Department for Education

It is our ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.

Parents of students are eligible for the universal 15 hours of free early education which is available to all three and four-year-olds regardless of family circumstances.

Students who work in addition to studying may be eligible for 30 hours free childcare if they meet the income requirements. PhD stipends are non-taxable income and therefore do not count towards the income requirements of the 30 hours childcare entitlement.

The government recognises the value of parents continuing in education and provides a range of support for students in higher education to assist them with childcare.

Through the Student Loans Company, the department offers a specific Childcare Grant (CCG) to support students with the costs of childcare whilst they are in study. The CCG offers parents support of up to 85% of their childcare costs up to a maximum of £183.75 a week for one child and £315.03 for two children. CCG support is provided to individuals where both parents are students, the student is a lone parent, or the student parent’s partner is on a low income. The government has no plans to extend CCG to postgraduate research students.

The Resilience Action Plan sets out the government’s strategic approach to how we will strengthen our domestic resilience and invest to protect the nation. Officials from the department regularly attend meetings to discuss the implementation of the Resilience Action Plan as well as matters of national security and defence.

The department is actively supporting this work. Officials in the department are in regular discussions with the Ministry of Defence and other government departments about the critical role children and young people play.

I refer the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell to the answer of 23 March 2026 to Question 117074.

The department currently sponsors 28 individuals on a Skilled Worker visa through a Certificate of Sponsorship.

Research shows that mediation can reduce the likelihood of disputes escalating to appeals, enabling families and local authorities to work collaboratively to resolve disagreements more quickly and collaboratively.

We are engaging with a wide variety of stakeholders, including families, local authorities, representative groups and providers, to identify what more can be done to raise awareness of mediation, address the barriers to effective mediation and share best practice. As a first step, we intend to improve mediation through clearer national guidance for families and professionals, and by supporting improved local authority compliance with existing duties.

Where early resolution is not possible, the special educational needs and disabilities tribunal will continue to act as an important legal backstop for key decisions about education, health and care plans.

Revenue funding through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) for Lancashire in 2025/26 and 2026/27 financial years are presented in the table below. Funding for 2027/28 will be confirmed later this year.

Lancashire School Funding

*Mainstream funding includes premises and excludes growth.

Local authorities meet the costs of special school places in their area through their high needs block funding in the DSG, with the total high needs funding for Lancashire set out above.

The methodology for the Inclusive Mainstream Fund was published on 25 March. This details distribution of the £400 million schools will receive in 2026/27 to prepare and deliver improved inclusion practice.

We have announced over £82 million of Basic Need capital grant funding to support Lancashire in creating mainstream school places needed due to forecasted growth in pupil numbers between May 2024 and September 2028. The £82 million will be paid across the 2023/24 to 2027/28 financial years.

In financial years 2025/26 and 2026/27, Lancashire has been allocated just under £19.7 million and just over £23.8 million respectively through High Needs Provision Capital Allocations.

The department has set out plans to address these deficits up to the end of 2025/26, providing grants to cover 90% of each council’s deficit once they have produced and received approval for a strong plan to drive sustained action in accordance with our new system set out today in the Schools White Paper. This will help to improve outcomes for children and bring costs under control through effective early intervention, stopping needs from escalating. Asking authorities to contribute the remaining 10% reflects the shared responsibility we all have in delivering a system that provides value for money and supports better outcomes for children and young people.

For deficits that arise in 2026/27 and 2027/28, local authorities can expect that we will continue to take an appropriate and proportionate approach though it will not be unlimited. Future support will take into account local authorities' successful delivery of their approved Local SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) reform plan.

Overall, core schools funding (including funding for mainstream schools and high needs funding for young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)) is increasing by £1.7 billion in the 2026/27 financial year, and will total £67.0 billion, compared to £65.3 billion in 2025/26. High needs funding will be over £12 billion in England in the 2026/27 financial year, following a £1 billion increase in 2025/26. The additional funding announced at the 2025 Spending Review will deliver an above-real-terms per-pupil increase up to the 2028/29 financial year and enable us to transform the SEND system. Moreover, departmental budgets will increase above previously planned funding at Autumn Budget 2025 by £3.5 billion in 2028/29 to support investment in the SEND system.

In our recent publication ’SEND reform: putting children and young people first’, we announced a £4 billion investment over the three years of the spending period to make every school inclusive and transform outcomes for children with SEND. This investment includes over £1.6 billion for the Inclusive Mainstream Fund, £1.8 billion for Experts at Hand, £200 million for Best Start Family Hubs and over £200 million for a national training package. More details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-first.

The government is committed to raising the healthiest generation ever and breaking down barriers to opportunity.

We are extending free school meals to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026. We are taking decisive action to drive down poverty by ensuring that over half a million disadvantaged children receive the support they need in school to be healthy, get the most out of their education, and enjoy lifelong success. This action will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty and put £500 back in families’ pockets.

The government is committed to delivering a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged pupils in England. Free breakfast clubs remove barriers to opportunity by offering primary school children, no matter their circumstance, a supportive start to the school day.

These meals must be compliant with the School Food Standards. To ensure they support our work to create the healthiest generation of children in history, we are revising the School Food Standards and are engaging with stakeholders.

Additionally, we are working with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to add support for the outcomes of their Government Food Strategy.

The number of apprentices enrolled on apprenticeship programmes within the department in each calendar year is as follows:

• 2022: 324 apprentices.
• 2023: 257 apprentices.
• 2024: 206 apprentices.
• 2025: 271 apprentices.

Note this reflects a combination of new apprentices joining the department and existing staff embarking on apprenticeship programmes as part of their career development.

The Opportunity Mission Board provides a forum for external challenge and cross-government discussion on priorities and delivery for the Opportunity Mission. The Board is chaired by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education. The Board does not have a fixed list of attendees. Ministers from relevant government departments and external experts are invited to attend meetings depending on the issues under discussion. The Board has been reformed since it was established to be a more delivery focused forum benefiting from external and sector expertise.

The department holds data on young carers and pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM), which is published in the ‘Schools, pupils and characteristics’ publication. The most recent version was published in June 2025 and the next is scheduled for summer 2026.

Below is a table showing the proportion of pupils who are identified as young carers and known to be eligible for FSM, and the proportion of pupils who are not identified as young carers but are known to be eligible for FSM.

The special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Code of Practice sets out that the provision made for pupils with special educational needs should be recorded accurately and kept up to date. As a result, many settings already keep records of the needs and provision required by children or young people with SEND and communicate these with parents.

The department is introducing a duty on settings to produce an individual support plan for every child or young person with SEND, ensuring help keeps pace with their development, prevents challenges from escalating, and reduces the risk of them disengaging from learning.

Additional funding through an Inclusive Mainstream Fund will be provided to early years, schools and colleges to boost the existing core funding for SEND, with over £500 million per year over the next three years. This funding, alongside their existing core funding, will help equip settings to invest in high-quality, adaptive teaching, targeted evidence-based support, inclusive pedagogy and decision-making, and create safe, calm and accessible learning environments for all. On 25 March, we published the guidance ‘Inclusive mainstream fund: best practice for schools’, which provides examples and case studies of how settings can use this funding to enhance support for children with SEND. The guidance is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-mainstream-fund-2026-to-2027/inclusive-mainstream-fund-best-practice-for-schools--2.

Our proposed reforms go further to support educators, with easier access to expert advice through Experts at Hand and evidence-based tools and resources through the National Inclusion Standards.

The National School Breakfast Programme (NSBP) is an inherited scheme from the previous government and the contract will end in July 2026. The contract with the supplier Family Action stipulates that all food available for schools to purchase must meet the School Food Standards, which already restrict foods high in fat, salt and sugar, as well as low-quality reformed or reconstituted foods. To ensure quality and nutrition in meals for the future, we are revising the School Food Standards and are engaging with experts across the sector.

This government is committed to delivering a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged pupils in England. All NSBP schools with primary-aged pupils will have the opportunity to transition onto the free breakfast clubs programme from September 2026. NSBP secondary schools will be provided with continued support at an equivalent value to what they receive on the NSBP for the 2026/7 academic year. Further details for secondary schools will follow shortly.

The Best Start in Life strategy sets out the government’s commitment to widening access to high-quality, evidence-based parenting and home learning environment support. This will help ensure that families receive the interventions most effective in supporting children’s early development and reducing disparities before they reach school age.

The department remains focused on ensuring that parenting support in England is informed by strong evidence and aligned with the needs of families. We will continue to take a careful, evidence-led approach to future decisions. This includes tracking emerging practice in the UK and internationally, including learning from Australia’s programmes.

Together, reforms to VAT and business rates will raise around £1.8 billion a year by 2029/30. This measure will raise essential revenue that will be invested in our public services, such as our £1.7 billion increase to school funding in 2026/27, meaning that core school budgets will total £67 billion compared to £65.3 billion in 2025/26.

The department is committed to raising the healthiest generation ever and are continuing our work to revise the School Food Standards. We are engaging experts across the sector and are developing our plans to consult on the changes.

We know milk is excellent for children’s growth and development. Regulation 9 of the School Food Standards states that lower fat milk or lactose reduced milk must be available to children who want it for drinking at least once a day during school hours. Under Section 512ZB (3) of the Education Act 1996, it is also a legislative requirement that milk is provided free of charge to pupils who meet the free school meal criteria.

HM Treasury published a tax information and impact note on applying VAT to private school fees: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-on-private-school-fees/applying-vat-to-private-school-fees. This is a comprehensive assessment of the VAT policy, including estimated revenue and costs of increased pupil numbers in the state sector.

The number of apprentices that enrolled onto apprenticeship programmes within the department in each calendar year is as follows:

• 2022: 324 apprentices
• 2023: 257 apprentices
• 2024: 206 apprentices
• 2025: 271 apprentices

Note: this is a combination of new apprentices joining the department and existing staff embarking on apprenticeship programmes as part of their career development.

The department does not hold data for 2015. For comparison purposes we can confirm that in 2016 the department had 32 apprentices enrol onto apprenticeship programmes. In 2017, the department had 54 apprentices enrol onto apprenticeship programmes.

There are currently no plans to review our approach to term-time holidays. Schools may grant a leave of absence for exceptional circumstances at their discretion by judging each application on the specific facts. However, generally a holiday would not constitute an exceptional circumstance. The school year is structured so that there are opportunities for holidays outside of term-time. Schools and local authorities also have considerable flexibility to plan term dates themselves and hold INSET days and other occasional days at quieter times of the year, allowing parents and carers to plan breaks at times that suit them.

This government recognises there can be considerable additional pressures on some pupils and their parents and carers, including for children in foster care with complex needs. However, all children have a right to a full-time education and we do not believe the solution is to endorse additional time away from school.

School funding is increasing by £1.7 billion in 2026/27, meaning that core school budgets will total £67 billion, an increase on the £65.3 billion provided in 2025/26.

In 2026/27, the most deprived schools have, on average, attracted the largest per pupil funding amounts through the schools National Funding Formula.

The department has not identified evidence that SATs have a specific or disproportionate impact on the attendance of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Internal analysis indicates that overall attendance patterns for pupils with SEND remain consistent during the SATs assessment period.

Primary assessments are extensively trialled and reviewed by teachers and SEND specialists to ensure they are suitable for all and of appropriate difficulty, with modified papers and access arrangements available for pupils with SEND where needed.

The department’s ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance makes clear that pupils with SEND have the same right to education and the same attendance ambition as their peers, and that schools and local authorities should provide appropriate support to enable their attendance, including during assessment periods.

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As part of our reforms, we will ensure children get the right support in their early years setting, school, and college. We will do this by investing in new training for all staff, early intervention, better buildings and equipment, and making sure that every setting has access to expert professional support when it is needed.

The department's consultation ‘Adoption support that works for all’ sets out a vision for more predictable, joined up support for adoptive and kinship children, including stronger multi-disciplinary work across social care, health and education. The consultation runs until 5 May 2026 and the outcomes and next steps will be published later this year. For adoptive special guardianship children, this forms an important backdrop to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) proposals. More details on the consultation are available here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/adoption-and-special-guardianship-support-fund-team/adoption-support-that-works-for-all/supporting_documents/adoption-support-that-works-for-all-consultation-document-feb-2026pdf.

Alongside this, Individual Support Plans will be developed by settings, parents and young people, giving every child or young person receiving targeted or specialist support a clear and consistent record of their needs. This will be backed by £1.6billion funding flowing directly to schools, colleges and nurseries to meet needs earlier and get support in place, as part of the £4 billion more we are investing over three years.

We also want families’ voices and experiences to shape SEND policy and local delivery, ensuring families can influence decision-making around the support they receive. Nationally we will improve access to services by increasing investment in the national helpline. Additionally, we will continue to work with and expand parent carers in strategic partnership roles to support system-wide improvements.

We are consulting on the reforms proposed in the recently published “SEND reform: putting children and young people first”, and you can access the consultation here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/send-strategy-division/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-firs/.

The government wants every child, including those with additional needs, to be able to access a childcare setting where they can get the best start in life. The special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms we announced in February will give early years settings the training, evidence-based tools and expert input they need to welcome children with diverse needs into their settings and provide the right support from day one. We are investing over £200 million to strengthen the SEND offer in Best Start Family Hubs, including funding a family-facing practitioner in every hub to join up support across early years settings, health visitors and SEND teams. The Best Start Family Hubs will begin rolling out in April 2026.

Alongside this, the department will work with local authorities, including local authority officers in Lincolnshire County Council, to strengthen their childcare sufficiency planning for children with SEND and improve data on the availability of suitable places, giving parents greater confidence that their children can access the early education and childcare they are entitled to.

The department has made modelling information available in the ‘Background on projections’ annex published alongside the special educational needs and disabilities consultation. These projections are illustrative of our proposed policy approach and updated projections will be published following the consultation.

Information on the numbers of children with dyslexia is not collected separately by the department. Dyslexia is included within the wider special educational need type of ‘Specific learning difficulties’ (SpLD).

All the information held by the department relating to children with SpLD is provided by schools via the school census. This data is also available for local authorities, enabling them to take informed decisions when supporting the needs of children in their communities.

The Office for Budget Responsibility, as the independent authority, publishes estimates of future spend.

From 2028/29, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) spending will be covered by the overall government departmental expenditure limit budget, meaning local authorities are not expected to fund future SEND costs from general funds once the Statutory Override ends at the end of 2027/28.

We have set out plans to address Dedicated Schools Grant deficits up to the end of 2025/26, providing grants to cover 90% of each council’s deficit as at 31 March 2026, once they have produced and received approval for a strong plan to drive sustained and energetic action. This is in accordance with our new system set out in the Schools White Paper, which will begin to improve outcomes for children and bring costs under control through effective early intervention stopping needs from escalating.

The responsibilities of multi-academy trust chief executives are not directly comparable to those of leaders in the maintained sector.

The department is clear that executive pay must be justifiable, transparent, evidence-based and reflect individual responsibility. Trustees should adhere to these principles in setting pay, supported by our guidance and advice. We are taking steps to respond to instances where we see high salaries compared to peers. This includes tightening the academy trust handbook (ATH) by requiring executive pay increases to be proportionate and justified, to prevent excessive increases for individuals carrying out broadly similar roles.

The department reviews trusts’ annual accounts to identify trusts with outlying levels of executive pay and engages with them to ensure compliance with the requirements of the ATH.

Local authorities are responsible for arranging home-to-school travel for eligible children. They use a mix of in-house services, passes for free travel on public transport and contracts with private operators and must ensure the arrangements they make are suitable for the needs of the children travelling.

Most local bus services in England outside London are run on a commercial basis where the operator decides on routes and provision, including the frequency of services and the type of vehicle used. The government is committed to improving bus services and has confirmed investment of over £3 billion until 2028/29 for local authorities and bus operators to maintain and improve bus services.

Local authorities are responsible for arranging home-to-school travel for eligible children. They use a mix of in-house services, passes for free travel on public transport and contracts with private operators and must ensure the arrangements they make are suitable for the needs of the children travelling.

Most local bus services in England outside London are run on a commercial basis where the operator decides on routes and provision, including the frequency of services and the type of vehicle used. The government is committed to improving bus services and has confirmed investment of over £3 billion until 2028/29 for local authorities and bus operators to maintain and improve bus services.

Local authorities are responsible for arranging home-to-school travel for eligible children. They use a mix of in-house services, passes for free travel on public transport and contracts with private operators and must ensure the arrangements they make are suitable for the needs of the children travelling.

Most local bus services in England outside London are run on a commercial basis where the operator decides on routes and provision, including the frequency of services and the type of vehicle used. The government is committed to improving bus services and has confirmed investment of over £3 billion until 2028/29 for local authorities and bus operators to maintain and improve bus services.

There will be a legal duty on education settings to produce an Individual Support Plan (ISP) for every child or young person receiving targeted or specialist support, ensuring help keeps pace with their development, prevents challenges from escalating, and reduces the risk of them disengaging from learning.

The use and quality of ISPs will be considered in Ofsted inspections, with clear routes for parents to raise concerns. Where there are concerns about provision, parents and young people will be able to resolve this directly with the setting, including making use of the improved schools complaints process if necessary. We will seek to strengthen the school complaints system with the inclusion of an appropriate, independent special educational needs and disabilities specialist (for example, a special educational needs coordinator, multi-academy trust inclusion director or senior school manager) on a panel, if the complaint cannot be resolved by the school’s senior management team or head teacher.

The ISP will be tailored in line with the layers of support, with guidance to support education settings in creating high-quality plans. ISPs will be standardised across settings to facilitate transitions. ISPs will be interactive, accessible, and available in a digital format, supporting consistency across the system.

There will be a legal duty on education settings to produce an Individual Support Plan (ISP) for every child or young person receiving targeted or specialist support, ensuring help keeps pace with their development, prevents challenges from escalating, and reduces the risk of them disengaging from learning.

The use and quality of ISPs will be considered in Ofsted inspections, with clear routes for parents to raise concerns. Where there are concerns about provision, parents and young people will be able to resolve this directly with the setting, including making use of the improved schools complaints process if necessary. We will seek to strengthen the school complaints system with the inclusion of an appropriate, independent special educational needs and disabilities specialist (for example, a special educational needs coordinator, multi-academy trust inclusion director or senior school manager) on a panel, if the complaint cannot be resolved by the school’s senior management team or head teacher.

The ISP will be tailored in line with the layers of support, with guidance to support education settings in creating high-quality plans. ISPs will be standardised across settings to facilitate transitions. ISPs will be interactive, accessible, and available in a digital format, supporting consistency across the system.

Children and young people, including those identified as contacts of cases, can and should continue to attend school or college as normal, including sitting exams and qualifications, unless directly advised otherwise by the local health protection team.

Meningococcal disease does not spread easily, and outbreaks of the size seen in Kent are rare. Transmission of meningococcal disease requires close and prolonged contact to spread, including living in the same household, and intimate contact such as kissing or sharing vapes.

A targeted programme of preventative antibiotics and meningitis B vaccination has been introduced to provide longer-term protection for students and young people in the area. Vaccination has been offered to all those who have received preventative antibiotics, and to year 11, 12 and 13 students in schools and colleges in Kent where confirmed or probable cases have been identified. Widening the vaccine offer is a precautionary measure to ensure longer-term protection whilst helping to minimise disruption to school attendance at a critical time in the academic year.

Children and young people, including those identified as contacts of cases, can and should continue to attend school or college as normal, including sitting exams and qualifications, unless directly advised otherwise by the local health protection team.

Meningococcal disease does not spread easily, and outbreaks of the size seen in Kent are rare. Transmission of meningococcal disease requires close and prolonged contact to spread, including living in the same household, and intimate contact such as kissing or sharing vapes.

A targeted programme of preventative antibiotics and meningitis B vaccination has been introduced to provide longer-term protection for students and young people in the area. Vaccination has been offered to all those who have received preventative antibiotics, and to year 11, 12 and 13 students in schools and colleges in Kent where confirmed or probable cases have been identified. Widening the vaccine offer is a precautionary measure to ensure longer-term protection whilst helping to minimise disruption to school attendance at a critical time in the academic year.

We want every child, including those with additional needs, to be able to access a childcare setting where they can get the best start in life. The special educational needs and disability (SEND) reforms we announced in February, will give early years settings the training, evidence-based tools and expert input they need to welcome children with diverse needs into their settings and provide the right support from day one. We are investing over £200 million to strengthen the SEND offer in Best Start Family Hubs, including funding a family-facing practitioner in every hub to join up support across early years settings, health visitors and SEND teams.

Alongside this, we will work with local authorities to strengthen their childcare sufficiency planning for children with SEND and improve data on the availability of suitable places. This will provide parents greater confidence that their children can access the early education and childcare they are entitled to.

We want every child, including those with additional needs, to be able to access a childcare setting where they can get the best start in life. The special educational needs and disability (SEND) reforms we announced in February, will give early years settings the training, evidence-based tools and expert input they need to welcome children with diverse needs into their settings and provide the right support from day one. We are investing over £200 million to strengthen the SEND offer in Best Start Family Hubs, including funding a family-facing practitioner in every hub to join up support across early years settings, health visitors and SEND teams.

Alongside this, we will work with local authorities to strengthen their childcare sufficiency planning for children with SEND and improve data on the availability of suitable places. This will provide parents greater confidence that their children can access the early education and childcare they are entitled to.

Information on the numbers of children with dyslexia is not collected separately by the department. Dyslexia is included within the wider special educational need type of ‘Specific learning difficulties’ (SpLD).

All the information held by the department relating to children with SpLD is provided by schools via the school census. This data is also available for local authorities, enabling them to take informed decisions when supporting the needs of children in their communities.

High-quality early years education is central to our mission to break down barriers to opportunity, give every child the best possible start in life, and is essential to our Plan for Change. This government is boosting availability and access through the school-based nurseries programme, supporting school-led provision and private, voluntary and independent (PVI) providers and childminders operating from school sites.

The department recently announced that we are investing £45 million to support 331 additional schools to establish or grow their nurseries as part of Phase 2 of the School-Based Nursery scheme, creating more than 6,000 further places. This includes a school-based nursery in North Northumberland. Phase 3 of the programme is backed by up to £325 million of additional funding and will invite local authorities to develop multi-year funding proposals that outline plans for new or expanded school-based nurseries in their area. This will enable eligible schools, including those working in partnership with PVIs and childminders operating from school sites, to increase the number of childcare places available or establish new nursery provision. Local authorities may also use the grant funding to expand or create provision for maintained nursery schools, or on Best Start Family Hub sites.

The total value of severance payments is set out in the department’s Annual Report and Accounts, which are available for the last three years.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Chelsea and Fulham to the answer of 7 April 2026 to Question 121632.

The ‘Early years foundation stage’ statutory framework sets the standards and requirements early years providers must meet to ensure that children have the best start in life and are kept healthy and safe. Providers are required to have safeguarding policies addressing the use of mobile phones, cameras, and other electronic devices with imaging and sharing capabilities. Decisions about using monitoring and recording equipment are for individual providers, subject to safeguarding and data protection requirements.

As part of the department’s ongoing review of safeguarding requirements, an expert advisory panel has been appointed and is working at pace to inform guidance for the sector on the safe and effective use of CCTV and digital devices. This guidance will consider whether CCTV should be mandated and will set out best practice, technical advice and clear expectations. It will be published in summer 2026.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is responsible for collecting and publishing data on the UK higher education (HE) sector. These data are shared with the department and includes information on the qualifications held by students on entry to their course at a UK HE provider. The latest student data held by the department refers to the 2024/25 academic year and covers students starting degree courses in 2024.

The number of English-domiciled entrants to undergraduate courses in each Russell Group university in the 2024/25 academic year reported by HESA to have achieved either three or more A Levels, a T Level, or a BTEC, can be found in the attached spreadsheet.

The spreadsheet also presents the undergraduate entrant figures as a proportion of the total number of pupils in England achieving three or more A Levels, a T Level, or a BTEC in the 2023/24 academic year. Caution is advised when interpreting the data in this spreadsheet due to low and inconsistent reporting rates for HE entry qualifications. Counts in the spreadsheet have been rounded to the nearest 5.