Education and training statistics for the UK
Reporting year 2026

This document describes the contents of the underlying data files accompanying the ‘education and training’ statistics publication. There is a Methodology document that is linked under ‘Useful information’ at the top of the release, that contains further information on the statistics published here.

Data files

Highest qualification among 19-64 year olds

Filename: uk_highest_qualifications_rounded.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2025
Content summary: This file contains information on the highest qualification of adults (aged 19-64) in the UK, by sex.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name        |  Variable description
-------------------  |  ---------------------------------------
age                  |  Age
gender               |  Gender
number               |  Number of people
percent              |  Percentage of relevant population group
population_category  |  Population category

Footnotes:

1. Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) levels used in Scotland are not directly comparable to NQF levels used in England/Wales/Northern Ireland. Figures relating to levels 5, 6 and 7 have been provided as the closest match to NQF levels 2, 3 and 4 respectively. Figures for the UK have been calculated using the NQF levels assigned to Scottish qualifications in the Labour Force Survey.
2. Since 2019, ONS have faced challenges around the falling number of responses to the LFS which has led to increased sampling variability. LFS datasets are weighted in line with population estimates. In recent years there have been several reweighting exercises to address changes in international migration and impacts as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Timeseries comparisons should be viewed with some caution, and should be considered 'Official Statistics in Development'. Full details of the reweighting can be found here: Impact of reweighting on Labour Force Survey key indicators - Office for National Statistics (opens in new tab) (https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/impactofreweightingonlabourforcesurveykeyindicators/december2024)
3. Volumes are rounded to the nearest 1000.
4. Percentage values are rounded. As a result of rounding, percentages may not sum exactly to totals.


Pupils

Filename: uk_pupils_suppressed.csv
Geographic levels: National; Regional
Time period: 2015/16 to 2025/26
Content summary: This file contains information on the number of pupils in the UK, by age, sex and school type.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name  |  Variable description
--------  |  ----------------
age       |  Age
gender    |  Gender
phase     |  School type
t_pupils  |  Number of pupils

Footnotes:

1. Primary and secondary figures include middle schools as deemed. Secondary schools include all-through schools.
2. In England, special schools include alternative provision (https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/glossary#alternative-provision) schools.
3. In Scotland, nursery figures include all providers of funded Early Learning and Childcare, except childminders.
4. Figures for independent schools in Scotland are unavailable.
5. Figures for independent schools in Wales are unavailable for 2019/20.
6. Independent schools includes non-maintained special schools.
7. In Scotland, Early Learning and Childcare pupil numbers by sex are unavailable.
8. In Northern Ireland, independent school pupil numbers by sex are not available due to figures being too small to publish
9. Figures below the UK level are rounded to the nearest 5.
10. Northern Ireland's pupil data collection for the 2023/24 academic year was impacted by Action Short of a Strike (ASOS). Although data has been received from all schools, for 25% of schools (primary, post primary and special schools) pupil level information has not been received in electronic format.  The result of this is that the Department has been unable to obtain all the information usually received via electronic census returns, for example sex, age, religion and ethnicity, and has not been able to fully undertake the normal validation processes


Teachers

Filename: uk_teachers_suppressed.csv
Geographic levels: National; Regional
Time period: 2019/20 to 2025/26
Content summary: This file contains information on the number of teachers in the UK, by sex and school type.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name   |  Variable description
--------------  |  ---------------------------------------
gender          |  Gender
phase           |  School type
t_fte_teachers  |  Full-time equivalent number of teachers

Footnotes:

1. Primary and secondary figures include middle schools as deemed. Secondary schools include all-through schools.
2. In England, special schools include alternative provision (https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/glossary#alternative-provision) schools.
3. In Scotland, nursery figures include all providers of funded Early Learning and Childcare, except childminders.
4. Figures for independent schools in Scotland are unavailable.
5. Figures for independent schools in Wales are unavailable for 2019/20.
6. Totals includes those whose gender identity is other or unclassified.
7. Figures for teachers in each nation are rounded to the nearest 5. UK totals are unrounded.


Further Education Students

Filename: uk_post_compulsory_education_fe_students.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2015/16 to 2024/25
Content summary: This file contains information on the number of further education students in the UK, by sex, age and mode of study.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name  |  Variable description
-------------  |  ---------------------
age            |  Age
gender         |  Gender
mode_of_study  |  Mode of study
t_students     |  Number of FE students

Footnotes:

1. 'z' indicates data is not applicable.
2. Totals include further education students at further education colleges or higher education providers.
3. In England, student numbers by mode of study (e.g. part-time, work-based learning) are unavailable.
4. Welsh totals may not reflect the sum of male and female totals, and overall totals include those who report their gender as 'other'.
5. Trends in further education students may differ depending on the metric being used (enrolments, headcount, full-time equivalents, course length, etc.)
