Children missing education by council, England

Official statistics in development

Children missing education on the autumn census day in each of England's 153 councils with education duties, with the regions and England, from the DfE.

England

34,700

2025/26 autumn term

Verified against source, 31 October 2026, 11:19 UTC

Children missing education

Source: Department for Education. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

In order

Ranked by the hub Children missing education

Every place, the highest figure first. The number before each is the hub's own position in the list, not the publisher's: equal figures share one, marked =.

1Nottingham1,990
2Lincolnshire1,910
3East Sussex1,450
4Kent1,340
5Lancashire1,150
6Southampton1,040
7Sheffield, its area before 1 April 2025980
8Birmingham960
9Hackney920
10Warwickshire820
11Leeds700
12Essex610
=13Bradford570
=13Norfolk570
15Hertfordshire540
16Bristol, City of530
=17Cambridgeshire510
=17Redbridge510
19Stoke-on-Trent490
20Newham460
21Coventry440
22Rotherham420
23Doncaster400
24Bury380
=25Hampshire340
=25Leicester340
=25Leicestershire340
=28Nottinghamshire330
=28Suffolk330
30Kingston upon Hull, City of320
=31Hillingdon310
=31Thurrock310
=31Walsall310
34Derbyshire300
=35Central Bedfordshire290
=35Stockport290
=37Oldham280
=37West Northamptonshire280
=39Blackpool270
=39West Sussex270
=41Ealing260
=41Manchester260
43Derby250
44Somerset240
=45Calderdale220
=45County Durham220
=45North Yorkshire220
48Dudley210
=49Buckinghamshire200
=49Cornwall200
=49North Northamptonshire200
=52Devon190
=52Wandsworth190
54Newcastle upon Tyne180
=55Kirklees170
=55Oxfordshire170
=55Staffordshire170
=58Brent160
=58Haringey160
=58Medway160
=58Worcestershire160
=62Peterborough150
=62Surrey150
=62Tameside150
=62Wiltshire150
=66Gloucestershire140
=66Slough140
=68Blackburn with Darwen130
=68Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole130
=68Cheshire East130
=68Rochdale130
=68Sandwell130
=68Tower Hamlets130
=74East Riding of Yorkshire120
=74Hounslow120
=74Liverpool120
=74Telford and Wrekin120
=74Wigan120
=79Enfield110
=79Middlesbrough110
=79Salford110
=82Bath and North East Somerset100
=82Greenwich100
=82Merton100
=82South Gloucestershire100
=82Swindon100
=87Southwark90
=87Trafford90
=89Bedford80
=89Bolton80
=89Croydon80
=89Halton80
=89Knowsley80
=89Plymouth80
=89York80
=96Reading70
=96Sefton70
=96Wakefield70
=96Wolverhampton70
=100Bexley60
=100North Lincolnshire60
=100North Somerset60
=100Redcar and Cleveland60
=100Shropshire60
=100Sutton60
=106Barking and Dagenham50
=106Barnet50
=106Cumberland50
=106Dorset50
=106Havering50
=106Milton Keynes50
=106Warrington50
=113Barnsley, its area before 1 April 202540
=113Brighton and Hove40
=113Bromley40
=113Harrow40
=113Hartlepool40
=113North East Lincolnshire40
=113North Tyneside40
=113Portsmouth40
=113Solihull40
=113St. Helens40
=113Waltham Forest40
=113Wirral40
=125Gateshead30
=125Hammersmith and Fulham30
=125Kingston upon Thames30
=125Northumberland30
=125Richmond upon Thames30
=125South Tyneside30
=125Southend-on-Sea30
=125Westminster30
=125Windsor and Maidenhead30
=134Bracknell Forest20
=134Cheshire West and Chester20
=134Isle of Wight20
=134Islington20
=134Kensington and Chelsea20
=134Lewisham20
=134Luton20
=134Stockton-on-Tees20
=134Sunderland20
=134Torbay20
=134Westmorland and Furness20
=145Camden10
=145Darlington10
=145Herefordshire, County of10
=145Rutland10
=145West Berkshire10
=145Wokingham10
151City of London0

No figure published for Barnsley (given under its old code, E08000016), Isles of Scilly (fewer than 5 (low): the DfE's ‘count that rounds to 0, but is not 0’, its counts rounded to 10), Lambeth (fewer than 5 (low): the DfE's ‘count that rounds to 0, but is not 0’, its counts rounded to 10), Sheffield (given under its old code, E08000019).

Counts follow the size of the place, so the largest places tend to come first.

Data table

162 rows

Area	Children missing education
Nottingham E06000018	1,990
Lincolnshire E10000019	1,910
East Sussex E10000011	1,450
Kent E10000016	1,340
Lancashire E10000017	1,150
Southampton E06000045	1,040
Sheffield E08000019 its area before 1 April 2025	980
Birmingham E08000025	960
Hackney E09000012	920
Warwickshire E10000031	820
Leeds E08000035	700
Essex E10000012	610
Bradford E08000032	570
Norfolk E10000020	570
Hertfordshire E10000015	540
Bristol, City of E06000023	530
Redbridge E09000026	510
Cambridgeshire E10000003	510
Stoke-on-Trent E06000021	490
Newham E09000025	460
Coventry E08000026	440
Rotherham E08000018	420
Doncaster E08000017	400
Bury E08000002	380
Leicester E06000016	340
Hampshire E10000014	340
Leicestershire E10000018	340
Nottinghamshire E10000024	330
Suffolk E10000029	330
Kingston upon Hull, City of E06000010	320
Thurrock E06000034	310
Walsall E08000030	310
Hillingdon E09000017	310
Derbyshire E10000007	300
Central Bedfordshire E06000056	290
Stockport E08000007	290
West Northamptonshire E06000062	280
Oldham E08000004	280
Blackpool E06000009	270
West Sussex E10000032	270
Manchester E08000003	260
Ealing E09000009	260
Derby E06000015	250
Somerset E06000066	240
County Durham E06000047	220
North Yorkshire E06000065	220
Calderdale E08000033	220
Dudley E08000027	210
Cornwall E06000052	200
Buckinghamshire E06000060	200
North Northamptonshire E06000061	200
Wandsworth E09000032	190
Devon E10000008	190
Newcastle upon Tyne E08000021	180
Kirklees E08000034	170
Oxfordshire E10000025	170
Staffordshire E10000028	170
Medway E06000035	160
Brent E09000005	160
Haringey E09000014	160
Worcestershire E10000034	160
Peterborough E06000031	150
Wiltshire E06000054	150
Tameside E08000008	150
Surrey E10000030	150
Slough E06000039	140
Gloucestershire E10000013	140
Blackburn with Darwen E06000008	130
Cheshire East E06000049	130
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole E06000058	130
Rochdale E08000005	130
Sandwell E08000028	130
Tower Hamlets E09000030	130
East Riding of Yorkshire E06000011	120
Telford and Wrekin E06000020	120
Wigan E08000010	120
Liverpool E08000012	120
Hounslow E09000018	120
Middlesbrough E06000002	110
Salford E08000006	110
Enfield E09000010	110
Bath and North East Somerset E06000022	100
South Gloucestershire E06000025	100
Swindon E06000030	100
Greenwich E09000011	100
Merton E09000024	100
Trafford E08000009	90
Southwark E09000028	90
Halton E06000006	80
York E06000014	80
Plymouth E06000026	80
Bedford E06000055	80
Bolton E08000001	80
Knowsley E08000011	80
Croydon E09000008	80
Reading E06000038	70
Sefton E08000014	70
Wolverhampton E08000031	70
Wakefield E08000036	70
Redcar and Cleveland E06000003	60
North Lincolnshire E06000013	60
North Somerset E06000024	60
Shropshire E06000051	60
Bexley E09000004	60
Sutton E09000029	60
Warrington E06000007	50
Milton Keynes E06000042	50
Dorset E06000059	50
Cumberland E06000063	50
Barking and Dagenham E09000002	50
Barnet E09000003	50
Havering E09000016	50
Hartlepool E06000001	40
North East Lincolnshire E06000012	40
Brighton and Hove E06000043	40
Portsmouth E06000044	40
St. Helens E08000013	40
Wirral E08000015	40
Barnsley E08000016 its area before 1 April 2025	40
North Tyneside E08000022	40
Solihull E08000029	40
Bromley E09000006	40
Harrow E09000015	40
Waltham Forest E09000031	40
Southend-on-Sea E06000033	30
Windsor and Maidenhead E06000040	30
Northumberland E06000057	30
South Tyneside E08000023	30
Gateshead E08000037	30
Hammersmith and Fulham E09000013	30
Kingston upon Thames E09000021	30
Richmond upon Thames E09000027	30
Westminster E09000033	30
Stockton-on-Tees E06000004	20
Torbay E06000027	20
Luton E06000032	20
Bracknell Forest E06000036	20
Isle of Wight E06000046	20
Cheshire West and Chester E06000050	20
Westmorland and Furness E06000064	20
Sunderland E08000024	20
Islington E09000019	20
Kensington and Chelsea E09000020	20
Lewisham E09000023	20
Darlington E06000005	10
Rutland E06000017	10
Herefordshire, County of E06000019	10
West Berkshire E06000037	10
Wokingham E06000041	10
Camden E09000007	10
City of London E09000001	0
Isles of Scilly E06000053	fewer than 5 (low): the DfE's ‘count that rounds to 0, but is not 0’, its counts rounded to 10
Lambeth E09000022	fewer than 5 (low): the DfE's ‘count that rounds to 0, but is not 0’, its counts rounded to 10
Barnsley E08000038	given for its area before 1 April 2025, under E08000016
Sheffield E08000039	given for its area before 1 April 2025, under E08000019
North East	800
North West	4,110
Yorkshire and The Humber	4,430
East Midlands	5,970
West Midlands	3,990
East of England	3,440
South East	5,540
South West	2,090
England	34,700

Download CSV Download JSON with full provenance

Map

Children missing education · 130 areas, each shaded by the fifth of the areas its figure falls in

0 to 30
30 to 70
70 to 130
130 to 260
260 to 1,990

Boundaries: Council boundaries, May 2026, from the geography spine. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Source and licence

Publisher

Department for Education

Check it yourself

https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-missing-education

Licence

Open Government Licence v3.0 – Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Retrieved

31 October 2026, 11:11 UTC

Raw files fetched

https://api.education.gov.uk/statistics/v1/data-sets/019bb854-d8d5-707a-bc53-e0de9ac70891/meta?dataSetVersion=1.0.1SHA-256 0f36f286cf2bf860fa9de1390f050755d358d1530460914f2fbdf876a05f9a27 · 15,481 bytes
https://api.education.gov.uk/statistics/v1/data-sets/019bb854-d8d5-707a-bc53-e0de9ac70891/query?dataSetVersion=1.0.1&indicators=jNnAM&geographicLevels.in=LA,REG,NAT&timePeriods.eq=2025%2F2026%7CT1&filters.notIn=2iuzl,PyHqe,NglmD,oWJCm,Gz1Vg,S9CWV,3Nmj8,yxdwa,R8SDk,bB8St,DOlnQ,eaHiu,5UBxd,4cnbU,m2Jw9,0kX6T,W1PB2,EXsmq,QCcew,9lvA4,2ieHl,PyYEe,Ng2oD,wI3Ub,oWFOm,9lvB4,dR7j0,OJ6ZC,7SQ1X,pmOqS,InN1B,LKTdW,6ALar,0kXXT,H0Eqz,CvrDI,YdtjH,qfxij,aM0oL,BpDq7,zTqIF,kZVoh,uLzdo,XVwCf,Thf5P&pageSize=10000SHA-256 09de4e7be0c49088c24142cbfc9c2568cfeffb0e8ee7e366b6d6e3899232f58b · 32,211 bytes

Verification

Verified against source, 31 October 2026, 11:19 UTC Run at 31 October 2026, 11:19 UTC; 162 of 162 figures matched the live source.

Result	Check	Detail
Pass	Provenance recorded	Department for Education; Open Government Licence v3.0; retrieved 2026-10-31T11:11:44Z; 2 raw file(s)
Pass	Raw files match recorded SHA-256	2 of 2 files intact
Pass	Re-parsing raw files reproduces figures	162 of 162 figures and the headline reproduced
Pass	Figures are finite numbers	162 figures, 0 invalid
Pass	Live source matches every figure	162 of 162 figures match exactly after downloading 2 source file(s) again (1 byte-identical); the headline matches
Pass	EES data set is current	latest period 2025/26 autumn term ended 304 days before retrieval (limit 550)
Pass	The data set's CSV agrees	164 of 164 cells of the stored query, figures and marks, equal version 1.0.1's CSV (https://api.education.gov.uk/statistics/v1/data-sets/019bb854-d8d5-707a-bc53-e0de9ac70891/csv?dataSetVersion=1.0.1, 164 rows read)
Pass	The councils add up to their region and the regions to England	10 comparisons expected, each region's councils and England's regions in every count and combination, London as Inner and Outer London: 10 within the rounding the DfE states (2 exactly; 2 with a council's 'low' as 1 to 4)
Pass	Source page answers	https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-missing-education – HTTP 200

Notes

Children of compulsory school age the council knows are not registered at a school and not receiving suitable education otherwise on the census day in October, as local authorities report them. Collecting these figures became mandatory in the autumn of 2024, and the DfE publishes them as official statistics in development.
The DfE gives these figures for England's 153 councils with education and children's services duties (its unitary, metropolitan and London councils and its 21 counties), not for districts.
The DfE gives Barnsley and Sheffield under the codes they had before part of Barnsley moved into Sheffield on the 1st of April 2025 (E08000016 and E08000019), and they are shown so.
The DfE's methodology: “Local authority and regional data has been rounded to the nearest 10, national figures are rounded to the nearest 100.”
The DfE gives Inner and Outer London, not London, so London's figure is not shown; the checks hold London's councils to those two together, and add England up from its other regions and those two.