Which schools and pupils to include
Source: gov.uk (2025-12-03)

Find out which schools and pupils are in scope for the school census.

The school census collects individual school characteristics and pupil records 3 times a year.

In England, all of the following schools are required to provide the information collected in this census to the Department for Education (DfE):
- maintained nursery
- primary
- middle-deemed primary
- middle-deemed secondary
- secondary
- all-through
- special schools (including non-maintained special schools)
- pupil referral units or alternative provision schools (PRU or AP)
- academy schools (including free schools, university technical colleges (UTCs) and studio schools)
- city technology colleges (CTCs)
School categories

Different categories of schools may need to submit different data items. Your category of school is defined by the school phase you return in the census.

The statutory age ranges for each individual school are recorded on get information about schools (GIAS).

Which pupils are in scope

Individual data will be included in the return for the following pupils. You should ensure that all relevant data is maintained and up-to-date for:
- all pupils on the register on census day
- any additional pupils subject to any type of suspension or permanent exclusion in the previous 2 terms
- any additional pupils who attended the school in the previous term for which termly attendance information is required – not applicable to nursery schools
- any additional pupils who attended the school in the previous academic year for which learning aims are submitted – autumn census for secondary, all-through and AP schools only
- any additional pupils who had an alternative provision (AP) placement within the collection period (since the last census day) – not applicable to nursery schools
- any additional pupils awarded a bursary since the start of the academic year – spring and summer census only, and not applicable to nursery, primary and middle schools
- any additional pupils who were recorded as in receipt of learner funding and monitoring since the start of the academic year – not applicable to nursery schools
Early years

Schools with funded on-site early years provision make their return via either the school census or the early years census, but not both.

Registered pupils of a school

Enter these children on the school census.

Children who attend a separate Ofsted-registered private, voluntary or independent provider on a school site

Enter these children on the early years census (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/early-years-census).

Children attending provision provided by a local authority maintained school governing body under Section 27 of the Education Act 2002 (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/32/section/27)

Local authority maintained school governor run provision is:
- set up by a local authority maintained school (not an academy) as a community or charitable service using powers under Section 27 of the Education Act 2002
- delivered directly by the school (that is under the auspices of the school’s governing body)
- where children are not registered pupils of the school
- where staff are employed by the school or local authority
Children who are receiving early years provision that is directly run by an academy, on academy premises, must be registered pupils of the academy and recorded on the school census, not the early years census.

However, if a child’s free entitlement is split between more than one place, they may appear on the 2 different censuses, depending on where and how the pupil is registered.

We expect local authority contacts to cross-check their early years census (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/complete-the-early-years-census) and school census returns before submission to ensure there are no duplicates.

Ministry of Defence schools

We would like these schools to complete the census, but they do not have to.

Registered independent schools

These schools do not complete the census. They complete the school-level annual school census (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-level-annual-school-census) instead.

General hospital schools

These schools do not complete the census. They complete the school-level annual school census (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-level-annual-school-census) instead.

Alternative provision

Alternative provision should be recorded on the school census if it takes place in:
- a pupil referral unit
- an alternative provision academy
- an alternative provision free school
- an early years setting (private, voluntary or independent)
- state-funded schools
Separate requirements and guides are issued for the early years census (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/early-years-census) and alternative provision census (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/alternative-provision-census).