This methodology provides information on the data sources and measures used in the ‘Scorecards 2023’ release. For more detail on the methodology see technical notes tab in Scorecard. The interactive local authority school places scorecard is available here: https://department-for-education.shinyapps.io/la-school-places-scorecards (opens in a new tab)
Local authority school places scorecards
- Published
- Last updated
See all notes (1)
June 2023
Introduction
Quantity of school places measures
The quantity of school places measures in the scorecard data have been derived from three data sources:
- School Capacity survey (SCAP) – an annual survey returned by local authorities that collects information on the below areas. Further detail is available at School capacity survey: guide for local authorities - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) (opens in a new tab)
- School capacity
- Pupil forecasts, including forecasts of the number of places to be funded through housing developer contribution (HDC) and housing infrastructure fund (HIF) agreements
- Local authority planned places, including additional permanent places, permanent places to remove and temporary bulge places to accommodate large cohorts
- School Census – a termly census of all schools in England, used to provide pupil number on roll figures.
- DfE Central Programmes data – administrative data about the provision of places through centrally funded programmes.
Pupil change
Pupil number on roll figures from the school census data 2009/10 and 2023/24 have been used to calculate actual change in pupil numbers 2009/10 to 2024/25. Pupil number on roll figures from the school census data 2023/24 and pupil forecasts for 2025/26 from the SCAP survey have been used to calculate anticipated change in pupil numbers 2023/24 to 2025/26. This provides context when looking at places that have been created and are still to be delivered.
Places created (difference in school capacity between May 2023 and May 2010 as per local authority survey return) reports net increase in places only, so if phase capacity in a local authority has reduced between May 2010 and May 2023, this is recorded as zero places created. This means that the sum of the local authority-level figures will not equal the overall increase in places at national level.
Planned places are the number of places planned for delivery 23/24 to 25/26 and contains local authority firm plans for new permanent additional places, places to remove and new temporary bulge places as well as capacity change (increases and decreases) from Central programmes. These include Condition Improvement Fund (CIF), School Building Programme (SRP), Voluntary aided (VA) scheme and the Selective Schools Expansion Fund (SSEF) and places from free schools opened in September 2023 and planned to open in September 2024, and reduction in places from free school and academy closures.
Estimated number of additional places still needed to meet demand and estimated spare places relates to the academic year 2025/26. These estimates factor in existing capacity reported at 1 May 2023, additional capacity and places to remove from local authorities planned places, and additional capacity being provided through centrally funded programmes (e.g. Free Schools). This capacity is then compared with the forecasts provided by the local authorities to estimate the number of places needed to meet demand in addition to places to be provided by local authorities and through centrally funded programmes.
places needed = forecast demand - (existing capacity + additional capacity).
The comparison of demand and capacity takes place for each national curriculum year group within each planning area to estimate places needed in each. The estimates in the scorecard do not allow for spare capacity in one year group or planning area to be off-set against need in another, or vice-versa. This avoids the risk of spare places in one or more planning areas masking areas of need for additional places in planning areas elsewhere in the local authority. The estimated need for additional places is aggregated to planning area level and then to local authority level. Similarly spare place estimates are aggregated to planning area and then local authority level. It is common for a local authority to have both a need for additional places and spare places, reflecting pockets of localised need for places or pockets of localised spare places.
For further information on the methodology used, see the School Place Planning Estimates Technical Guidance 2023
Care should be taken with interpretation of these estimates. Please refer to the technical guidance.
Forecast accuracy measure
Forecast accuracy is how well local authorities predicted pupil numbers on roll for academic year 2023/24. Actual pupil numbers from Jan 2024 school census are compared with local authority pupil forecasts for academic year 2023/24 made one year previously, in SCAP 23 and three years previously, in SCAP 21. Primary forecast accuracy is calculated by subtracting the years R-6 actual numbers from the years R-6 forecasts to give the absolute inaccuracy. Absolute inaccuracy is then divided by the R-6 actual number to give the relative percentage inaccuracy. The same is done for secondary but using years 7-11. Positive percentages denote an over forecast and negative percentages denote an under forecast.
Quality of new and existing school places
To derive the quality of places, all schools found in the school capacity survey have been matched with the following data:
- Ofsted Inspection data (opens in a new tab) – each school has been matched with the Ofsted judgement of 'Overall effectiveness: how good is the school." as at 31 August 2023 (published November 2023). There are four Ofsted categories: 'Outstanding', 'Good', 'Requires improvement' and 'Inadequate'.
- Progress 8 (opens in a new tab) – secondary schools are matched with the progress 8 data across 8 key subjects, for academic year ending July 2023 (published February 2024). . There are 5 possible Progress 8 bandings: well above average, above average, average, below average and well below average.
- Key stage 2 reading and maths progress (opens in a new tab) – primary schools are matched with key stage 2 reading and maths progress for academic year ending July 2023 (published December 2023). The 5 possible progress bandings are the same as listed above for Progress 8.
- Get Information About Schools (opens in a new tab) – the following school types, identified using GIAS have been excluded:
- former independent schools which have not had an inspection since opening
- sponsored academies which have not had an Ofsted inspection since opening as an academy
- schools that have amalgamated and have not been inspected since amalgamation
New places are identified as an increase in capacity of 30 places or more between May 2022 and May 2023 at each school. The calculation counts the number of new places that have been created in schools of each Ofsted category; and the number of existing school places in each category.
The quality measure represents the window in time when places were added and this is not necessarily the same quality outcome as when the decision to add places was taken.
Cost of providing additional school places
Cost refers to the average cost per place of permanent expansion, temporary expansion and new build projects from local authority reported projects in 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18, adjusted for inflation (rebased to 1st Quarter 2024 prices) and regional variation. The cost data used in the scorecard remains the Capital Spend Data from SCAP18.
Average cost does not include costs associated with land acquisition but does include costs associated with maintenance and building condition or enhancement works.
This data can be used to help establish developer contributions per school place. The national average costs, adjusted for regional location factors, are shown in the scorecard. See technical notes in scorecard for more information on how to adjust this further for inflation.
The interactive local authority school places scorecard is available here: https://department-for-education.shinyapps.io/la-school-places-scorecards (opens in a new tab)
Additional data sources
School preference refers to the proportion of applicants who received an offer of a place in one of their top three preferences for entry in September 2023 and September 2024 in the selected local authority and in England. Data and more information on methodology can be found using the following link: Secondary and primary school applications and offers, Academic year 2024/25 – Explore education statistics – GOV.UK (explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk)
Basic need funding
Total basic need funding 2011 to 2025 refers to the total amount of basic need capital funding that the Department for Education (DfE) has allocated to each local authority to support them to create new mainstream primary and secondary places from 2011 to 2025. Data and more information on methodology can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/basic-need-allocations (opens in a new tab)
Help and support
Contact us
If you have a specific enquiry about Local authority school places scorecards statistics and data:
Pupil Place Planning team
Email: SCAP.PPP@education.gov.ukContact name: Robert Miller
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