LTA Self-Evaluation Benchmarks LPOoL May 2026.xlsx

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
1	QI 2.3 Themes	LTA Self-Evaluation Question - Learner Participation and Ownership of Learning		Impact Statement
2	QI 2.3 Themes			Satisfactory	Good	Very Good	Excellent	Northern Alliance Toolkit Theme Overview
3	Learning and Engagement	5a	Across the learning community, there is a strong sense of belonging and all individual identities are valued.	Inclusion and identity are recognised as important, but approaches are not yet consistent. Some learners feel a sense of belonging, but others continue to face barriers. Impact on outcomes is limited and inconsistent. Diversity is occasionally reflected in learning, but pupil voice and strategic planning are underdeveloped. Progress is evident but at an early stage.	The school promotes an inclusive environment where most learners feel respected and supported. Relationships are positive, and there is growing recognition of individual identity. As a result, some improvements in engagement, wellbeing and participation are evident. Inclusive practices are developing but not yet consistent, and their impact on outcomes varies across groups.	A strong ethos of respect and inclusion means most young people feel valued and included. Positive relationships and responsive support contribute to increased confidence, participation, and wellbeing. Learners are achieving well, and inclusive practices are reducing barriers. Diversity is reflected in learning, and pupil voice informs developments. A few areas are still embedding, but the impact on most learners is clear and positive.	A deeply embedded culture of inclusion ensures all young people feel a strong sense of belonging and have their identities actively celebrated. This leads to high levels of engagement, confidence, and wellbeing. Learners demonstrate resilience, strong relationships, and success across a range of outcomes. Diversity is fully integrated into learning, and young people’s voices shape inclusive practice. Outcomes for all learners, particularly the most vulnerable, are consistently above national expectation.	Learner Participation What does this look like in a high-quality experience? “Learner participation in schools and early years settings includes all the ways in which children and young people engage in practices and dialogue with educational staff, parents, carers, and community members to create positive outcomes and changes…. Learner participation must not be considered as an ‘add-on’ but be experienced as intrinsic to everyday ways of working.” Learner Participation in Educational Settings ▪All learners have opportunities to influence and participate in decisions about approaches relating to how they learn, are taught, and assessed -eg. topics, content, timetabling, learning environment, etc. ▪Through participation, learners exercise a key role in their learning through on-going dialogue with teachers and others. ▪Learners demonstrate increasing confidence in taking responsibility for their learning, including learning independently and leading aspects of their learning ▪Learners have opportunities for personalisation and choice, influencing what and how they learn. ▪Learners develop and become confident in the use of vocabulary to describe their learning ▪Practitioners and learners make use of a range of learning and teaching approaches such as collaborative learning to enable learners to develop important skills such as communication, teamwork and problem solving. This also builds capacity for meaningful learner participation within the life of the school and community ▪Through dialogue with adults, learners can influence a variety of important decisions. ▪Opportunities for personal achievement can be shaped, designed or initiated by learners themselves or may be provided in collaboration with practitioners and/or wider partners
4		5b	Learners have opportunities for personalisation and choice, influencing what and how they learn.	Opportunities for personalisation and choice are limited or inconsistent. Some learners can influence aspects of their learning, but this is often superficial or teacher-directed. There is limited evidence of impact on motivation or attainment. Greater consistency and learner involvement are needed to improve outcomes and ensure relevance in learning experiences.	Learners have planned opportunities for personalisation and choice in parts of the curriculum. Most are engaged and can influence some aspects of their learning. While this supports motivation and progress for many, opportunities are not yet fully embedded or consistent across stages. The impact on outcomes for young people varies depending on the quality of implementation.	Learners regularly experience relevant opportunities for personalisation and choice across many areas of learning. Most young people feel empowered and engaged, contributing to improved confidence, motivation, and progress. Their views are sought and acted on to shape aspects of learning. Some refinements are ongoing, but the overall impact on outcomes for most learners is clear, positive and in line with national epxectations.	Learners consistently influence what and how they learn through well-planned, meaningful personalisation and choice. They take ownership of their learning, leading to high levels of motivation, creativity, and attainment. Opportunities are embedded across the curriculum and tailored to individual interests and needs. Learner voice drives curriculum design and pedagogy, resulting in outstanding outcomes for almost all young people.
5		5c	Learners demonstrate increasing confidence in taking responsibility for their learning, including learning independently and leading aspects of their learning.	Some learners are beginning to take responsibility for aspects of their learning, but this is not yet well developed or consistent. Independent learning is limited and often directed by teachers, resulting in ritual compliance. Few opportunities exist for learners to lead or reflect meaningfully on their progress. As a result, impact on confidence and learning outcomes remains limited.	Learners are encouraged to take some responsibility for their learning, with increasing opportunities to work independently and make decisions about tasks. The majority show growing confidence and engagement, though the quality and consistency of experiences vary. There is some evidence of impact on motivation, self-direction, and outcomes, but opportunities to lead learning are not yet embedded across all contexts.	Most learners are developing confidence in leading and taking ownership of their learning. They show increasing independence and take an active role in planning, evaluating, and shaping learning experiences. As a result, they are more engaged, reflective, and motivated, with improvements evident in outcomes for most. Opportunities for learner leadership are purposeful and well supported.	Learners confidently take responsibility for their learning, regularly setting goals, reflecting on progress, and leading learning independently and collaboratively. They demonstrate high levels of motivation, resilience and self-awareness. Opportunities to lead learning are embedded and well supported, leading to consistently strong outcomes for almost all learners across attainment, skills development, and personal growth.
6	Quality of Teaching	7a	Practitioners and learners work together to ensure a supportive, inclusive and safe learning environment where all learners feel valued and empowered to contribute.	Practitioners provide a generally positive and respectful learning environment where most learners feel safe. Inclusive practice is evident but inconsistent, and some barriers to participation remain, which limits the extent to which all learners can engage fully. Learners have limited influence over their learning, resulting in variable confidence and ownership of their progress.	Practitioners and learners work well together to create a supportive, inclusive environment where the majority of learners feel valued. Consistent inclusive approaches help reduce barriers, improving participation and engagement for most learners. Learners’ voices are recognised, contributing to increasing confidence, motivation and improved learning experiences.	A strong culture of inclusion and respect is clearly established, enabling most learners to feel valued, confident and safe to contribute. Highly effective inclusive practice results in high levels of engagement and equitable participation. Learners play a meaningful role in shaping their learning, leading to increased agency, improved wellbeing and enhanced progress.	An exemplary culture of inclusion, empowerment and respect is embedded across the setting, ensuring every learner feels valued and safe. Innovative and proactive approaches remove barriers, enabling all learners to thrive academically, socially and emotionally. Learners demonstrate exceptional levels of agency and leadership, with their active influence on the learning community contributing to outstanding engagement, wellbeing and achievement.	Ownership of Learning What does this look like in a high quality experience? ▪Practitioners and learners work together to ensure a supportive, inclusive and safe learning environment where all learners feel valued and empowered to contribute. ▪All learners engage in planned and unplanned opportunities to reflect on their own learning, which helps them to develop a deep understanding of themselves as learners and enables them to identify their areas of strength and areas for development. ▪Learners are skilled in self and peer assessment, with routines and structures in place to give and receive feedback. This supports learners to evaluate evidence of their own learning and make informed decisions about their next steps. ▪Practitioners support learners to become more reflective and as a result, learners are becoming more self-directed and able to set learning targets for themselves.
7		7b	Practitioners and learners make use of a range of learning and teaching approaches such as collaborative learning, to enable learners to develop important skills such as communication, teamwork and problem solving.	Practitioners use a limited range of learning and teaching approaches, including some collaborative activities, but these are applied inconsistently across the setting. As a result, opportunities for learners to develop communication, teamwork and problem-solving skills are uneven, leading to variable levels of engagement and progress.	Practitioners and learners work together to use a range of learning and teaching approaches, including well-planned collaborative learning. This enables the majority of learners to develop communication, teamwork and problem-solving skills with increasing confidence. These approaches support improved engagement and contribute positively to learners’ overall progress.	Practitioners make effective and well-judged use of a wide range of learning and teaching approaches, with collaborative learning well embedded across the setting. Learners routinely develop strong communication, teamwork and problem-solving skills through purposeful and challenging activities. This leads to high levels of engagement, confidence and increasingly successful learning outcomes.	Practitioners and learners consistently co-create rich, innovative and highly effective learning experiences using a diverse range of approaches, including exemplary collaborative learning. All learners develop outstanding communication, teamwork and problem-solving skills, applying them confidently in new and complex contexts. These approaches result in exceptional engagement, independence and high-quality outcomes for all learners.
8		7c	Opportunities for learners to participate in wider contexts for learning such as their local community increases meaningful participation, ownership of learning and motivation to learn.	Learners have some opportunities to participate in wider contexts for learning, though these experiences are sporadic and not yet embedded in practice. As a result, the impact on learners’ participation, ownership and motivation is limited and varies significantly across the setting.	Learners regularly engage in wider learning opportunities within the school and local community, which enhances their sense of participation and ownership of their learning. These experiences contribute positively to the majority of learners’ motivation, confidence and understanding of the relevance of their learning.	Well-planned and meaningful opportunities for wider learning are firmly embedded, with most learners actively engaging in community-based experiences that enrich and extend their learning. These opportunities lead to high levels of ownership, strong motivation and increased confidence, with learners clearly seeing the relevance and purpose of their learning beyond the classroom.	Outstanding and creative opportunities for wider learning are co-designed with learners and partners, ensuring highly authentic, relevant and impactful experiences within the local and wider community. Almost all learners demonstrate exceptional participation, strong ownership and high motivation, using these rich experiences to deepen their learning, develop leadership and contribute meaningfully to their community.
9		7d	Routines and structures are in place for learners to give and receive feedback.	Most lessons are overly teacher led and lack creativity. Teachers should consider a wider range of approaches such as collaborative learning to support young people to participate more actively in their learning. When given opportunities to lead and direct aspects of their learning, young people respond well and often demonstrate high levels of capability.	Teachers know young people well and are aware of their learning needs. In most classes, activities and tasks are adapted to meet the needs of learners. Teachers offer individual support to young people during a lesson. This allows learners to engage effectively in their learning.	In almost all lessons, teachers structure learning around a shared routine with a clear starter activity which draws on prior learning. Retrieval practice allows teachers to revisit aspects of the learning that were not well understood, developing young people's confidence in their learning.	The overall quality of teaching across the school is of a very high standard. Almost all teachers have very strong classroom routines. Teacher's make explicit links between prior and current learning, using well-planned, meaningful starter tasks to motivate and focus learners.
10	Effective use of Assessment	9a	Learners are skilled in self and peer assessment. This supports learners to evaluate evidence of their own learning and make informed decisions about their next steps.	There is an over-reliance on summative assessment such as tests to guage learners' progress. Teachers should consider a wider range of assessment approaches for self and peer assessment in order to help young people to understand their learning more effectively.	Young people would benefit from increased opportunities to self and peer assess acorss all faculties. This will help to empower young people to have greater responsibility for their own learning.	Most young people have the opportunity to participate in peer and self-assessment activities. They are positive about the quality and frequency of feedback. As a result they are able to talk confidently about their strengths and what they need to do to improve.	Almost all teachers use a significant range of appropriate and well-considered assessments, including a balance of summative and formative assessment, to identify young people's progress and next steps in learning.
11	Planning, Tracking & Monitoring	11a	Learners have regular opportunities to reflect on their own learning, allowing them to develop a deep understanding of themselves as learners, enabling them to identify areas of strength and areas of development	Most teachers access the tracking system to monitor the progress of young people against summative standards, and alert parents through concern slips where young people are under-achieving. Approaches should be developed to involve the young people during this process to allow them to take ownership of their current level of learning and responsibility for setting next steps targets to achieve the best possible outcome for them.	Most young people benefit from learning conversations. Where these are regular and of a high quality, young people have the opportunity to reflect on prior learning, indentify their progress since their last learning conversation and identify next steps to secure targeted, positive outcomes.	Most teachers monitor the progress of individual learners during each lesson and intervene appropriately. Tracking and monitoring at Faculty to provide a strategic overview of the progress of individuals and groups of young people. Targeted interventions have successfully improved outcomes for young people.	Learning conversation targets are revisited with teachers to analyse their impact and inform next steps. This robust approach helps to ensure almost all learners feel they are supported to understand their progress and to achieve the best possible outcomes for them.
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