In the past few years, school behaviour in England has become one of the most prominent and argued-about subjects in education.

The National Behaviour Survey reported that in May 2025, on average, students lost seven minutes per 30 minutes of school time due to misbehaviour around them.

Meanwhile, the latest annual data, published for the 2023-24 school year, saw 955,000 suspensions - a 21 per cent increase on the previous year - and 10,900 permanent exclusions. While exclusions are a necessary strategy, we need to see a reduction in behaviours that lead to these consequences.

There is some evidence that the needle is moving. The survey reported a significant improvement in student perceptions of disruption: the proportion of Year 7 to 13 students reporting that misbehaviour interrupted their work in at least some lessons over the past week decreased from 73 per cent in May 2024 to 62 per cent in May 2025.

The government has made clear its intention to address behaviour and attendance through a programme of reform. In my role as attendance and behaviour ambassador alongside Jayne Lowe, I work closely with the Department for Education and with schools across the country.

So, how should schools expect the behaviour landscape to shift in 2026? There are a number of developments to look out for. 

At the end of 2025, the DfE published its Restrictive interventions, including use of reasonable force, in schools guidance, which aims to provide clarity on how schools use rarer interventions like restraint. This will become effective in April 2026.

There are also two major behaviour initiatives to come in 2026: expansion of the Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) attendance and behaviour hubs programme, and the forthcoming schools White Paper.

RISE attendance and behaviour hubs

The RISE attendance and behaviour hubs programme is a school-led support project, building on and unifying the previous behaviour hubs and attendance hubs.

It was launched in 2025 with £1.5 million of investment, and the aim is to bring together the best of what schools already know works, and share proven strategies from high-performing lead schools to support improvements in behaviour and attendance in settings with the will to do so.

The programme is built around up to 90 lead schools with proven track records of success in behaviour and attendance. As of December 2025, 57 lead schools have been recruited and announced (21 in the first wave in August-September 2025, followed by 36 more in November 2025). Further announcements will follow as the network expands.

The hubs have three levels of support:

• Enhanced support provides intensive, one-to-one assistance for schools with greater needs. Lead schools will work with partner schools. They complete self-assessments, participate in full-day explorations with school culture analysis and jointly develop action plans. They then receive 10 days of tailored leadership support over three terms, including ongoing training, guidance and mentoring from their allocated lead school.
• Regional support offers broader access to structured CPD, termly open days at lead schools and opportunities for peer sharing and networking. This allows schools to learn from others facing similar challenges and to access practical, evidence-informed resources.
• Universal support whereby any school can be directed to materials, resources and case studies of proven value and efficacy. While not every school can receive the mentoring relationship of the lead schools, they can access the ideas and strategies that successful schools employ.

The programme will initially support around 5,000 schools with regional help and 500 with enhanced support, reaching approximately 600,000 pupils. The enhanced support begins in January 2026. Schools can still register interest via the DfE’s online expression of interest form, and there will still be opportunities to join as the programme rolls out.

A clearer direction on behaviour

Another important event in the behaviour sector will be the DfE’s publication of the landmark schools White Paper in early 2026, setting early expectations on behaviour and attendance. This will build on existing commitments and provide schools with clearer direction.

To further support schools, the DfE has announced a forthcoming expert- and evidence-led review of best practice in behaviour, as well as tackling and preventing bullying and reducing preventable exclusions. This will lead to a practical, user-friendly toolkit for schools, developed from evidence-based insights and tested in select schools.

The tender for this process is underway, with the review expected to commence in the coming year. The outcomes of that review should have important implications for how schools are directed to manage behaviour, tackle and prevent bullying, and reduce preventable exclusions.

Evidence-informed approaches

For schools looking for support with behaviour, the RISE attendance and behaviour hubs will provide practical, school-led support through regional and enhanced pathways.

The current DfE guidance, Behaviour in Schools, offers practical and evidence-informed approaches to leading whole-school systems.

Meanwhile, the Education Endowment Foundation continues to publish evidence-based toolkits for effective interventions.

Professional networks, multi-academy trusts and local authority collaboration will also remain important.

Tom Bennett is a national attendance and behaviour ambassador

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