Enrichment benchmarks
The DfE's eight enrichment benchmarks, mapped to the data most schools already hold
Non-statutory framework, published 15 June 2026. A quick self-check to run before you buy anything.
What data you already have, and what is missing
Most schools already hold the raw material for the benchmarks. The gap is rarely collection. It is the join: tagging activities, breaking participation down by pupil group, and linking it to outcomes. Use this to see what you can already show, and where to start.
How to read this: work across each row. The middle column is what you can likely evidence today. The right column is the work that turns it into a benchmark-ready picture. Start with the rows where the right column feels furthest away.
Benchmark | Data you already have | What is usually missing |
|---|---|---|
1. Strategically aligned | Development plan, values and curriculum plans. Enrichment is usually named somewhere. | Enrichment written as one planned offer, with an owner, clear roles and a monitoring cycle. |
2. Broad and well-rounded | Lists of clubs, trips and activities. Timetables. | Every activity tagged to the five categories, plus a per-pupil view of which categories each child has and has not accessed. |
3. Communicated, celebrates participation | Newsletters, parent app, assemblies and some awards. | A verified record of what each student did, fed into reports, that the student keeps and reflects on. |
4. Shaped by the community | Pupil voice surveys. Some pupil leadership. | A way to capture student-led and student-initiated activity, with approval and safeguards. |
5. Accessible and engaging | Club registers. MIS flags for disadvantage, SEND, young carers, care-experienced and attendance. | The two joined, so take-up can be seen by group against peers, and barriers acted on. |
6. Works in partnership | Relationships with providers, clubs and employers. | A record of partners and their quality, and signposting of opportunities beyond the school's own offer. |
7. Outcomes-focused | Belonging and wellbeing survey data, attendance, behaviour and attainment in the MIS. | The link from who took part to how their outcomes moved over time. |
8. Continually improving | Annual reviews. Some feedback. | Participation trends by group, the free, subsidised and paid mix, and impact tracked year on year. |
The one step that costs nothing
Check whether your enrichment registers can be broken down by disadvantage and SEND. If they can, you can already see who is missing out. If they cannot, that is the gap to close first.
Vinspired helps schools turn the data they already hold into a benchmark-ready view of personal development and enrichment.
