For decades, UK education policy has focused on what pupils know. League tables, assessments and catch-up strategies are designed to measure attainment, yet they often overlook something more fundamental: whether pupils believe they can succeed.
That belief is known as self-efficacy. Coined by psychologist Albert Bandura, self-efficacy describes a person’s belief in their capacity to organise and execute the actions required to achieve a desired outcome. It is not about intelligence or self-esteem. It is about confidence in action: the willingness to try, to persist through difficulty, and to recover from setbacks.
When pupils believe they can succeed, they engage. When they don’t, learning stalls. No curriculum reform or intervention programme can compensate for a child who has already decided, consciously or not, “This isn’t for me.”
What Self-Efficacy Really Is (and Isn’t)
Self-efficacy is often confused with confidence or self-esteem, but it is more precise and more useful for educators.
A pupil may feel valued and liked (high self-esteem) yet still believe they “can’t do maths” or “aren’t academic” (low self-efficacy). Because self-efficacy is task-specific, it helps explain why some pupils persist in certain subjects while disengaging from others.
Bandura’s social cognitive theory identifies four sources through which self-efficacy develops:
- Mastery experiences
Success builds belief. Each time a pupil masters a challenge – understanding fractions, reading independently, completing coursework – they accumulate evidence that they can succeed. Repeated failure without support erodes belief; overcoming difficulty builds resilient self-efficacy. - Vicarious experiences
Seeing others succeed matters, especially peers or role models a pupil identifies with. When children see “people like me” achieving, their own belief expands. - Social persuasion
Credible encouragement from teachers and adults reinforces efficacy when it focuses on effort, strategy and improvement – not innate ability. - Physiological and emotional states
Anxiety, stress and fear can signal vulnerability and reduce self-efficacy. Teaching pupils to regulate emotions helps them interpret challenge as manageable rather than threatening.
Together, these sources shape how much effort pupils invest, how long they persevere, and how resilient they are when learning becomes difficult.
Why Self-Efficacy Predicts Educational Success
Decades of international research show that self-efficacy is a strong predictor of engagement, persistence and achievement – often more powerful than other non-cognitive factors.
When pupils believe they can complete a task, they are more likely to:
- attempt challenging work
- try multiple strategies
- seek help appropriately
- persist after mistakes
Pupils with low self-efficacy are more likely to:
- avoid challenge
- give up quickly
- attribute failure to lack of ability
- experience heightened stress and anxiety
The mechanism is simple: belief drives behaviour. A pupil who thinks “I can do this” behaves differently from one who thinks “I can’t”. Over time, these behaviours compound into very different outcomes.
Self-efficacy is also closely linked to mental health. High self-efficacy supports resilience and protects against anxiety and depression. Low self-efficacy often accompanies avoidance, disengagement and feelings of helplessness – all of which undermine learning.
A Crisis of Self-Belief in England’s Classrooms
UK evidence suggests that self-efficacy is not merely important – it is under threat.
Large-scale studies of Key Stage 2 pupils show that since the pre-pandemic period, self-efficacy has declined more sharply than any other dimension of academic wellbeing. The majority of children now report some vulnerability in their belief that they can succeed at school.
Key patterns are particularly concerning:
- The steepest declines appear in early primary years, especially Year 3
- Girls report lower self-efficacy than boys, despite often reporting higher motivation and positivity
- Regional variation suggests structural and contextual influences on pupil belief
Parliamentary briefings on children’s wellbeing confirm this trend, noting a sustained drop in pupils’ confidence in their ability to learn between 2018 and 2022. These declines sit alongside rising absence, increased mental health referrals and widening inequalities.
This is not a marginal issue. When pupils lose belief early, the effects echo through behaviour, attainment, attendance and long-term life chances.
Why Self-Efficacy Matters Now
The pandemic disrupted schooling in ways that directly undermined the foundations of self-efficacy:
- fewer mastery experiences
- reduced peer modelling
- limited feedback and encouragement
- heightened anxiety and uncertainty
At the same time, accountability pressures and curriculum demands left many schools with less space to rebuild confidence deliberately.
As schools work to recover learning, reduce persistent absence and respond to growing mental health needs, self-efficacy is no longer optional. It is a precondition for recovery.
Beyond school, self-efficacy shapes aspiration. Pupils with strong belief are more likely to pursue further education, consider a wider range of careers and persist through challenge. Those with low self-efficacy narrow their horizons early. In a labour market facing skill shortages and rapid change, this has social and economic consequences.
Strengthening Self-Efficacy in UK Schools
The good news is that self-efficacy is malleable. Schools can strengthen it through intentional practice.
Design mastery experiences
Sequence learning so all pupils experience success. Use scaffolding, formative assessment and low-stakes practice. Celebrate progress, not just attainment.
Provide visible role models
Ensure pupils see success reflected back at them – through peers, staff, alumni and community voices. Representation matters, particularly for girls and disadvantaged pupils.
Use purposeful feedback
Focus feedback on effort, strategies and improvement. Avoid language that fixes ability or labels pupils early.
Teach emotional regulation
Integrate social and emotional learning so pupils can manage stress and interpret challenge as normal, not threatening.
Build belonging
Relationships, inclusion and fair behaviour systems underpin self-efficacy. Pupils are more likely to believe in themselves when they feel they belong.
Target disparities
Where data show gender, regional or cohort-specific dips in self-efficacy, intervene deliberately rather than hoping belief will recover on its own.
Measuring What Matters: The Role of the Evolve Development Tracker
Self-efficacy is powerful – but only if schools can see it.
The Evolve Development Tracker (EDT) enables schools to measure self-efficacy and related wellbeing factors using validated pupil-voice surveys. By capturing pupils’ beliefs alongside domains such as emotional wellbeing, relationships and classroom climate, EDT helps schools identify hidden vulnerability early.
Crucially, EDT allows schools to:
- target support where belief is lowest
- tailor interventions to specific groups or cohorts
- track change over time
- evaluate what actually works using matched-peer comparison
Instead of relying on instinct or anecdote, schools gain evidence to guide action.
Belief Comes Before Achievement
In 2026, the pressures on UK education are immense. But amid policy reform, accountability and recovery agendas, one truth remains constant: children will not persist in learning they believe they cannot do.
Self-efficacy is not a soft add-on. It is the engine that drives engagement, resilience and progress. When we help a child believe “I can do this”, we unlock a cycle of effort, mastery and confidence that no intervention can replace.
If we want every pupil to thrive, we must start by helping them believe they can.
