Research and analysis

Disability data collection in schools

Research exploring the challenges and barriers in collecting disability data about the school workforce, and methods to overcome them.

Applies to England

Documents

Disability data collection in schools (workforce)

Details

The Department for Education’s (DfE) main source of data on school staff is the School Workforce Census (SWC).

The accuracy of this data is crucial for collecting a comprehensive picture of the workforce and its diversity. While DfE has good data on ethnicity and other characteristics from the SWC, there is limited data on disability in the workforce, which prevents reliable reporting.

A series of qualitative interviews was conducted with individuals in schools and local authorities that had a role in the collection and reporting of disability data in the workforce. This report details the findings from these interviews.

Updates to this page

Published 23 February 2023

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