State, not trait: reflections on sharing our award‑winning research for Analysis in Government Month

Presenting at Analysis in Government (AiG) Month is always a privilege, but this year’s session felt particularly meaningful for our Early Years and Social Care research team at the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted). We were invited to share the story behind our award‑winning project, “From trait to state: how Ofsted might consider conceptualising vulnerability for inspection and regulation“, which won joint first place in the Inclusion category at the AiG Awards 2026.

The session brought together analysts from across government, as well as members of the public. It was a chance not only to showcase the research, but to reflect on what it means to conduct inclusive, rigorous analysis in a complex policy environment and how research can inform real‑world inspection and regulatory practice.

Why this research mattered

As our Head of Research and Evaluation, Gill Churchill, explained during the session, the project began with a deceptively simple question: what do we really mean by vulnerability?

It is a term used constantly across education and social care, yet often inconsistently. Some vulnerabilities are visible and well‑recognised. Others remain hidden or emerge only in particular contexts. Many shift over time. Without a deeper understanding, there is a risk of oversimplifying children’s experiences or relying too heavily on fixed categories that do not reflect the complexity of real lives.

Working with Research in Practice at the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) gave us the independence, challenge, and methodological rigour this topic demanded. As Gill put it, stepping outside our own assumptions was essential if we were to avoid reinforcing narrow or outdated definitions.

Hosting our partners for AiG month

It was important for us to showcase the collaboration between Ofsted and NCB for this research. Mairi‑Anne Macdonald, Director of Development and Innovation at Research in Practice, joined us for the session and told us that the tender offered a rare opportunity and something ambitious: to bring together lived experience, professional insight, and academic evidence in a way that could meaningfully inform inspection and regulation.

The NCB team saw the potential for this work to influence the future of inspection practice and to support the workforce across education and social care. It was a chance to contribute to a more thoughtful, inclusive approach to understanding children’s needs.

Making the research genuinely inclusive

One of the strongest themes of our AiG Month session was the importance of inclusivity, not just in the findings, but in the methods themselves.

One of the most important parts of our award‑winning project was the commitment to making the research itself genuinely inclusive. From the outset, Ofsted and NCB worked together to unpick the diversity of the participant sample and to challenge ourselves on who was – and was not – represented. We all shared a clear ambition: if the research was intended to inform how we understand and respond to vulnerability, then the people most affected by those decisions needed to be meaningfully included in shaping the evidence. NCB drew on evidence‑based practice to widen participation and reduce barriers to involvement. This meant thinking creatively about recruitment, using different engagement formats, and actively reaching out to groups whose voices are often under‑represented in research. Whether through twilight sessions designed to support participation from Black and Global Majority professionals, or tailored approaches for parents, carers and young people, the team continually asked: who else needs to be in the room and how do we make it possible for them to take part? In the end, the research involved more than 400 engagements across Ofsted’s remits, including inspectors, policy professionals, practitioners, academics, parents, carers, and young people.

This shared focus on inclusion strengthened the research and ensured that the findings reflected the realities, priorities and lived experiences of the communities the work ultimately seeks to serve.

What made this research successful

The research informed the renewal of Ofsted’s education inspection framework, which introduced a new standalone judgement on inclusion. Crucially, it has supported a shift away from fixed labels towards a more dynamic and contextual understanding of vulnerability, one that focuses on the real and sometimes changing barriers children face, whether long‑term or temporary.

This shift in thinking is reflected in the renewed inspection methodology, which provides multiple opportunities for inspectors to examine how inclusion is enacted in practice and to get “under the hood” of a setting’s work, evaluating how far inclusion is proactive, thoughtful and embedded, and ensuring that effective practice is properly recognised. The research has also prompted reflection on the language used across the inspectorate, encouraging a move towards terminology that avoids reductive labelling. Beyond inspection, the work has sparked wider conversations across the sector about inclusion, equity and the role of evidence in shaping practice. This demonstrates how rigorous, inclusive research can support meaningful and sustained change in a complex system.

As we closed the session, both teams reflected on what made this commission work. For Gill, it was the depth of collaboration, navigating sensitive topics and organisational complexity through trust, openness, and shared problem‑solving. For Mairi‑Anne, it was the richness of engagement: hearing directly from children, families, practitioners, and leaders ensured the findings reflected real experiences and exposed insights that matter.

Looking ahead

Presenting at AiG Month was a great opportunity to share our experience cross-government, and we were particularly grateful for the insightful questions and thoughtful contributions from participants.

We are extremely proud of this work, and even more so of the conversations it continues to generate. A huge thank you to the Analysis Function for this opportunity. We would strongly encourage others to take the chance to present in future years.

To learn more about the research, please take a look at the following articles and resources:

• From Trait to State: Research Report
• Ofsted News: Conceptualising Vulnerability
• Research Terms of Reference
• Reflections on the Project – Dez Holmes