Demo school · mHm123. Demo audits are saved to reporting and can be excluded from real results using this code.
Your inclusive school audit
The 7 principles of inclusion · whole school
Complete this audit at the start of the year to take stock of your school's inclusive practice against the DfE's 7 principles of inclusion, then return at the end of the year and see exactly how far you have come.
Decide which audit you are completing and select the correct one below to get started.
Belong is built around four things that help children feel they belong at school.
The four-point scale
How it works
Rate 42 statements across the 7 DfE principles of inclusion on a four-point scale, from emerging to embedded.
Use the Word report for the leadership conversation. Downloading it also saves the school-level baseline for end-of-year matching where live save is configured.
Use live matching to find the baseline for the same school and academic year, then compare start and end of year side by side.
Your results show start and end of year side by side for every principle, ready to evidence progress.
Where the 7 principles come from
The Department for Education's Inclusive mainstream fund: best practice for schools guidance asks mainstream schools to embed inclusive practice in line with 7 principles of inclusion. These same 7 principles underpin the inclusion strategy every mainstream school in England must publish by 31 December 2026.
This audit turns each principle into a set of practical statements drawn from the DfE's own examples of best practice, so your self-assessment maps directly onto what the DfE asks schools to deliver, and onto your published inclusion strategy.
What the audit covers
Privacy boundary. Analytics use school-level fields, role categories and ratings. Your answers and notes are autosaved on this browser. Embedded evidence is also included in the Word report; general reflection notes stay in your browser draft. Neither type of written note is sent to analytics or used for baseline matching. Do not include names or identifying details.
These details sit at the top of your results and exports. Your URN is the key that matches your start and end of year audits, and lets your local authority combine results across schools, so it is worth getting right.
The 6-digit number on your school's page at Get Information About Schools (GOV.UK).
These optional grouping fields support school-level reporting and can be edited if your school lookup does not fill them correctly.
The DfE expects inclusion to be a shared leadership responsibility, so it strengthens your audit to complete it with more than one voice. Select role categories only; do not enter names.
Work through each principle and rate every statement as your school is today. Open a principle to see its statements. Evidence entered for an Embedded rating is saved in your browser draft and included in the Word report. Each principle also has space for optional evidence and context notes; these general reflection notes are saved only in your browser draft and are not included in downloads or reporting.
Download your audit
Use the Word report for the leadership conversation. Download the Word report or click Finish before closing this tab so the start-of-year live baseline is stored for end-of-year matching where live save is configured.
This is the readable leadership report. It includes the school-level scores, strongest principles, development priorities, suggested next steps and evidence for statements currently rated Embedded. Check that evidence contains no names or identifying details before downloading or sharing. General reflection notes are excluded.
Your Word document has been downloaded. Where live save is configured, the school-level audit summary has also been saved.