There were approximately ***** million pupils attending schools in the United Kingdom in 2023/24, compared with **** million in the previous year and **** million in 2010/11.

This statistic displays the share of school children who have taken Class A drugs in England, from 2001 to 2023, by gender. In the year 2023, 2.4 percent of boys and 2.2 percent of girls aged between 11 and 15 years old had taken Class A drugs.

United Kingdom UK: Children Out of School: Primary data was reported at 2,629.000 Person in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 4,052.000 Person for 2014. United Kingdom UK: Children Out of School: Primary data is updated yearly, averaging 79,111.500 Person from Dec 1971 (Median) to 2015, with 40 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 270,675.000 Person in 1985 and a record low of 60.000 Person in 2005. United Kingdom UK: Children Out of School: Primary data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.World Bank.WDI: Education Statistics. Children out of school are the number of primary-school-age children not enrolled in primary or secondary school.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Sum; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

United Kingdom UK: Children Out of School: % of Primary School Age data was reported at 0.058 % in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.092 % for 2014. United Kingdom UK: Children Out of School: % of Primary School Age data is updated yearly, averaging 1.854 % from Dec 1971 (Median) to 2015, with 40 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 6.501 % in 1985 and a record low of 0.000 % in 2005. United Kingdom UK: Children Out of School: % of Primary School Age data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.World Bank.WDI: Education Statistics. Children out of school are the percentage of primary-school-age children who are not enrolled in primary or secondary school. Children in the official primary age group that are in preprimary education should be considered out of school.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

The school-age children profiles bring together a range of indicators on the health of school-aged children by local area.

Developed by PHE’s National Child and Maternal Health Intelligence Network, the indicators provide information on public health outcomes for children of school-age.

The https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile-group/child-health/profile/child-health-school-age" class="govuk-link">school-age children profiles are designed to give commissioners and providers a context to help them prioritise action for school-aged children.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought many disruptions to children’s education, including the education of children with intellectual (learning) disability and/or autism. We investigated the educational experiences of autistic children and children with an intellectual disability about a year after the COVID-19 pandemic started in the UK. An online survey collected data during the summer/autumn of 2021 from 1,234 parents of 5 to 15 year-old children across all 4 UK countries. The study investigated school attendance and home learning experiences of children with intellectual disability and/or autistic children who were registered to attend school in 2021. The study also investigated the experience of Elective Home Education in families of children with a neurodevelopmental condition whose child was de-registered from school before and after the pandemic started in the UK in March 2020. The study provided evidence on the impact of COVID-19 on school attendance and home education for children with a neurodevelopmental condition.

In the year 2023, walking was the primary mode of travel to school for children of age five to **, accounting for ** percent of total school trips made by children. Car or van transportation followed as the second most common means of traveling to school at ** percent. Cycling to school and surface rail, on the other hand, had a very low share of * percent respectively.

The number of pupils in schools in an LEA by school type (whether state maintained, nursery, primary, secondary, private, special school etc.) Source: Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) Publisher: Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) Geographies: County/Unitary Authority, Government Office Region (GOR), National Geographic coverage: England Time coverage: 2005 to 2009 Type of data: Administrative data

As of 2025, there were approximately 545,640 pupils attending private or independent schools in the United Kingdom, compared with 565,550 in the previous year.

The over-arching aim of this multi-method study was to investigate the relations between children’s wellbeing and ‘school readiness’. There were four specific objectives:

1. To enrich understanding of the overlap between ‘school readiness’ and child wellbeing.
2. To examine characteristics that shape children’s wellbeing and ‘school readiness’.
3. To examine how family characteristics shape children’s wellbeing and ‘school readiness’.
4. To examine how children’s wellbeing and school readiness impact on caregiver wellbeing.

Children and their caregivers in England were recruited to participate in a 12-month longitudinal study while the children were enrolled in Reception Year (i.e., the final year of the Early Years Foundation Stage in England) in Spring/Summer 2021. Children and their primary caregivers were seen on two occasions approximately 12 months apart (Mean Interval = 12.36 months, SD = 1.08 months) using a remote assessment protocol to mitigate the spread of Covid 19. Data collection was timed to take place when children had completed at least one term in Reception Year and then again after completing at least one term in Year 1. At both timepoints, following written consent, caregivers participated in a remote interview lasting approximately 20 minutes and then completed an online questionnaire pack. Children then participated in a remote testing session using videoconference software with a caregiver present. These sessions lasted approximately 45 – 60 minutes. Families received a voucher for participating in each wave of the study. Teachers were invited to complete a short questionnaire about each study child.

Sample The initial plan for the current study was to track a pre-existing cohort of 200 children from the United Kingdom across the transition from Reception Year to Year 1 and to recruit an additional 250 children to enrich the sample. Restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 meant that the start date for the project was delayed and the opportunity to collect data from the pre-existing cohort was no longer possible as the cohort children had moved beyond Reception Year. We instead recruited a new sample of children for the current study. Monte Carlo simulations indicated that a sample size of 250 children would provide sufficient (.81 - .85) power to detect moderate-to-strong cross-lagged effects between two latent variables in a longitudinal model of two time points with three covariates.

Children and their primary caregivers were recruited from across England in the Spring/Summer 2021 via mailings to primary schools and paid targeted social media advertising. To participate in the study, children were required to be enrolled in the first year of primary school in England (‘Reception’) and have no history of developmental delay. In England, children typically start the reception year of primary school in the September after their 4th birthday. The primary caregiver and participating child had to be able to communicate in English.

We sought to recruit 250 children into the longitudinal study. Just under 500 caregivers expressed an interest in learning more about the study (N=494) and 260 of these families agreed to participate (52.6%). Of these 260 families, 5 families did not provide sufficient information to establish eligibility, 1 child was not attending Reception and 2 families planned to leave England before follow-up.

At Time 1, 252 children (131 girls) aged 5.40 years (SD = 0.31) and their caregivers (92.7% mothers, M Age = 38.63 years, SD = 4.66) participated in the study. Children were predominantly from two-parent heterosexual households (92.1%). Caregivers were highly educated (83.7% had degree level education). On the subjective ladder of social status, 74.3% of caregivers rated themselves as 6/10 or above on a 10-point scale where 1 indicated the lowest levels of education, income, and status and 10 indicated the highest levels of education, income, and status. According to UK Census ethnic group categories, 80.5% of children were identified as ‘White’, 13.2% as ‘Mixed or multiple ethnicities’, 5.9% as ‘Asian’, 0.4% as ‘Black’. 223 out of 252 families participated at Time 1 and Time 2 (88.5%). Teacher questionnaires were available for 154 out of 223 children at Time 2 (69%) and Caregiver Questionnaires were available for 192 out of 223 children at Time 2 (86%).

A list of all independent schools and special post-16 institutions for children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) approved under section 41 of the Children and Families Act 2014 in England and Wales.

You can filter the list by local authority or by type of setting.

Our guide for independent special schools and special post-16 institutions explains how to apply for approval under section 41.

Voluntary removal

Contact hns.sos@education.gov.uk to request removal from the approved list, stating your reason. We will remove your institution in the next update and notify local authorities. The published list includes all removed institutions.

Once removed, you cannot re-apply for one full academic year.

Other special schools

Details of all special schools in England are available on the https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Search">Department for Education’s Get Information about Schools system. This includes:

• maintained schools
• academies
• independent schools
• non-maintained schools

The SEND guide for parents and carers explains how parents can ask for one of these schools or special post-16 institutions to be named in their child’s education, health and care plan.

This Intelligence Unit update (Update 25-2012) uses Department for Education (DfE) data sources to examine the following: Cross border mobility of secondary school age children by residence; Cross border mobility of secondary school age children by school location; Comparison of DfE estimates with ONS 2011 Census data; and Estimates of the number of pupils per borough attending independent school. An addendum to the report (Update 25a-2012) has been produced which considers net balance of mobility. The equivalent report for primary school age children was published in February 2013 as Update 04-2013. Both the report and the accompanying data can be downloaded from the Datastore.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner. The project was linked to an existing project on the use of anthropometric data to monitor changes in the health and well-being of past generations. The specific aims of this project were to use information about the heights of British school children to investigate changes in child health between 1908 and 1950. Data about unemployment levels in different areas were used to investigate the impact of unemployment on child health between 1928 and 1938. Main Topics: Height, weight and health of school children between 1908 and 1950. Please note: this study does not include information on named individuals and would therefore not be useful for personal family history research No sampling (total universe) Data limited by the availability of Annual Registers and by the availability of the relevant information in the Annual Registers.

This project focused on children who are enrolled in school but attend irregularly, so their learning is interrupted in ways that negatively affect their learning outcomes. This form of 'learning poverty' is prevalent across government schools in southern Rajasthan’s Adivasi (tribal) belt where the project was located.

The project was a small, qualitative research study that addressed evidence gaps about the patterns and causes of interrupted learning and fragile attendance (ILFA), and about actors’ perceptions of accountability for children's learning in this context. It comprised three school sites purposively selected to include a primary school and elementary sections of a secondary and higher secondary school. The study focused on grades 2, 4 and 7. The study asked why, in any one school, some children are more or less regular in attendance, and what explains a child's pattern of presence and absence. It adopted a 'process tracing' approach anchored in analysis of daily attendance statistics to identify children’s attendance patterns, and how stakeholders understand and explain irregular attendance and its effects on learning progression. Using available school level quantitative data, the project generated a typology of learner attendance patterns that were more complex than actors had recognised. Using participant observation of classroom interactions and interviews with teachers, the project found that teachers’ pedagogical responses lacked the necessary nuance to be effective in response to differing attendance patterns. Observations and interviews also revealed that systemic monitoring of attendance was highly performative and focused on incentive schemes rather than learning progression. Profiles of households were generated using semi-structured interviews, and analysed to understand household priorities and factors positively or negatively associated with regular school attendance at the household level.

Around 2.17 million pupils were eligible for free school meals in England in the 2024/25 academic year, compared with 2.09 million pupils in the previous year. Free school meals became a key issue during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, when they were replaced by a voucher scheme in the lockdown and Easter holidays. Although the voucher system was initially not supposed to extend to the summer holidays, a pressure campaign by English footballer, Marcus Rashford resulted in a government U-turn, on the issue, resulting in the voucher scheme covering the summer.