In previous posts, we’ve analysed the rate at which pupils joined and left the state-funded school system in England.
The last time we did this was in a cruelly overlooked article in September 2021 although we also looked at movements out of the system in January 2022 in response to concerns about pupils leaving school rolls during the pandemic.
In this post we analyse both pupils joining and leaving the school system up to and including January 2022. In particular, the rate at which pupils joined the system fell during the height of the pandemic but has since recovered. There was little change in the rate at which they left the system.
We use data from the January School Census each year from 2015 to 2022 relating to pupils aged between 4 and 15 at the start of the academic year. For example, in the January 2022 Census we include pupils aged between 5 and 15 on the 31st August 2021.
All types of state-funded school are included: mainstream, special and alternative provision.
