Behaviour & Classroom Culture
5×
Suspension gap
Disadvantaged pupils are suspended at nearly five times the rate of their peers.
DfE, Suspensions and permanent exclusions 2024/25
Attendance & Persistent Absence
18.14%
Persistently absent
Missing a tenth of school or more in 2024/25 — down from 19.95%, still well above the 10.86% of 2018/19.
DfE, Pupil absence in schools in England 2024/25
Safeguarding & Child Protection
632,900
Referrals in a year
Referrals to children's social care in the year ending March 2025 — roughly 1,700 a day.
DfE, Children's social care activity, year ending March 2025
Culture, Recognition & Belonging
31%
Did not belong
Secondary pupils who did not feel they belonged at school on most days, May 2025.
DfE, National Behaviour Survey 2024/25
SEND & Inclusion
20.8%
One pupil in five
On SEN support (14.8%) or holding an EHC plan (6.0%) — and plans have more than doubled since 2016.
DfE, Special educational needs in England 2025/26
Middle Leadership & Team Development
57.7%
Still teaching at ten years
Of qualified teachers remain in service ten years after qualifying — more than four in ten have gone.
DfE, School workforce in England, November 2025 census
Evidence, Self-Evaluation & Inspection Readiness
8
Bodies, one evidence base
Ofsted, ISI, SIAMS and BSO; KHDA, ADEK, SPEA and the Ministry of Education.
Each body's published framework
Art & Design · KS3 to A Level
1,040
Specialists lost
Fewer art and design teachers in secondary schools between 2010 and 2020 — a fall of about 8%.
Ofsted, Research review series: art and design, 2023
Behaviour & Classroom Culture
52%
Persistent disruption
Of all reasons given for suspension are persistent disruptive behaviour — by far the largest category.
DfE, Suspensions and permanent exclusions 2024/25
Attendance & Persistent Absence
2.39%
Severely absent
Missing half of school or more — nearly three times the 0.85% of 2018/19, and rising.
DfE, Pupil absence in schools in England 2024/25
Safeguarding & Child Protection
58%
Abuse or neglect
Of children in need, assessed with abuse or neglect as the primary need.
DfE, Children's social care activity, year ending March 2025
Culture, Recognition & Belonging
70%
Still motivated
Pupils motivated to learn — a statistically significant fall from 75% a year earlier.
DfE, National Behaviour Survey 2024/25
SEND & Inclusion
538,500
Pupils with an EHC plan
Up 11.6% in a single year, and more than double the number in 2016.
DfE, Special educational needs in England 2025/26
Middle Leadership & Team Development
38,600
Left in a single year
Full-time-equivalent teachers left the profession that year — 8.5% of a 466,400 workforce.
DfE, School workforce in England, November 2025 census
Evidence, Self-Evaluation & Inspection Readiness
2 of 4
Do not grade at all
ISI and SIAMS report standards met or a narrative judgement, not a grade.
ISI and SIAMS frameworks
Art & Design · KS3 to A Level
77%
Reached the standard
Of schools inspected under the renewed framework met the expected standard for curriculum and teaching.
Ofsted, State-funded schools inspections and outcomes as at 31 March 2026