Pupils and teachers in each of the UK's nations
Pupils in schools in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each school year since 2015/16, and full-time equivalent teachers since 2019/20, from the Department for Education's UK statistics.
Pupils in the UK
10,643,366
2024/25 · taught by 641,016 full-time equivalent teachers
Verified against source, 31 October 2026, 11:23 UTC- England, pupils
- Wales, pupils
- Scotland, pupils
- Northern Ireland, pupils
- England, teachers
- Wales, teachers
- Scotland, teachers
- Northern Ireland, teachers
Source: Department for Education. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Data table
10 periods, newest first
| Period | England, pupils | Wales, pupils | Scotland, pupils | Northern Ireland, pupils | England, teachers | Wales, teachers | Scotland, teachers | Northern Ireland, teachers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024/25 | 9,032,425 | 469,825 | 792,750 | 348,365 | 542,355 | 25,025 | 53,410 | 20,225 |
| 2023/24 | 9,092,075 | 475,965 | 797,710 | 267,740 | 543,930 | 25,525 | 54,035 | 19,995 |
| 2022/23 | 9,073,780 | 479,710 | 798,490 | 348,905 | 541,690 | 26,070 | 54,195 | 19,955 |
| 2021/22 | 9,000,025 | 481,165 | 796,325 | 347,205 | 537,285 | 25,840 | 54,285 | 19,455 |
| 2020/21 | 8,911,885 | 484,580 | 792,325 | 344,860 | 538,415 | 25,615 | 53,400 | 19,000 |
| 2019/20 | 8,890,355 | 469,175 | 794,365 | 341,400 | 530,800 | 23,595 | 52,245 | 18,505 |
| 2018/19 | 8,819,290 | 478,480 | 789,800 | 338,885 | – | – | – | – |
| 2017/18 | 8,735,100 | 476,870 | 784,850 | 336,175 | – | – | – | – |
| 2016/17 | 8,669,080 | 475,890 | 781,310 | 333,500 | – | – | – | – |
| 2015/16 | 8,559,645 | 475,435 | 777,220 | 331,070 | – | – | – | – |
Source and licence
- Publisher
- Department for Education
- Check it yourself
- https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-and-training-statistics-for-the-uk
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0 – Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Retrieved
- 31 October 2026, 11:12 UTC
- Raw files fetched
- https://content.explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/api/data-set-files?publicationId=2ffbc8d3-eb53-4c4b-a6fb-219a5b95ebc8&latestOnly=true&pageSize=40SHA-256 8a80cb81e0e92ef022542046a0e8d557f1d091a4e3707ffb4838f0ea11b9383a · 10,936 bytes
- https://content.explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/api/releases/e1c4fc25-3076-4832-830a-08ddcab5041f/files?fileIds=f47c0d9d-f516-44e4-c1a9-08ddd67d4d79SHA-256 d91e6b10765c09b8a1f195f00878d3e92420903af840c483afe390f2e93bf1bb · 25,784 bytes
- https://content.explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/api/releases/e1c4fc25-3076-4832-830a-08ddcab5041f/files?fileIds=025da1b1-d54c-48e0-c1ab-08ddd67d4d79SHA-256 1e6a36c5745d0f316bc35d05d4ff34763e4da8ef6f082fea6b1c8c1ba3e261dc · 12,306 bytes
Verification
Verified against source, 31 October 2026, 11:23 UTC Run at 31 October 2026, 11:23 UTC; 80 of 80 figures matched the live source.
| Result | Check | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Pass | Provenance recorded | Department for Education; Open Government Licence v3.0; retrieved 2026-10-31T11:12:59Z; 3 raw file(s) |
| Pass | Raw files match recorded SHA-256 | 3 of 3 files intact |
| Pass | Re-parsing raw files reproduces figures | 80 of 80 figures and the headline reproduced |
| Pass | Figures are finite numbers | 80 figures, 0 invalid |
| Pass | Live source matches every figure | 80 of 80 figures match exactly after downloading 3 source file(s) again (1 byte-identical); the headline matches |
| Pass | The release is current | latest school year 2024/25 ended 579 days before retrieval, counting from the March it ends in (limit 650) |
| Pass | The nations add up to the UK | in 16 of 16 years of pupils and teachers the four nations sum to the UK within the 10 their rounding to 5 allows (1 exactly) |
| Pass | England's school census agrees | England's 9,032,425 pupils in 2024/25 are the school census's 9,032,426 rounded to the nearest 5, from https://api.education.gov.uk/statistics/v1/data-sets/019e7401-bedb-711a-ae3d-836fbca519f3/csv |
| Pass | Source page answers | https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-and-training-statistics-for-the-uk – HTTP 200 |
Notes
- Pupils and full-time equivalent teachers in state-funded and independent schools, as each nation counts them: Scotland's include funded early learning and childcare and leave out independent schools, and Wales's leave out independent schools in 2019/20. Northern Ireland's 2023/24 pupil count was lowered by industrial action and is not comparable with other years.
- Figures for each nation are rounded to the nearest 5; the UK's are not. The UK totals are on the headline only, since a chart shows eight series at most.