A new government framework that will help schools to measure pupils’ sense of belonging and engagement has been delayed. The schools white paper, published in February, said it expected all schools to “monitor pupils’ sense of belonging and engagement” by 2029. It added that a “pupil engagement framework” would be ready to launch in the summer. But the Department for Education has confirmed the framework is still undergoing development and aims for it to be published before the end of this academic year. This would will be “in time to feed into school planning for next September”. “We are continuing to work with schools and measurement providers to develop a standard set of well-evidenced questions for pupils to provide a basis for this understanding, and an associated guidance that builds on existing practice to support schools to use the information effectively.” The framework will help schools measure, understand and improve the key factors that determine pupils’ engagement in education. It will include a “standard set of well-evidenced questions for pupils” as well as guidance for schools to “use the information effectively”. Higher attainment According to the DfE, about 60 per cent of schools already measure factors around belonging, but there is no consistent way of recording the data. Research by Pallavi Banerjee from the University of Cambridge found that higher school belonging is associated with higher attainment. But the study found that girls, white children, pupils from a disadvantaged background and those with SEND are less likely to report they felt they belonged in school. Dr Nicole Ponsford, founder director of research and impact at Kaleidoscope, a research and innovation organisation, said belonging was “multidimensional”, as “pupils can be motivated and participate without feeling safe, valued or accepted”. “Meaningful measurement requires trust, drawing on pupils’ own accounts to understand experiences that averages and MIS records can miss. “Implementation needs funding and protected staff time, so leaders can reach overlooked voices, interpret findings and act with pupils. The real test is whether pupils experience change as a result of being heard.” Chris Wilson, group director at ImpactEd, said measuring engagement data should be done “in a robust and evidence-informed way” as “if schools know which groups are disengaging, they can act and intervene early”.