Download our free guide: The importance of belonging for mental health, achievement and attendance

You can't fix what you can't see

Funding is tighter than ever and recruitment costs on the rise. Absence, behaviour and staff turnover are eating into your budgets. The leaders getting ahead of it are starting with belonging, focusing earlier on the conditions that shape how people feel and perform.

Most Trusts are working hard on attendance, behaviour and retention, but the data that drives those conversations is always looking backwards. By the time a pattern appears, the underlying problem has been building for months.

See which students need you most across every cohort

Inclusion is no longer seen as an isolated initiative; it is a core expectation of everything that is done to help students achieve within the inspection framework and an overarching key measure of school effectiveness.

For the best experience, view this on a larger screen where you can drill down into combinations of student characteristics.

What schools look like when belonging is measured

An annual survey or a corridor conversation is as close as many schools get to understanding how students and staff really feel. It's not enough. Belonging needs to be measured consistently, comparably, and often enough to be useful.

500k+

Survey questions completed online

6500

Free resources to use with students and staff

70+

Languages supported, with audio read-aloud

Design element
South Lincolnshire Academies Trust logo

Dr Kyri Chrysostomou

Senior Trust Education Director
South Lincolnshire Academies Trust

Satchel Pulse will help provide the tools to gather meaningful insights into student wellbeing, engagement, and sense of belonging. By investing time and effort into this platform, we can proactively identify areas for improvement, track progress, and implement strategies that align with our Trust priorities. This approach not only strengthens our compliance with national standards but also reflects our commitment to creating an inclusive environment where every student can succeed.

Blue Coat Church of England Academy logo

David Smith

Principal
Blue Coat Church of England Academy

The surveys helped us gain unique insight into how effective our drive to promote a sense of belonging has been with specific cohorts and groups within cohorts. The precision in the analysis has allowed us to effectively plan our response, based on clear evidence and supported by a wealth of ready to use resources within the Satchel Pulse platform. At a time when developing a sense of belonging is crucial within our schools and where inclusion is a system-wide priority, Satchel Pulse has provided us with a valuable tool which ensures that support and intervention is evidence-led and our response is shaped by tried and tested resources.

Ledbury Primary school logo

Rachel Usher

Headteacher
Ledbury Primary school

We have been thoroughly impressed by the quality of the platform and the accompanying resources. The insight it provides has the potential to support us in developing a deeper understanding of pupil and staff mental health and wellbeing. We feel confident that Satchel Pulse will offer useful and meaningful data to inform our ongoing work in this important area.

Not another one-off survey that sits in a spreadsheet

Perceptions is a real-time insights tool that sits alongside your existing data, complementing what your MIS already tells you with the early signals it can't.

1

Designed to get responses

Each survey takes 5–10 minutes. Respondents use an easy sliding scale, accessible to all—including younger students. Translations are available in 40+ languages, with built-in audio read-aloud support.

2

Trusted questions

Use a survey from our library aligned to the Every Child Achieving and Thriving whitepaper. Questions are brief, specific, and neutral. No leading or double-barrelled questions. Add custom items for your priorities.

3

Tracks change over time

Perceptions is designed to run frequently, so you can see what’s shifting across your Trust and whether actions taken are making a difference. Act when costs are low, options are wider, and impact is greater.

Three audiences. One consistent picture.

Students

Connection, recognition, participation. The early signals that precede disengagement and absence.

Staff

Belonging for teachers matters too. Understanding staff culture early is far cheaper than replacing people.

Families

Parent and carer perceptions give you context that neither attendance data nor student voice can provide alone.

The insight to act, not just report

School-wide averages tell you very little. Pulse surfaces the cohorts that need attention so your schools can act with precision earlier than any attendance or behaviour report ever could.

Spot hidden gaps

School-wide averages mask the groups that need most support. Pulse surfaces precise cohorts, e.g. PP + Year 8 + White, slipping below your school's baseline before outcomes deteriorate.

Act, don't just monitor

Turn results directly into intervention groups, then go deeper with mental health screeners and skills assessments. Every low-scoring cohort becomes a clear next step.

Track improvement over time

Run Perceptions regularly and compare results term-on-term. See which interventions work and where to focus support before problems compound.

Catch attendance problems early

Our Emotion Based Avoidance Assessment (EBSA) unpicks attendance difficulties and creates a bespoke action plan to reintegrate students back into school.

Design element