Reporting year 2024

Education and training statistics for the UK

Data guidance

Published

Description

This document describes the contents of the underlying data files accompanying the ‘education and training’ statistics publication. There is a Methodology document that is linked under ‘Useful information’ at the top of the release, that contains further information on the statistics published here.

Coverage

This release compiles information on education systems across the United Kingdom.

File formats and conventions

Symbols used in the underlying data are as follows:

  • ‘z’ when an observation is not applicable
  • ‘x’ when data is unavailable for other reasons
  • ‘c’ confidential data
  • ‘low’ rounds to 0, but is not 0

Data files

All data files associated with this releases are listed below with guidance on their content. To download any of these files, please visit our data catalogue.

Highest qualification among 19-64 year olds

Filename
uk_highest_qualifications_time_series_rounded.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2016 to 2023
Content
This file contains information on the highest qualification of adults (aged 19-64) in the UK, by sex.
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
ageAge
genderGender
numberNumber of people
percentPercentage of relevant population group
population_categoryPopulation category
Footnotes
  1. Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) levels used in Scotland are not directly comparable to NQF levels used in England/Wales/Northern Ireland. Figures relating to levels 5, 6 and 7 have been provided as the closest match to NQF levels 2, 3 and 4 respectively. Figures for the UK have been calculated using the NQF levels assigned to Scottish qualifications in the Labour Force Survey.
  2. 'z' indicates data is not applicable.
  3. ONS have faced challenges around a falling number of responses to the Labour Force Survey, which has led to increased sampling variability. Users should be mindful of the greater uncertainty in these estimates, and we would advise caution when interpreting short-term changes. Data has been reweighted from July 2022 onwards which has led to a discontinuity in the timeseries and comparisons of levels prior to this period should be viewed with caution. Full details of the reweighting can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/impactofreweightingonlabourforcesurveykeyindicators/2024 (opens in a new tab)
  4. Volumes are rounded to the nearest 1000.
  5. Percentage values are rounded. As a result of rounding, percentages may not sum exactly to totals.

Teachers

Filename
uk_teachers_suppressed.csv
Geographic levels
National; Regional
Time period
2015/16 to 2023/24
Content
This file contains information on the number of teachers in the UK, by sex and school type.
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
genderGender
phaseSchool type
t_fte_teachersFull-time equivalent number of teachers
Footnotes
  1. Primary and secondary figures include middle schools as deemed. Secondary schools include all-through schools.
  2. In England, special schools include alternative provision schools.
  3. In Scotland, nursery figures include all providers of funded Early Learning and Childcare, except childminders.
  4. Figures for independent schools in Scotland are unavailable.
  5. Figures for independent schools in Wales are unavailable for 2019/20.
  6. Totals includes those whose gender identity is other or unclassified.
  7. In Northern Ireland, figures are rounded to the nearest 5.

Further and higher education providers

Filename
uk_post_compulsory_education_institutions.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2015/16 to 2022/23
Content
This file contains information on the number of further and higher education providers in the UK.
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
provider_typeProvider type
t_institutionsNumber of institutions

Pupil teacher ratios (PTRs)

Filename
uk_pupil_teacher_ratios.csv
Geographic levels
National; Regional
Time period
2015/16 to 2023/24
Content
This file contains information on pupil to teacher ratios (PTRs) in schools in the UK, by school type.
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
phaseSchool type
pupil_teacher_ratioPupil-teacher ratio
Footnotes
  1. In England, special schools include alternative provision schools.
  2. In England, the primary pupil-teacher ratio includes local authority (LA) maintained nurseries.
  3. Where data shows 'x' this indicates data is unavailable, 'z' indicates data is not applicable.

UK NEET data

Filename
uk_neet.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2001 to 2024
Content
This file contains information in the number and percentage of young adults (aged 16-24) who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) in the UK, by sex.
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
ageAge
genderGender
numberNumber of people
percentPercentage of relevant population group
population_categoryPopulation category
quarterQuarter
Footnotes
  1. ONS have faced challenges around a falling number of responses to the Labour Force Survey, which has led to increased sampling variability. Users should be mindful of the greater uncertainty in these estimates, and we would advise caution when interpreting short-term changes. Data has been reweighted from July 2022 onwards which has led to a discontinuity in the timeseries and comparisons of levels prior to this period should be viewed with caution. Full details of the reweighting can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/impactofreweightingonlabourforcesurveykeyindicators/2024 (opens in a new tab)

Education expenditure UK

Filename
uk_expenditure.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2015-16 to 2023-24
Content
This file contains information on government expenditure in education in the UK.
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
education_functionEducation function
expenditure_levelExpenditure level
expenditure_typeExpenditure type
pt_expenditure_of_gdpTotal expenditure as a percentage of GDP
t_expenditure_millionsTotal expenditure (millions)
t_expenditure_real_terms_millionsTotal expenditure in real terms (millions)
Footnotes
  1. In England, secondary education includes expenditure on central government academies which will also cover some schools in primary education.
  2. Totals exclude expenditure for education not definable by level.
  3. Tertiary capital expenditure in 2023-24 is affected by changes to fair value movement analysis of Student Loans, which will not be applied retrospectively to other years.

Schools

Filename
uk_schools.csv
Geographic levels
National; Regional
Time period
2015/16 to 2023/24
Content
This file contains information on the number of schools in the UK, by school type.
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
phaseSchool type
t_schoolsNumber of schools
Footnotes
  1. Primary and secondary figures include middle schools as deemed. Secondary schools include all-through schools.
  2. In England, special schools include alternative provision schools.
  3. In Scotland, nursery figures include all providers of funded Early Learning and Childcare, except childminders.
  4. Figures for independent schools in Scotland are unavailable.
  5. Figures for independent schools in Wales are unavailable for 2019/20.
  6. Independent schools includes non-maintained special schools.

Pupils

Filename
uk_pupils_suppressed.csv
Geographic levels
National; Regional
Time period
2015/16 to 2023/24
Content
This file contains information on the number of pupils in the UK, by age, sex and school type.
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
ageAge
genderGender
phaseSchool type
t_pupilsNumber of pupils
Footnotes
  1. Primary and secondary figures include middle schools as deemed. Secondary schools include all-through schools.
  2. In England, special schools include alternative provision schools.
  3. In Scotland, nursery figures include all providers of funded Early Learning and Childcare, except childminders.
  4. Figures for independent schools in Scotland are unavailable.
  5. Figures for independent schools in Wales are unavailable for 2019/20.
  6. Independent schools includes non-maintained special schools.
  7. In Scotland, Early Learning and Childcare pupil numbers by sex are unavailable.
  8. In Northern Ireland, independent school pupil numbers by sex are unavailable.
  9. In Northern Ireland, figures are rounded to the nearest 5.
  10. Northern Ireland's pupil data collection in 2023/24 was affected by Action Short of a Strike, leading to lower than expected figures which are not comparable to other years.

Further Education Students

Filename
uk_post_compulsory_education_fe_students.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2015/16 to 2022/23
Content
This file contains information on the number of further education students in the UK, by sex, age and mode of study.
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
ageAge
genderGender
mode_of_studyMode of study
t_studentsNumber of FE students
Footnotes
  1. Totals include further education students at further education colleges or higher education providers.
  2. In England, student numbers by mode of study (e.g. full-time, part-time, work-based learning) are unavailable.
  3. Totals includes those whose gender identity is other or unclassified.
  4. Figures are rounded to the nearest 5 and 'low' indicates a base value of fewer than 2.5. Where data shows 'x' this indicates data is unavailable, 'z' indicates data is not applicable, and 'c' indicates data is suppressed.
  5. Welsh totals may not reflect the sum of male and female totals, and overall totals include those who report their gender as 'other'.
  6. Trends in further education students may differ depending on the metric being used (enrolments, headcount, full-time equivalents, course length, etc.)

Higher Education Students

Filename
uk_post_compulsory_education_he_students.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2016/17 to 2022/23
Content
This file contains information on the number of higher education students in the UK, broken down by sex, level of education, mode of study, subject group and domicile.
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
domicileDomicile
genderGender
levelLevel of education
mode_of_studyMode of study
subjectSubject group
t_studentsNumber of HE students
Footnotes
  1. Subject totals do not include Higher Education students on courses in further education colleges in Northern Ireland.
  2. 2020/21 student numbers are not comparable to previous years due to a methodology change.
  3. Totals includes those whose gender identity is other or unclassified.
  4. Figures are rounded to the nearest 5 and 'low' indicates a base value of fewer than 2.5. Where data shows 'x' this indicates data is unavailable, 'z' indicates data is not applicable, and 'c' indicates data is suppressed.
  5. Differences in data processing can lead to discrepancies with other sources.