The Age 11 Dip: 1 in 4 Pupils Disengage from School in First Year of Secondary

New research reveals a concerning drop in engagement during the crucial transition to secondary education

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A Critical Transition Point

The transition to secondary school has long been recognised as a challenging period for young people. However, new research has uncovered just how significant this shift can be for pupils' educational engagement.

More than one in four pupils begin to disengage from school during Year 7, according to the largest-ever study of pupil engagement in England. Our research has identified the first year of secondary school as acritical point in children's education—with engagement levels that never fully recover for most pupils.

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Unprecedented Research Scale

The findings emerge from the Commission on Engagement and Lead Indicators, a collaborative effort led by ImpactEd Group in partnership with the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), Confederation of School Trusts (CST), The Reach Foundation and Challenge Partners.

By tracking over 80,000 pupils across England through The Engagement Platform (TEP), the Commission has created the most comprehensive picture yet of pupil engagement throughout the 2024-25 academic year. This extensive dataset offers insights into when and how pupils disconnect from school, enabling action at the local and national level. All participating schools in the research cohort contribute to the national dataset, but importantly also receive local insights at class, school and trust level (through the TEP platform and reports) to drive practice and intervention.

The Engagement Cliff Edge

The data reveals a stark contrast between primary and secondary experiences. While pupils in primary school report consistently high headline engagement, averaging over 8 out of 10 in key areas, and declines sharply during the first year of secondary education.

Most concerning is how levels of enjoyment, trust, agency and safety drop dramatically among Year 7 pupils between autumn and spring terms. This decline continues through subsequent years and never fully recovers through the key stages.

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Key Findings

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Year 7 marks a steep and lasting drop in engagement:

- Pupils’ average school enjoyment score drops from around 6.0 in Year 6 to 3.8 in Year 7, then falls further to 3.2 in Year8.

- Headline engagement — which includes willingness to recommend the school to others and how happy they are with it — follows the same downward trend and never fully recovers in secondary years.

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Disadvantaged pupils and girls are hit hardest:

- Pupils eligible for Free School Meals report lower levels of trust, enjoyment and belonging — with the gap widening through secondary.

- Girls are more likely to feel unsafe or worried, particularly in Years 7–9, despite showing higher academic drive than boys.

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Falling engagement predicts absenteeism:

- Secondary pupils in the top 25% of engagement scores in November 2024 are 10 percentage points less likely to be persistently absent than those in the bottom 25%.

- Less engaged pupils are also more likely to arrive late to school which contributes significantly to the loss of learning across the course of the year.

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Agency is greater among primary school pupils:

- Primary school pupils are more likely to believe that hard work at school will lead to success compared to other phases of education, with primary school pupils scoring 8.4 for the statement “my marks are my responsibility” compared to 6.8 for secondary pupils.

The research suggests that without addressing this "Age11 Dip," we risk allowing a significant proportion of pupils to disengage from education at a formative stage—with potential long-term consequences for their academic outcomes and wellbeing.

The detailed research report is available to school leaders here. The Commission will continue to expand the work over the summer and ImpactEd Group has committed additional funding for a next phase. If schools or MATs want to get involved there is a subsidy to support participation. Researchers are particularly interested in widening the evidence base in all- through schools, secondaries with close primary links and single sex schools. Schools that would be interested in accessing engagement data or contributing to further studies should contact hello@impactedgroup.uk.

Full report available here.

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