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Notes

Education-related websites

Introduction

Although titled 'education', this page is actually about education as it relates to children only.  Education data source for education as it relates to adults is discussed on the page on the Labour Force Survey.

Education is a fully devolved responsibility, meaning that England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each have their own education policies.  Following this, responsibility for education data is fully devolved, with all four countries having their own education websites.  The material below is therefore organised by country.

Most school-related education data is available from reports published on the relevant countries' websites.  This data is typically based on administrative counts, either relating to schools (e.g. exclusions) or to individual pupils (e.g. examination results).  In some cases, the underlying school-level or pupil-level datasets can also be requested, allowing for more sophisticated or flexible analyses.

Some education data relates to all schools whilst other data relates to maintained schools only (i.e. excluding independent schools), noting the government policy in recent years has increasingly blurred the distinction between these.  Most education data includes special schools, but some is for mainstream schools only.  Finally, some education data is restricted to academic qualifications only (e.g. GCSEs) whilst other data encompasses their vocational equivalents as well (e.g. NVQs).  Three consequences of all this:

• When comparing statistics over time or between different geographic areas, it is vital to ensure that the data is genuinely comparable.  It also means that comparisons between the four countries is generally not possible, except for some statistics in England and Wales (because they have the same education system).
• When presenting any results, it is important to read the fine print that accompanies the data so that the presentation is fully in line with the actual data.
• The published data may not be quite what you are looking for.  If not, you can take advantage of the requesting services that all four countries provide.

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England

Sources

In summary:

• Responsible government department: Department for Education (DfE, formerly the Department for Children, Schools and Families ).
• Main website: DfE statistical first releases which contains all English statistical publications about education.
• Underlying datasets: the National Pupil Database, a large pupil-level dataset is available on request.  School-level performance tables are also available on request.
• Update frequency: typically annual.
• Data format: typically tables in either pdf or spreadsheet format, with both often being provided.

Use made of DfE statistical first releases

Report title	Update timing	Indicator	UK graphs	Comments
National curriculum assessments at Key Stage 2 in England	December	Educational attainment at age 11	first	The data has to be requested. Maintained mainstream schools only (i.e. excludes both independent schools and special schools).
			fourth	Table 8. All maintained schools (i.e. excludes independent schools but includes special schools).
GCSE and equivalent results in England	October (provisional), January (revised)	Educational attainment at age 16	first two	Table 1 Be careful about presenting the results: the results are now for those starting their Key Stage 4 year (not quite the same as 15-year-olds), all schools (i.e. including independent schools) and all equivalencies (not just GNVQs) as well as GCSEs themselves.
			fifth	Table number varies from year to year.
Permanent and fixed period exclusions from schools and exclusion appeals in England	June	School exclusions	all	Table numbers vary from year to year. Permanent exclusions only. Maintained primary and secondary schools plus both maintained and non-maintained special schools. Sometimes in additional tables on the website rather than in the main publication. Combine the English data with that for Scotland and Wales to obtain Great Britain-wide results.
Children looked after in England	September	Looked-after children	first and third	Tables A1 and G1.
Outcome indicators for looked-after children	December	Looked-after children	second	Table C.
Participation in education, training and employment by 16-18 year olds in England	June	Not in education, employment or training	third and fourth	Table numbers vary from year to year.
Moving on: pathways taken by young people beyond 16	June	Not in education, employment or training	fifth	Table 16.
Level 2 and 3 attainment by young people in England measured using matched administrative data: attainment by age 19	February	Young adults without a basic qualification	first and second	Tables 1 and 2.
			third	The 'by gender' tables.
			fourth	The 'by local authority' tables.
Free school meals by school (has to be requested)	August	Concentrations of poor children	all	This data has to be requested.

Scotland

Sources

In summary:

• Responsible government department: Scottish Government.
• Main website: Scottish Government statistics - school education section which contains all Scottish Government publications about school education.
• Underlying datasets: Scottish Government statistics - education datasets section which contains all Scottish Government datasets about school education.
• Update frequency: typically annual.
• Data format: typically tables in either pdf or spreadsheet format, with both often being provided.

Use made of the Scottish Government statistics - school education section

Report title	Update timing	Indicator	Scotland graphs	Comments
Destination of leavers from Scottish schools	December	Pupil destinations	all	Table numbers vary from year to year.

Use made of the Scottish Government statistics - education datasets section

Report title	Update timing	Indicator	Scotland graphs	Comments
Schools meal datasets	June	Concentrations of poor children	all	Omit grant-maintained schools, special schools and those who did not complete the returns. The numbers by school are suppressed in the dataset if less than 5.  For the purposes of the analysis, therefore, assume that each is 2 (except if this would put the school into the top fifth, in which case assume 0). Calculate the proportions in the first graph by multiplying both the numbers eligible for free school meals and the numbers no eligible by the proportion of the pupils who are eligible.
Exclusions datasets	December	School exclusions	all	Tables 1 and 10. Permanent exclusions only.

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Wales

Sources

In summary:

• Responsible government department: Welsh Assembly Government (mostly) and the Local Government Data Unit Wales (pupil database).
• Main website: Welsh Assembly Government statistical releases - school and teachers section which contain all Welsh Assembly Government publications about school education.
• Underlying datasets: StatWales, which provides many statistical tables, and the National Pupil Database website, which provides access to the Welsh National Pupils Database for approved users.
• Other websites: none used..
• Update frequency: typically annual.
• Data format: typically tables in either pdf or spreadsheet format, with both often being provided.

Use made of the Welsh Assembly Government statistical releases - school and teachers section

Report title	Update timing	Indicator	Wales graphs	Comments
National curriculum assessments of 7, 11 and 14 year olds	October	Educational attainment at age 11	first	Key Stage 2 benchmarking. Teacher assessments, rather than actual tests (as the latter are no longer undertaken). Welsh as a subject not included as it is only taught in a small number of schools and thus the statistics jump around a lot from year to year. An alternative source is the National Pupil Database website
			second	Table number varies from year to year.
GCSE/GNVQ and GCE A, AS, AVCE and advanced GNVQ results	November	Educational attainment at age 16	first and third	Tables 1 and 3. Note that this data is actually for pupils in their final year of compulsory education which is not quite the same as 16-year-olds. This data has traditionally been provisional only.
Schools in Wales: examination performance	May	Educational attainment at age 16	first and third	Tables 2.1 and 4.1. Overwrite the data from the GCSE/GNVQ and GCE A, AS, AVCE and advanced GNVQ results publication above. Note that, although the document talks about children aged 15 rather than 16, this is their age at the start of the academic year rather than when they sit the examinations. This data is final
			second	This data has to be requested.
Educational Attainment of Young People by Age 19	December	Educational attainment at age 19	all
Exclusions from schools	March	School exclusions	all	Tables 1 and 2. Permanent exclusions only.
Free school meals by school (has to be requested)	January	Concentrations of poor children	all	This data has to be requested.

Use made of the StatWales

Report title	Update timing	Indicator	Wales graphs	Comments
School Census	January	Concentration of poor children	first	Use the tables by school.

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Northern Ireland

Sources

In summary:

• Responsible government department: Department of Education.
• Main website: Department of Education website - statistics section which contains all Northern Irish statistical publications about education.
• Underlying datasets: none used by some may be available on request.
• Other websites: Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Services - education and training section which contains Northern Ireland small area education statistics.
• Update frequency: typically annual.
• Data format: typically tables within pdf publications.

Use made of the Department of Education website - statistics section

Report title	Update timing	Indicator	Northern Ireland graphs	Comments
Qualifications and destinations of Northern Ireland school leavers	June	Educational attainment at age 16	all	Tables 1, 4, 7 and 8
		Pupil destinations	third	Table 9
Key Stage 2 results by school (has to be requested)	January	Educational attainment at age 11	all	This data has to be requested.
Free school meals by school (has to be requested)	January	Concentrations of poor children	all	This data has to be requested.

Use made of the Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Services - education and training section

Report title	Update timing	Indicator	Northern Ireland graphs	Comments
School leavers survey	Irregular	Pupil destinations	fourth	In terms of deprivation, divide the wards into quintiles using the latest Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure. In terms of religion, characterise each ward as 'catholic', 'protestant' or 'mixed' using data from the 2001 Census: a ward is characterised as 'catholic' if more than 70% of its population consider themselves to be catholic, 'protestant' if more than 70% of its population consider themselves to be protestant, and 'mixed' if neither of the above is true.

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