil engagement: Schools with staff reporting higher job satisfaction have significantly higher pupil engagement. A positive culture is “contagious”: “Investing in culture isn’t just a workforce strategy; it’s a key part of any pupil outcomes strategy.”
- Engagement should be responsive and accessible: Engagement data becomes most powerful at local level. “Our research shows a school’s engagement trends can shift quickly within a single year.Time-sensitive, contextual and appropriately benchmarked data is crucial.”
CLA sees three particularly important findings within these six takeaways. The first is that developing a sense of belonging is vital: focused strategies to build trust, belonging and enjoyment are important. Our Arts education Capabilities Framework describes agency as important for a sense of belonging, built through autonomy, confidence and identity formation. Wellbeing – encompassing flourishing, pleasure and resilience – is similarly important. The fact that pupils eligible for free school meals consistently reported lower levels of belonging and enjoyment is particularly troubling but aligns with our latest Report Card research (due out in May) about these students and their under-representations in Arts GCSE take-up.
The second key finding is that positive staff develop positive pupils. The government response to the Curriculum and Assessment review called for more valuing of the professionalism and creativity of teachers in bringing the curriculum to life. The government wants to allow for flexibility alongside new curriculum specificity, so that teachers can choose lesson content and how to teach it. CLA has long advocated for more teacher agency and autonomy and this direct link between teacher agency and job satisfaction, and pupil engagement, is helpful to understand.
Finally, there is also an important point about engagement issues in year 7 being part of a new government policy approach to Key Stage 3. The government response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review in November called for a rich Key Stage 3, with every secondary school needing to give sufficient priority to strengthening KS3, “driven by a clear vision of a rich and stretching curriculum … and a broader focus on a rewarding school experience. School leaders should ensure that pupils in key stage 3 benefit from … time for breadth of experience, depth of learning and wider enrichment.” The government wants high-quality resources, and experienced staff, and ways to recognise pupils’ achievements so that their personal, social and academic accomplishments are celebrated. This is an important shift, one we advocated for in our evidence submission to the Review, and it has the potential to support work to strengthen pupil engagement in year 7, including through Arts provision.
CLA will report on the new Pupil Engagement Gramework when it is published. In the meantime, we will continue to mobilise our Capabilities Framework so that schools can understand the important ways in which the expressive Arts can support pupil engagement – look out for all our new evidence in May.
