Belong
Achieve
Thrive
My school
The challenge
You can't fix what you can't see
The data looks backwards
Schools work hard on attendance, behaviour and attainment, but that data only reports what has already happened. A pupil who has quietly stopped feeling part of the school appears in your attendance figures months later, once the habit is set.
And now it’s a compliance issue
The DfE and Ofsted expect every school to be monitoring belonging and engagement by 2029. The question is no longer whether you measure it, but whether what you measure tells you what to do next, and to provide evidence.
See it in action
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.
Proof
What schools look like when belonging is measured
A trusted solution across the globe. Belonging measured, segmented, acted on and evidenced, in the language schools and inspectors already use.
10.8M
Survey questions answered.
by students in schools using Pulse. No paper, no data entry for staff.
6500
Free resources in your library.
Ready to use or assign to students and colleagues.
190
Languages supported.
In text and audio read-aloud, to better support EAL students.
Dr Kyri Chrysostomou
Senior Trust Education DirectorSouth 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.
David Smith
PrincipalBlue 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.
Rachel Usher
HeadteacherLedbury 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.
How it works
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.
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.
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.
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.
What you can do with it
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.
Why now
The signals are visible now. Don't wait
Where it starts
1 in 4
or more pupils begin to disengage during Year 7, the first year of secondary school.
What follows
3x
Pupils with low engagement scores are more likely to be persistently absent.
Where it has got to
20
point fall in secondary pupils’ sense of belonging across England, 2014 to 2022.
Sources: DfE, Every child achieving and thriving (2026); Ofsted school inspection toolkit, from September 2026.
