Engagement matters to learning. Without it, students are unlikely to focus and invest in their learning. If teenage students in England are increasingly disengaged, we should want to know the causes and what can be done about it.

In a recent large scale survey entitled, 'Mind the Engagement Gap: A National Study of Pupil Engagement in England’s Schools', by Professor John Jerrim (ImpactEd Group), they explored the views of over eighty thousand students between November 2024 and March 2025.

They found that sobering insights. For example, lots of students simply do not look forward to going to school. On average - in response to the statement, “I feel happy to go to school in the morning”, students gave it a score of around 4.6 out of ten.

There was an obvious decline comparing students from year 6 to year 8. It falls from a score of 3.8 in year 6 to 3.2 in year 8. Perhaps this is to be expected. The teenage years prove turbulent and year 8 begins a shift into adolescence where the structures and strictures of daily school lift become something to challenge and struggle against.

Lots of indicators of potential engagement can be deciphered amongst school data. High absence rates - which have been stubborn since the pandemic - have perplexed schools and though the causes of absence are multi-faceted and complex, in simplistic terms it indicates disengagement from students and some families.

It is perhaps no surprise, in response to this creeping negativity, to see the government White Paper on 'Every Child Achieving and Thriving' announcing that, "By 2029, we expect every school to monitor children’s sense of belonging and engagement, up from around 60% of schools today."

They articulate issues like the difficult transition to secondary school alongside the travails of adolescence. They make the link that "...academic excellence and deep pupil engagement go hand in hand." It is hard to argue with this statement, but also it may just be as tricky to define exactly what is meant by "deep pupil engagement". Never mind deciphering what is within the gift of the school to influence beyond wider societal factors.

Defining Engagement

Education is bedevilled by commonly used terms that seem clear and well defined, but then people can hold very different views about their meaning and application. words like engagement is particularly difficult to get to grips with.

Helpfully, there are some handy working definitions and models. Researchers Ellen Skinner and Michael Belmont have defined concept of engagement thus:

“Children who are engaged show sustained behavioural involvement in learning activities accompanied by a positive emotional tone. They select tasks at the border of their competencies, initiate action when given the opportunity, and exert intense effort and concentration in the implementation of learning tasks.”

Even more helpfully, James Appleton and his fellow researchers have developed a four part framework for engagement:

 Academic engagement. Observable participation in lessons, such as time on task, effort, persistence, and completion of work.
Behavioural engagement. Participation in school more broadly, such as attendance, follow school systems, and involvement in school activities.
Cognitive engagement. Investment in thinking and learning, such as self-regulation, use of learning strategies, and going beyond expectation e.g. homework tasks.
Psychological engagement. Students' sense of connection and belonging, such as relationships with teachers, relationships with peers, seeing the relevance of education, and a sense of belonging.

What is obvious in this framework is that is it concrete and observable. You can monitor it for changes. You might even be able to influence it positively.

Of course, some of these factors intimately and subtly overlap. Participation in school activities may increase a sense of connection to the teacher, which may in turn enhance the completion of work and be indicative of more persistence. There is a connected set of behaviours you can consider.

For busy leaders and teachers, it makes most sense to build a clear idea of what types of engagement you want to build, be specific about what would indicate increased engagement, and then test and learn. Obviously, there isn't a great deal of spare time in the school day or in teacher planning, so plans need to be pragmatic.

We might first consider what types of engagement are within the gift of the school. Peer and teacher relationships may be a hard nut to crack, but starting with cognitive and academic engagement may be more manageable as a part of great teaching. Attendance may be too big an issue, but trying to impact the small behaviours when students are in school may be a good start.

It may prove the right time to engage your teenage students. First, let's be really clear on the 'what' of engagement, before then trying to make a manageable and meaningful dent on increasing engagement in our teen students.

What is clear is that engagement as defined here is learned behaviour. Learned behaviour can be influenced and taught. It just needs careful handling so that making a positive difference is possible.

  • Lift Schools have produced a report on the "KS3 cliff edge" and the problem of falling engagement - see HERE.
  • This ASCD article by Jim Heal and Bryan Goodwin is entitled 'Moving from Engagement to Deeper Thinking' takes a critical perspective - see HERE.
  • A recent TES column cites more research from John Jerrim on how feeling 'in control' can boost reading outcomes. It is an interesting worked example of how schools need to explore the relationship with engagement and learning in specific ways - see HERE.