Which schools and pupils to include
Find out which schools and pupils are in scope for the school census.
The school census collects individual school characteristics and pupil records 3 times a year.
In England, all of the following schools are required to provide the information collected in this census to the Department for Education (DfE):
- maintained nursery
- primary
- middle-deemed primary
- middle-deemed secondary
- secondary
- all-through
- special schools (including non-maintained special schools)
- pupil referral units or alternative provision schools (PRU or AP)
- academy schools (including free schools, university technical colleges (UTCs) and studio schools)
- city technology colleges (CTCs)
Different categories of schools may need to submit different data items. Your category of school is defined by the school phase you return in the census.
The statutory age ranges for each individual school are recorded on get information about schools (GIAS).
| School phase | Code | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Nursery school | NS | Including those with maintained or direct grant status |
| Primary | PS | |
| Middle-deemed primary | MP | |
| Middle-deemed secondary | MS | |
| Secondary | SS | |
| Special | SP | Maintained and non-maintained special schools, including hospital special schools and academy special schools |
| All-through | AT | Excluding PRU / AP and special schools. All-through schools must accommodate both pupils under the age of 7 and over the age of 14 |
| Pupil referral unit and alternative provision (PRU and AP) | PR | This code is used for pupil referral units, alternative provision academy schools and alternative provision free schools |
Individual data will be included in the return for the following pupils. You should ensure that all relevant data is maintained and up-to-date for:
- all pupils on the register on census day
- any additional pupils subject to any type of suspension or permanent exclusion in the previous 2 terms
- any additional pupils who attended the school in the previous term for which termly attendance information is required – not applicable to nursery schools
- any additional pupils who attended the school in the previous academic year for which learning aims are submitted – autumn census for secondary, all-through and AP schools only
- any additional pupils who had an alternative provision (AP) placement within the collection period (since the last census day) – not applicable to nursery schools
- any additional pupils awarded a bursary since the start of the academic year – spring and summer census only, and not applicable to nursery, primary and middle schools
- any additional pupils who were recorded as in receipt of learner funding and monitoring since the start of the academic year – not applicable to nursery schools
Schools with funded on-site early years provision make their return via either the school census or the early years census, but not both.
Registered pupils of a school
Enter these children on the school census.
Children who attend a separate Ofsted-registered private, voluntary or independent provider on a school site
Enter these children on the early years census.
Children attending provision provided by a school governing body under Section 27 of the Education Act 2002 or provision that is run or managed by an academy or academy trust under charitable objectives
Enter registered pupils of the school on the school census.
Enter children who are not registered pupils of the school on the early years census.
However, if a child’s free entitlement is split between more than one place, they may appear on the 2 different censuses, depending on where and how the pupil is registered.
We expect local authority contacts to cross-check their early years census and school census returns before submission to ensure there are no duplicates.
We would like these schools to complete the census, but they do not have to.
These schools do not complete the census. They complete the school-level annual school census instead.
These schools do not complete the census. They complete the school-level annual school census instead.
Alternative provision should be recorded on the school census if it takes place in:
- a pupil referral unit
- an alternative provision academy
- an alternative provision free school
- an early years setting (private, voluntary or independent)
- state-funded schools
Separate requirements and guides are issued for the early years census and alternative provision census.