Data set from School capacity

School capacity - national only

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Total number of school places, which includes sixth form places and excludes nursery places, reported by local authorities. Includes yearly and long-term change in the number of school places. File also includes number of pupils on roll from the May School Census; the number of schools at or in excess of capacity and the number of pupils in places that exceed their school's capacity; the number schools with one or more unfilled places and the number of unfilled places. 


Data set details

Theme
Pupils and schools
Publication
School capacity
Release type
Geographic levels
National
Indicators
  • Net change in number of school places since 2010
  • Net change in number of school places since previous SCAP survey
  • Number of pupils on roll
Filters
  • School phase
Time period
2009/10 to 2022/23

Data set preview

Table showing first 5 rows, from underlying data
time_periodtime_identifiergeographic_levelcountry_codecountry_nameschool_phasecount_schoolsschool_placesschool_places_change_from_previous_surveyschool_places_change_from_200910pupils_on_rollat_or_over_capacity_schoolspercent_at_or_over_capacity_schoolspupils_over_capacitypercent_pupils_over_capacityunder_capacity_schoolspercent_under_capacity_schoolsunfilled_placespercent_unfilled_places
202223Academic yearNationalE92000001EnglandTotal2019789780462542511874017993753366518.14625935586340.6530819741653181.84878942104285211.61557871
202223Academic yearNationalE92000001EnglandPrimary1678749492459487217184393178287817.14421874215980.4363897931390882.8498242757759011.67026486
202223Academic yearNationalE92000001EnglandSecondary3410402880124477465683360057578723.07917889370360.919280947262376.9208211146526211.54839864
202122Academic yearNationalE92000001EnglandTotal2019889526214665411619767940834364418.04139024592330.6616274721655481.95860976107102011.9632005
202122Academic yearNationalE92000001EnglandPrimary16791494829751867207704401508287417.11631231224980.4546614721391782.8836876956928711.50470556

Variables in this data set

Table showing first 5 of 14 variables
Variable nameVariable description
at_or_over_capacity_schoolsNumber of schools at or in excess of capacity
count_schoolsNumber of schools
percent_at_or_over_capacity_schoolsPercentage of schools at or in excess of capacity
percent_pupils_over_capacityPupils in places that exceed their school's capacity as a percentage of total places
percent_under_capacity_schoolsPercentage of schools with one or more unfilled places

Footnotes

  1. Includes mainstream state schools with capacity in any of the year groups from reception to year 11 on 1 May for the relevant academic year.
  2. Primary places include all reported capacity in primary and middle deemed primary schools. Capacity excludes nursery places.
  3. Secondary places include all reported capacity in secondary, middle-deemed secondary and all-through schools. Capacity includes sixth form places.
  4. The 2020/21 net change in school places is not comparable to previous years, as the time period for the change is two years rather than one year.
  5. Number of pupils on roll for reception year group and above. Taken from the May school census for the relevant academic year, or gathered during the school capacity collection if census data was not available for a school.
  6. A school is identified as at or in excess of capacity when their pupil number on roll is greater than or equal to capacity.
  7. 2019/20 data not available due to the cancellation of the 2020 School Capacity survey due to COVID-19.
  8. Number of pupils in places that exceed their school's capacity is the difference between school places and number of pupils on roll, for schools where the number of pupils on roll is higher than the school’s reported capacity. Calculated at school level and then summed to national, regional or local authority level.

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