Pupils with additional learning or special educational needs by sector and year

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Measure1

Year

Sector

Sector 1

2012/13

2013/14

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

2017/18

2018/19

2019/20

Whilst most of the usual data validation processes on the 2020 school census data have taken place, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the data did not undergo the usual final validation process. As part of the Welsh Local Government Finance Settlement, the data is usually returned to local authorities for final validation. Typically, overall numbers of pupils and teachers will not change significantly during this period, with the most likely change being in the characteristics of the pupils themselves e.g. free school meal entitlement. Users should therefore be more cautious when comparing data on characteristics of pupils and staff over time, in particular where small cohorts are involved.

2020/21

The schools census would usually take place in January. School closures between December 2020 and March 2021 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic meant that the census date was delayed to 20 April 2021. The number of pupils was higher in April 2021 partly due to the later census date which meant that more pupils had entered nursery classes by the census date.

2021/22

The schools census would usually take place in January. Due to the level of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in January 2022, the census date was delayed to 15 February 2022.

2022/23

2023/24

All schools

103,791

105,303

104,957

105,143

105,577

105,625

103,976

97,551

92,688

74,661

63,089

52,150

All schools

Nursery schools Nursery: age under 5

192

190

161

148

139

142

120

101

108

Primary schools Primary: ages 3/4 to 10.

56,915

57,788

57,827

58,628

58,955

58,401

56,762

51,473

47,782

37,127

30,263

25,489

Middle schools Middle: ages 3/4 to 16/18.

820

965

1,250

1,314

2,099

2,739

3,715

4,300

4,302

2,598

2,636

2,308

Secondary schools Secondary: ages 11 to 16/18.

41,545

42,022

41,275

40,513

39,659

39,515

38,399

36,530

35,276

29,372

24,418

18,252

Special schools Special schools, both day and boarding, provide education for children with Special Educational Needs who cannot be educated satisfactorily in mainstream schools.

Special schools, both day and boarding, provide education for children with Special Educational Needs who cannot be educated satisfactorily in mainstream schools.

4,319

4,338

4,444

4,540

4,725

4,828

4,980

5,147

5,220

5,466

5,683

6,025

Metadata

High level information
Statistical quality information
Keywords
Summary information
Weblinks
Open Data

Title

Pupils with special educational needs by sector and year

Last update

31/07/2024

Next update

July 2025 (provisional)

Publishing organisation

Welsh Government

Source 1

Pupil Level Annual School Census (PLASC), Welsh Government

Contact email

school.stats@gov.wales

Designation

National Statistics

Lowest level of geographical disaggregation

Wales

Geographical coverage

Wales

Languages covered

English and Welsh

Data licensing

You may use and re-use this data free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government License - see http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence

Statistical quality

School Census returns are authorised by headteachers and validated by Local Authorities.

Whilst most of the usual data validation processes on the 2020 school census data have taken place, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the data did not undergo the usual final validation process. As part of the Welsh Local Government Finance Settlement, the data is usually returned to local authorities for final validation. Typically, overall numbers of pupils and teachers will not change significantly during this period, with the most likely change being in the characteristics of the pupils themselves e.g. free school meal entitlement. Users should therefore be more cautious when comparing data on characteristics of pupils and staff over time, in particular where small cohorts are involved.

General description

See other items

Data collection and calculation

Schools’ data are derived from the Pupil Level Annual School Census (PLASC) returns and STATS 1 returns supplied by schools open on Census day in January each year. The returns are authorised by headteachers and validated by Local Authorities.

Frequency of publication

Annual

Data reference periods

From 2003/04 or more recently if the data item is not available for earlier years.

Rounding applied

None.

Name

SCHS0261