On Monday, 10 November 2025, the importance of pupil engagement in England’s schools was celebrated at a special event in the House of Lords, sponsored by Rt Hon. Baroness Nicky Morgan, former Secretary of State for Education.

The event marked the second act of findings from the Research Commission on Engagement and Lead Indicators (RCELI) – a moment to celebrate schools championing engagement across their communities and using engagement data to drive meaningful action.  

 “It’s not an overstatement to say that because of you, engagement, as we’ve heard, is now being taken extremely seriously both across government and elsewhere in the sector… By understanding engagement, we can get a clearer picture of what’s going on for the whole child, enabling leaders to better support young people to achieve the outcomes they are capable of.”  — the Rt Hon. Baroness Nicky Morgan  

Researching the Pupil Engagement Gap

The RCELI, led by TEP and ImpactEd Group in partnership with ASCL, CST, The Reach Foundation, and Challenge Partners, explores how pupil engagement acts as a lead indicator of broader school outcomes.

Leveraging insights from over 100,000 pupils across England using TEP’s data, the Research Commission tracked engagement throughout the 2024–25 academic year over 3 census windows. The data, analysed by Professor John Jerrim (UCL Institute of Education and Research Director at ImpactEd Group and TEP), revealed striking discoveries published earlier this year, including the sharp decline in engagement that occurs as pupils transition to secondary school – the so-called “Year 7 dip”.  

This landmark study – the largest of its kind – has sparked a national conversation about pupil experience in schools, revealing the need for targeted actions to prevent low engagement and the associated risks of absence and poor outcomes.

Read the full report: Mind the Gap: A National Study of Pupil Engagement in England’s Schools

Turning Engagement Data into School Action

Practice in using engagement data is just as important as the data itself. The House of Lords event provided an opportunity to hear directly from schools using TEP data to track and measure engagement, translating insights into strategic action across their communities.

Speakers included Karen Bramwell, CEO of Forward As One Church of England Multi Academy Trust, and Toby Sutherland, Headteacher of St Clement Danes School, who shared their experiences and successes using engagement data to drive improvement.  

“TEP provides additional evidence of the impact of our people strategy, of where we need to increase our focus or our presence in an individual school. It helps us to track our performance as we work together to improve schools that we've sponsored.” – Karen Bramwell.

Toby Sutherland highlighted the practical impact of TEP on day-to-day leadership:

“The power of the data in TEP gives us the ability to immediately pick up on quantitative and qualitative information and then be able to triangulate that and establish trends over time. This has enabled us to have the most depth of conversations and informed targeted conversations with key stakeholder groups that I think we've ever been able to have”.

The new findings from the Research Cohort explore effective practice around engagement across 5 key areas:

‍Primary to Secondary Transition: Supporting pupils through the move to secondary school – with great examples from Wade Deacon High School, The Snaith School, and St Clement Danes School.

‍Safety and Gender Differences: Tackling disparities in how pupils experience safety, particularly the sharp decline in girls’ sense of safety during secondary school – with powerful approaches from  Malton School, Elstree Screen Arts Academy, and Clayton le Moors Primary.

‍Pupil-Teacher Relationships: Strengthening pupil–teacher connections – showcased by Rockliffe Manor Primary, Lipson Cooperative Academy, Joseph Rowntree School, and Elstree Screen Arts Academy.

‍Enjoyment and School Experience: Embedding joy and belonging in everyday school life – with stories from Foxfield Primary, Maundene Primary, The Snaith School, and Malton School.

‍Agency and Academic Drive: Giving pupils real ownership of their learning – led by Rockliffe Manor Primary and Clayton le Moors Primary.  

Read all the stories from the Research Cohort: Acting on the Engagement Gap: Insights from the Research Cohort.  

Scaling the Engagement Movement

Engagement is more than a moment, it’s a movement. As more schools begin tracking engagement through TEP, the national picture becomes richer, enhancing both live national and contextualised benchmarks.

The House of Lords event also launched the Leadership & Governance Study, the country’s largest fully funded census exploring how leadership and governance teams perceive their roles, priorities, and impact.

“We want as many schools as possible to participate so we can build a national picture for trustees and governors, just as we have done for pupils and employees. We are particularly interested in understanding how governance-level decision-making and leadership practices link to pupil and employee outcomes.”
— Dr Chris Wilson, Co-Founder and Group Director, ImpactEd Group

The people who have the greatest influence over school outcomes often have the least access to structured feedback, meaningful insights, or peer comparisons. This study aims to change that. It will help headteachers and trust leaders:

• Reflect on how their school or trust compares to peers across the sector through national and contextualised benchmarks.

• Understand whether their leadership and governance teams are aligned in priorities, vision, and purpose.

• Leverage tailored, visual reports to spark meaningful discussions, guide professional development, and drive coordinated improvement.

Fully funded by ImpactEd Group, schools and trusts can now register to participate.

Register your interest here.