Pupil numbers in secondary schools continue to rise

The number of pupils in state-funded secondary schools has risen by 81,300 to 3.41 million, continuing a trend of year on year increases since 2016.

The average class size in all secondary schools has increased from 21.7 in 2019 to 22 in 2020.

According to DfE data, there was a small decrease in the number of pupils in state-funded primary schools for the first time since 2010. There were 12,300 (0.3%) fewer pupils in primaries, taking the total to 4.71 million.

The number of pupils in state-funded special schools has increased by 6,400 (5.3%) to 128,100,  continuing a trend seen since 2006. The number of pupils in non-maintained special schools has also increased, by 100 (3.2%) to just under 3,800.

The number of pupils attending independent schools has decreased by 3,600 (0.6%) to 576,900. This figure includes independent special schools and continues a trend seen since 2017.

As in previous years, there are more boys in school than girls, in line with ONS population estimates, and the numbers of both boys and girls have increased since 2019. The ratio in 2020 is approximately 51:49 and shows no noticeable change over the past 5 years.