Academic year 2018/19

School capacity

Data guidance

Published 20 August 2020

Description

This document describes the data included in the ‘School Capacity: Academic Year 2018/19’ Official Statistics release’s underlying data files. This data is released under the terms of the Open Government License and is intended to meet at least 3 stars for Open Data.

The methodology accompanying this release should be referenced alongside this data. It provides information on the data sources, their coverage and quality as well as explaining methodology used in producing the data.

A description of how the school place planning estimates have been derived and how to interpret them is also provided in technical guidance document accompanying this release. Users should read this technical guidance to understand the practical applications and limitations of the data.

Coverage

This release reports on school capacity information in state-funded primary and secondary schools in England in the academic year 2018/19, as of 1 May 2019. Data are as reported by local authorities in the annual School Capacity (SCAP) Survey. Information is included on: 

• The numbers of primary and secondary school places from 2009/10 to 2018/19;

 • Unfilled school places and pupils in places that exceed their school's capacity; 

• Local authorities’ pupil forecasts up to 2023/24 at primary level and 2025/26 at secondary level;

 • Forecasts of places to be funded through housing developer contributions (HDCs) up to 2023/24 at primary level and 2025/26 at secondary level;

 • Local authority planned places to 2021/22, including additional, bulge and removed places; 

• Comparisons of forecasts with capacity to estimate the future number of places needed; 

• Experimental statistics collected on sixth form capacity in schools from 2017/18 to 2018/19

File formats and conventions

Rounding

These datasets have not had suppression applied.

Conventions

The following conventions are used throughout the underlying data.
‘z’ Not applicable.
‘:’ Not available.

The following convention is used in the school sixth form capacity underlying data.

‘u’ Partial sixth form capacity data submitted. Sixth form capacity data has been submitted for some but not all schools with pupils on roll in year groups 12, 13, or 14 in the relevant geographic area.

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.

Local authority planned places - additional, bulge and removed places

• Filename: local-authority-planned-places_201819.csv
• Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
• Time period: 2019/20 to 2021/22
• Content:

  Places reported by local authorities in summer 2019 as planned to be added or permanently removed from their school capacity. Includes only projects with firm plans for delivery. Includes sixth form places. Excludes nursey places.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
additional_places	Additional places
bulge_places	Bulge places
nc_year_group	National curriculum year group - Filter by phase and by national curriculum year group. Scroll down and select 'Total' for the sum of all primary and secondary year groups.
removed_places	Removed places

Footnotes

1. Excludes additional places in projects funded through central DfE programmes, such as Free Schools, unless local authorities have contributed their own funding to deliver additional places to these projects. Includes additional places in Targeted Basic Need projects.
2. Includes places reported by local authorities in summer 2019 as planned to be added or removed. Includes only projects with a high degree of certainty of going ahead, usually where funding has been committed. Excludes nursery places.
3. Data on additional, bulge and removed places was collected through the main School Capacity survey in 2019, rather than the Capital Spend data collection as in previous years. Data now includes places for Year 12 to Year 14. Additional, bulge and removed places are now reported cumulatively. Prior to 2019, data did not include places for Year 12 to Year 14 places and places were reported in the first year they were due to become available only.
4. z - Indicates data is not applicable.
5. Additional and bulge places are now reported separately. In previous years, they were published together as one 'planned places' figure. Bulge places are places used to accommodate a specific large cohort. They move through the school with this cohort. Additional places are permanent places that will not move through the school with a specific cohort.
6. Includes places LAs plan to permanently remove from their school capacity. 2019 is the first year data on removed places has been collected and published.

Local authority pupil forecasts and forecast housing developer contribution places

• Filename: pupil-forecasts-and-forecast-hdc-places_201819.csv
• Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
• Time period: 2018/19 to 2025/26
• Content:

  2018/19 pupil numbers on roll from the January 2019 School Census; pupil number forecasts by national curriculum year group as provided by local authorities; forecast number of pupils expected to attend places expected to be funded by housing developer contribution (HDC) agreements. Includes national curriculum year groups from reception to Year 14.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
forecast_hdc_places	Forecast housing developing contribution (HDC) funded places
nc_year_group	Year group - Filter by phase and by national curriculum year group. Scroll down and select 'Total' for the sum of all primary and secondary year groups.
pupil_forecast_and_201819_actuals	Local authority pupil forecasts (includes 2018/19 actual pupil numbers)

Footnotes

1. Year 13 figures include Year 14 figures.
2. Pupil forecasts and forecast housing developer contribution places expected to be funded through housing developer contributions are provided from 2019/20 to 2023/24 for primary (Reception to Year 6) and from 2019/20 to 2025/26 for secondary (Year 7 to Year 13).
3. Pupil forecasts are provided by local authorities. They include pupils expected to be educated in maintained community, foundation and voluntary schools, city technology colleges, academies, free schools, studio schools and university technology colleges. They also include pupils expected to be educated in new schools (or expanded schools) funded through housing developer contribution (HDC) agreements.
4. z - Indicates data is not applicable.
5. Number of pupils on roll in 2018/19 taken from January 2019 School Census.
6. Forecast housing developer contribution (HDC) funded places are provided by local authorities. They show the number of pupils expected to attend places that have been funded by HDC agreements in maintained community, foundation and voluntary schools, city technology colleges, academies, free schools, studio schools and university technology colleges. HDC figures are collected and reported on a cumulative basis.
7. National pupil forecast figures will differ to the National Pupil Projections published annually by the Department for Education due to methodological and timing reasons. More information can be found in 'Methodology: School capacity'.

School capacity

• Filename: school-capacity_200910-201819.csv
• Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
• Time period: 2009/10 to 2018/19
• Content:

  Includes number of school places; 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. All data includes sixth form places and excludes nursery places.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
at_or_over_capacity_schools	Number of schools at or in excess of capacity
count_schools	Number of schools
percent_pupils_over_capacity	Pupils in places that exceed their school's capacity as a percentage of total places
percent_unfilled_places	Unfilled places as a percentage of total places
pupils_on_roll	Number of pupils on roll
pupils_over_capacity	Pupils in places that exceed their school's capacity
school_main_phase	School phase - Filter by school phase
school_places	Number of school places
under_capacity_schools	Number of schools with one or more unfilled places
unfilled_places	Unfilled places

Footnotes

1. For free schools, number of school places includes final intended capacity. Otherwise, number of school places counts all built and ready-to-use accommodation. Some free schools are initially in temporary accommodation and may not reach final intended capacity for varying periods of time.
2. Includes community, foundation, voluntary and middle schools as deemed. Includes academies/free schools. Excludes all special schools. Includes sixth form places. Excludes nursery places.
3. Number of pupils in places that exceed their school's capacity is the difference between school capacity and number of pupils on roll, calculated at school level and then aggregated to national, regional or local authority level.
4. z - Indicates data is not applicable.
5. 2009/10 national, regional and local authority aggregations exclude 13 secondary academies where no school capacity figure was provided. They are included in the school-level underlying data.
6. Number on roll figures are taken from the summer (May) census for the relevant academic year, except for new schools (including schools that have become academies) where figures are based on data gathered during the school capacity collection. Number on roll relates to pupils in reception year group and above.

School capacity - national only

• Filename: school-capacity_200910-201819_national-only.csv
• Geographic levels: National
• Time period: 2009/10 to 2018/19
• Content:

  Includes number of school places; yearly and cumulative change in the number of school places; 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. All data includes sixth form places and excludes nursery places.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
at_or_over_capacity_schools	Number of schools at or in excess of capacity
count_schools	Number of schools
percent_at_or_over_capacity_schools	Percentage of schools at or in excess of capacity
percent_pupils_over_capacity	Pupils in places that exceed their school's capacity as a percentage of total places
percent_under_capacity_schools	Percentage of schools with one or more unfilled places
percent_unfilled_places	Unfilled places as a percentage of total places
pupils_on_roll	Number of pupils on roll
pupils_over_capacity	Pupils in places that exceed their school's capacity
school_main_phase	School phase - Filter by school phase
school_places	Number of school places
school_places_change_from_200910	Number of school places - change since 2010
school_places_yearly_change	Number of school places - year-on-year change
under_capacity_schools	Number of schools with one or more unfilled places
unfilled_places	Unfilled places

Footnotes

1. For free schools, number of school places includes final intended capacity. Otherwise, number of school places counts all built and ready-to-use accommodation. Some free schools are initially in temporary accommodation and may not reach final intended capacity for varying periods of time.
2. Includes community, foundation, voluntary and middle schools as deemed. Includes academies/free schools. Excludes all special schools. Includes sixth form places. Excludes nursery places.
3. Number of pupils in places that exceed their school's capacity is the difference between school capacity and number of pupils on roll, calculated at school level and then aggregated to national, regional or local authority level.
4. z - Indicates data is not applicable.
5. 2009/10 national, regional and local authority aggregations exclude 13 secondary academies where no school capacity figure was provided. They are included in the school-level underlying data.

School place planning estimates

• Filename: school-place-planning-estimates_201819.csv
• Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
• Time period: 2019/20 to 2025/26
• Content:

  Estimates of future school places needed to meet modelled demand, calculated at planning area level and aggregated to local authority, regional and national level. Estimates reflect the position reported by local authorities at May 2019 through the School Capacity survey, supplemented with data from administrative sources on centrally funded programmes. Excludes sixth form and nursey places.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
additional_need_minus_spare_places	Estimated number of places needed: Additional need as positives and spare places as negatives
additional_need_only	Estimated number of places needed: Additional need only
nc_year_group	National curriculum year group - Filter by phase and by national curriculum year group. Scroll down and select 'Total' for the sum of all primary and secondary year groups.

Footnotes

1. Estimates are provided from 2019/20 to 2023/24 for primary (Reception to Year 6) and from 2019/20 to 2025/26 for secondary (Year 7 to Year 11).
2. A description of how these estimates have been derived and how to interpret them is provided in the technical guidance accompanying the 'School capacity: Academic year 2018/19' release.
3. z - Indicates data is not applicable.
4. Estimates reflect the position reported by local authorities as at May 2019 in the 2019 School Capacity Survey, supplemented with data from administrative sources on centrally funded programmes.
5. : - Indicates data is not available. Aggregations of estimated places needed including both additional need as positives and spare places as negatives are given at local authority level only. National and regional aggregations are not provided as they would be unrepresentative because pockets of demand and pockets of spare places are lost in the aggregation.

School sixth form capacity: experimental statistics

• Filename: school-sixth-form-capacity_experimental-statistics_201718-201819.csv
• Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
• Time period: 2017/18 to 2018/19
• Content:

  School sixth form capacity as reported by local authorities; sixth form pupil numbers on roll from the May School Census. School sixth form capacity was collected as a voluntary field in the 2018 and 2019 School Capacity surveys.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
reported_sixth_form_places	Reported sixth form places
schools_sixth_form_capacity_reported	Number of schools with reported sixth form capacity
sixth_form_pupils_on_roll	Sixth form pupils on roll in schools with reported sixth form capacity

Footnotes

1. LA reported sixth form capacity data was collected in the May 2019 School Capacity survey as a voluntary field. 80% of LAs with at least one school with pupils on roll in year groups 12, 13 or 14 have submitted complete data (sixth form capacity data submitted for all schools with pupils on roll in year groups 12, 13 or 14) .
2. : - Not available. No sixth form capacity data submitted for schools with pupils on roll in year groups 12, 13 or 14 in this geographic area.
3. Includes sixth form capacity in community, foundation, voluntary and middle schools as deemed. Includes sixth form capacity in academies/free schools. Excludes all special schools.
4. z - Not applicable. no schools with pupils on roll in year groups 12, 13, or 14 in this geographic area.
5. u - Indicates partial sixth form capacity data submitted. Data submitted for some but not all schools with pupils on roll in year groups 12, 13, or 14 in this geographic area.
6. Sixth form pupils on roll includes pupils in year groups 12, 13 and 14 taken from the May 2019 census.