Data set from School capacity

Capacity - national

Latest data

Published 19 March 2026

Last updated 19 March 2026

Number of schools, schools with sixth form places, school places (which includes sixth form places and excludes nursery places) and sixth form places as at 1 May 2025. Pupils on roll and sixth form pupils on roll from the May 2025 school census.

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Data set details

• Theme: Pupils and schools
• Publication: School capacity
• Release: Academic year 2024/25
• Number of rows: 48
• 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 2024/25

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Data set preview

Table showing first 5 rows, from underlying data

time_period	time_identifier	geographic_level	country_code	country_name	education_phase	school_count	school_places	school_places_change_from_previous_survey	school_places_change_from_200910	pupils_on_roll_count	school_at_or_over_capacity_count	school_at_or_over_capacity_percent	pupils_over_capacity_count	pupils_over_capacity_percent	school_under_capacity_count	school_under_capacity_percent	unfilled_places_count	unfilled_places_percent
202425	Academic year	National	E92000001	England	Total	20158	9067230	64858	1278797	7916109	3004	14.90227205	46739	0.51547165	17152	85.08780633	1197445	13.20629343
202425	Academic year	National	E92000001	England	Primary	16740	4951383	1259	726068	4283709	2353	14.05615293	17732	0.35812217	14385	85.93189964	684991	13.83433679
202425	Academic year	National	E92000001	England	Secondary	3418	4115847	63599	552729	3632400	651	19.04622586	29007	0.70476381	2767	80.95377414	512454	12.45075436
202324	Academic year	National	E92000001	England	Total	20174	9002372	24326	1213939	7996585	3532	17.50768316	57725	0.64121989	16642	82.49231684	1063512	11.81368644
202324	Academic year	National	E92000001	England	Primary	16759	4950124	879	724809	4359535	2721	16.23605227	20737	0.4189188	14038	83.76394773	611326	12.34971084

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Variables in this data set

Table showing first 5 of 14 variables

Variable name	Variable description
education_phase	School phase
pupils_on_roll_count	Number of pupils on roll
pupils_over_capacity_count	Pupils in places that exceed their school's capacity
pupils_over_capacity_percent	Pupils in places that exceed their school's capacity as a percentage of total places
school_at_or_over_capacity_count	Number of schools at or in excess of capacity

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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 aggregated.
9. School places and net change in school places for 2024/25 have been affected by the Net Capacity Assessment programme and therefore do not represent school places built between 2023/24 and 2024/25.

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Contact us

If you have a specific enquiry about Capacity - national statistics and data:

Pupil Place Planning team

Email: SCAP.PPP@education.gov.uk
Contact name: Robert Miller

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