This week the Department for Education published new data on the number of schools and pupils and their characteristics.
The statistics, which refer to the current 2023-24 academic year, were compiled from a number of school censuses. They refer to all schools, state and independent, in England.
It’s a lengthy report that was published on the same day as a similarly extensive data drop on the school workforce. Here are the key details.
1. Secondary rises, primary falls, independent steady
As of January 2024 the total student headcount across all settings was 9,092,073, an increase of 18,200 on last year.
But numbers aren’t increasing equally across all settings.
There was a 1.10 per cent increase in the number of students in state-funded secondary schools (from 3,630,171 to 3,669,933). This can be attributed to the 2013 peak in the birth rate, as those children are now secondary age.
Meanwhile, due to a declining birth rate reaching schools, the number of pupils in primary schools has dropped marginally, by 0.71 per cent to 4,614,990.
This decline is slightly more evident in nurseries, which have seen a 2 per cent decrease in numbers compared with last year, to 36,726.
In the independent sector things are more consistent, with a less than 1 per cent increase in student numbers to 593,486. These students make up 6.53 per cent of the total headcount.
2. AP and special school places grow
Far more stark growth was seen in alternative provision settings, with a 20 per cent year-on-year increase in the number of students in AP schools, to 15,866.
While this does sound striking, it actually brings the total more in line with pre-pandemic levels. In 2018-19, for example, there were 16,134 students in AP schools.
Elsewhere, amid concerns about special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision in recent years, a total of 7,856 more students found a place in state-funded special schools - a 5.27 per cent rise from 149,096 to 156,952.
This is fairly consistent with the year-on-year trends and underlines why more special school places are needed.
3. The number of academies continues to grow
Is the number of schools changing to adapt to these shifts in pupil numbers? The data shows there were 11 more schools across all settings than last year, bringing the total to 24,453.
Of these 24,453 schools, 43.5 per cent were academies, serving 56.2 per cent of all students. A huge 81.9 per cent of secondary schools were academies or free schools, with 42.7 per cent of primaries and 46.8 per cent of special schools.
The fact that this data from January is already out-of-date - the government announced in May that 50 per cent of schools are now academies - shows how fast-moving the trust system is.
4. State school class sizes more or less follow population trends
What does this mean for class sizes? Well, the average state infant (Reception and key stage 1) class size remained stable at 26.6, down just 0.1 per cent from last year.
But this doesn’t mean that every child is in a class of this size, as the data shows that 57,183 infant children are in classes of 31 to 35 students, while there are 296 in classes of more than 36 students.
At key stage 2, meanwhile, the average class size was 27.9, representing a small year-on-year increase.
However, there was a notable 5.7 per cent increase in the number of pupils in classes with more than 31 students, from 398,839 to 421,555 - meaning 18.9 per cent of all KS2 children are in classes of this size.
This may decline as falling numbers of primary school children enter KS2 in the years ahead, although it will be an interesting trend to watch.
It was better news at secondary level, with an average class size of 22.4. This is consistent with last year, though a not insignificant increase from 2015-16, when the average was 20.4.
This section of the report did not include independent schools, where classes are typically smaller.
5. More students are eligible for free school meals
The number of students eligible for free school meals (FSM) increased by 74,660 to 2,094,169, or 24.6 per cent of all students. This is the highest number since records began in 2015-16 - but it represented the lowest rate of increase since the current upward trend began in 2017-18.
The DfE states that the continuing increases reflect the “continuation of transitional protections” - a change of rules that since April 2018 has allowed students to retain FSM eligibility even if their circumstances change.
But critics might argue that the increased numbers reflect the country’s worsening living standards, and that despite this eligibility change, a third of children living in poverty still miss out on FSM.
In addition, it is worth noting that this data shows the number of students who are eligible for FSM, not those who actually receive them.
6. FSM eligibility is not evenly distributed by region
Once again the North-South divide in England is evident in this data: while all regions showed some increase in FSM eligibility, northern regions have the highest numbers.
In the North East 31.2 per cent of students were eligible, followed by the West Midlands (28.9 per cent), the North West (27.7 per cent) and Yorkshire and the Humber (26.8 per cent).
London (26.6 per cent) was also higher than the national average.
Meanwhile, the South East and the East of England were the lowest, with 19.7 per cent and 20.1 per cent respectively
7. The DfE is now collecting data on school-age carers
This year marks just the second time data on school-age carers has been collected. There are now 53,975 students listed as carers.
This is a significant increase from the 38,983 reported last year, although, as this is a new area of data collection, long-term trends will only become apparent after a few years.
Of those pupils that identified as carers, most were found in secondary school, where 32,473 are listed as providing care at home.
What is especially notable is that while you may assume that carers are of secondary age, the data shows 21,001 primary-aged carers were identified.
Rounding up the total, 411 pupil-carers were listed as being in special schools, and 89 in AP schools.
8. Multilingualism continues to rise
Finally, while the proportion of students with a first language “known or believed to be other than English” passed the one-fifth mark last year, this figure has continued to rise to reach 20.8 per cent this year - marking ongoing growth since the 18 per cent recorded in 2015-16.
Nurseries had the highest percentage of children with a first language other than English, at 30.7 per cent.
This dropped to 22.8 per cent at primary and 18.6 per cent at secondary.
Ellen Peirson-Hagger is senior writer at Tes
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