The roundtable, hosted at 10 Downing Street, was also attended by representatives from Mission 44, teachers, young people and others working across the education system.

Mission 44 has been campaigning for reform through its Nothing Happens In Isolation campaign – which is rooted in reducing lost learning for the most vulnerable students. The campaign highlights the rising numbers of school exclusions, suspensions and persistent absence and their disproportionate impact on the most disadvantaged young people in our society.

The latest full academic year’s data (2022/23) shows there were 9,400 permanent exclusions (up 44% on the previous year) and 790K exclusions (up 36% on the previous year). In the same time frame there were 32 million days of lost learning.

Following today’s roundtable event, the Government has pledged to:

• Create a national best practice framework which supports schools to increase pupil engagement to be published by the start of 2026. It will provide guidance, including case studies, to help schools monitor school experience and learn from what works. It will also highlight the importance of young people feeling included, so they can attend, enjoy and achieve.
• Amplify the voices of young people by capturing and publishing more data on young people’s experiences, and that the DfE will publish annual data on, amongst other things, pupils’ sense of belonging, enjoyment and safety. The government has also committed to work with Mission 44 and partners to expand on the data they collect, support schools to collect relevant data and act on their findings to improve outcomes. More broadly, the Government will also work with Mission 44 to engage with pupils, parents and schools to hear what they value and want to see changed, where good practice exists and unpack what it would take to spread this.
• Support teachers from all backgrounds into the classroom – Teaching is the single most important factor, outside of the family, in determining pupil outcomes. As the Government seeks to attract and retain brilliant and inspiring teachers, they will work with Mission 44 and partners across education to get teachers from all backgrounds into the classroom, including those from ethnic minorities, ensuring our teachers are fully representative of the communities – and the country – children grow up in.

The roundtable event comes a week after Lewis Hamilton and Mission 44 led a call for change in a joint statement signed by over 25 organisations in the youth and education sectors.