9  National Pupil Database

The NPD was formally established in 2002 based on including a pupil census record for every child in state education (Jay, Mc Grath-Lone and Gilbert, 2019; Department for Education, 2023b). Prior to 2002, key stage test results were recorded from 1995/6 (for KS2) which is linkable to the pupil census. The NPD database is curated by the Department for Education (DfE). The NPD is made up of modules of data that are collected by the DfE from schools, local authorities and exam-awarding organisations on an ongoing and statutory basis. Information collected as part of NPD is used for funding purposes, policy-making, generating statistics and research. The NPD modules included in ECHILD can be broadly grouped as pupil characteristics, educational outcomes and social care. NPD does not include information on pupils within private schools, or those being home-schooled, except in relation to public examinations (key stage 4 and 5). Approximately 7% of children [(Jay, Mc Grath-Lone and Gilbert, 2019) are enrolled in a private school each year with up to 11% ever enrolled in a private school during their school career (Green et al., 2017).

9.1 Attribute data: Pupil Characteristics

Dataset	Years	Details
School Census Pupil Level1,2	2001 to 2022	Information on pupils enrolled in state-funded schools, including local authority-maintained schools, academies, free schools, city technical colleges and special schools. Data collected termly: Autumn (October); Spring (January); Summer (May). From Spring 2013/14, the school census also includes pupils enrolled in Pupil Referral Units (previously collected in a separate census). The census does not contain information for pupils enrolled in hospital schools or non-maintained independent schools (e.g., private schools) or who pursue an apprenticeship, traineeship, training, or work asp part of their post-16 options (Department for Education, 2022, 2024d).
Early Years Census3,4	2007 to 2022	Children (all 2- to 4-year-olds) in state-funded early years care in any private, voluntary, and independent (PVI) sector nursery, with one or more children receiving funding from DfE. Data collected annually (January) (Department for Education, 2024f).
Pupil Referral Unit Census (PRU) 5	2009 to 2013	Information on pupils enrolled in PRUs (a form of school for pupils unable to attend mainstream schools due to factors such as behavioural issues). Data collected annually until January 2013. From Spring 2013/14, this data is collected as part of the School Census.
Alternative Provision Census (AP) 6	2007 to 2022	An annual census (collected in January) of pupils who are educated in alternative provision placements (Department for Education, 2024d). Provision must be arranged by the local authority or school otherwise the child would not receive suitable education e.g., due to illness or if they received a fixed-term exclusion.

9.2 Attribute data: School Characteristics

Dataset	Years	Details
School Level Census	2005 to 2022	Collects information from primary schools, secondary schools, special schools, maintained nurseries and academies and pupil referral units three times a year, however, private schools are not included.
Get Information about Schools (GIAS)	2020 to 2022	GIAS (formerly ‘Edubase’) is the DfE’s public register or dataset containing school characteristics. GIAS is updated whenever a school updates their details. GIAS also maintains information for several organisation types and is used by the DfE to contact establishments, update systems, perform analysis and inform policy decisions (Department for Education, 2024g).

9.3 Attribute data: Educational Outcomes

Dataset	Years	Details
Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP)	2002 to 2019	Early Years Foundation Stage Profile data. Has information on statutory assessment of children in the final year of the Foundation Stage (Reception year).
Key Stage 1 (KS1)	1997 to 2022	Key stage 1 attainment data. Has information on assessment of learners by the end of year 2 of schooling (age 7).
Key Stage 2 (KS2)	1995 to 2022	Key stage 2 attainment data. Has information on assessment of learners by the end of year 6 of schooling (age 11).
Key Stage 3 (KS3)	1998 to 2013	Key stage 3 attainment data. Has information on assessment of learners by the end of year 9 of schooling (age 14).
Key Stage 4 (KS4)7	2001 to 2021	Key stage 4 attainment data (all methodologies). Has information on the assessment of learners by the end of year 11 of schooling (age 16).
Key Stage 5 (KS5)8	2002 to 2021	Key stage 5 attainment data. Has information on post-16 assessment of learners in school, sixth forms and Further Education colleges.
Absences9	2005 to 2022	Has information on authorised and unauthorised absences, including reasons for absence, derived from the termly School Census, for 4- to 15-year-olds.
Exclusions10	2001 to 2021	Has information on pupil fixed term and permanent exclusions as collected in the termly School Census.
National Client Caseload Information (NCCIS)11	2002 to 2021	Has information from the National Client Caseload Information System on employment destinations.

9.4 Attribute data: Social Care

Dataset	Years	Details
Children Looked After Return (CLA)	1991 to 2021	Has information on children looked after by a local authority in England for a period of at least 24 hours (Mc Grath-Lone, Harron, et al., 2016; Department for Education, 2024i, 2024c). The data include information on date and type of placement, use of respite care, and exiting from care, including through adoption. Does not include information on informal fostering arrangements.
Children in Need Census (CIN)	2008 to 2022	Has information covering all children who are referred to children’s social care services, including information on whether they were assessed and found to be in need (Emmott, Jay and Woodman, 2019; Department for Education, 2023a, 2024h). The CIN census also contains information on children who are subject to a Child Protection Plan (CPP).

The CLA and CIN modules of the NPD contain two different identifiers. The first is an encrypted version of the identifier assigned by the local authority (child ID) that allows social care records for the same individual to be linked over time. However, this identifier is local authority specific and so it is not possible - using this identifier - to link records for the same individual across different local authorities (Mc Grath-Lone, Harron, et al., 2016; Emmott, Jay and Woodman, 2019).

The second is the aPMR, based on Unique Pupil Numbers (UPNs) where available. UPNs have been returned to DfE by local authorities in the CLA module from 1 April 2005 and in the CIN module from 1 October 2008 (i.e., from when the CIN census began). Where a UPN is returned, the aPMR is available, enabling linkage to the NPD education records. For data before April 2005, it is not possible to link education and the CLA datasets. NOTE: It is not possible to link social care and education records for children who were only in contact with children’s social care services before their UPN was assigned (i.e., for most children who were a child in need or looked after before school age). Previous research has shown that 20% of children who are ever looked after during childhood are only looked after before age 5 (Mc Grath-Lone, Etoori, et al., 2022).

9.5 Individualised Learner Record

Training providers within the Further Education (FE) and skills sector in England use the ‘Individualised Learner Record’ (ILR) to collect information about each of the learners in their sector, the learning undertaken, and the learning outcome, e.g., sectors include Adult skills, Community Learning, Skills Bootcamps, 16-19 (excluding Apprenticeships) (Department for Education, 2023c).

ILR data are used to ensure public money distributed through the Education & Skills Funding Agency is being spent in line with government targets, for quality, value for money, planning and supporting future initiatives.

An ILR ‘Year’ of data, typically runs from 1st August to 31st July and in May 2023, the ECHILD project acquired ILR data from 2000/01 to 2021/22 containing an aPMR identifier matched to the NPD – thereby facilitating linkage to the existing NPD datasets in ECHILD and adding another dimension to the potential for analyses.

Administrative Data Research UK (2023) “ECHILD: Linking children’s health and education data for england.” Available at: https://www.adruk.org/our-work/browse-all-projects/echild-linking-childrens-health-and-education-data-for-england-142/.

Benchimol, E.I. et al. (2015) “The REporting of studies Conducted using Observational Routinely-collected health Data (RECORD) statement,” PLoS Med, 12(10), p. e1001885.

Blackburn, R. et al. (2021) “Hospital admissions for stress-related presentations among school-aged adolescents during term time versus holidays in england: Weekly time series and retrospective cross-sectional analysis,” BJPsych Open, 7(6), p. e215.

Blackburn, R. et al. (2022) “COVID-19-related school closures and patterns of hospital admissions with stress-related presentations in secondary school-aged adolescents: Weekly time series,” Br J Psychiatr, 221(5), pp. 655–657.

Boyd, A. et al. (2018) “Understanding hospital episode statistics (HES).” Available at: https://www.closer.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/CLOSER-resource-understanding-hospital-episode-statistics-2018.pdf.

Clinical Practice Research Datalink (2021) “Clinical practice research datalink (CPRD): Hospital episode statistics (HES) admitted patient care (APC) data dictionary.” Available at: https://cprd.com/sites/default/files/2022-02/Data_Dictionary_HES_APC.pdf.

CSCDUG (2023) “The children’s social care data user group (CSCDUG).” Available at: https://cscdug.co.uk/.

Department for Education (2015) “The national pupil database user guide.” Available at: http://doc.ukdataservice.ac.uk/doc/7627/mrdoc/pdf/7627userguide_2015.pdf.

Department for Education (2017) “Exclusions statistics guide.” Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/exclusions-statistics-guide.

Department for Education (2019) “Unique pupil numbers (UPNs).” Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/unique-pupil-numbers.

Department for Education (2022) “The school census – what you need to know.” Available at: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2022/10/07/the-school-census-what-you-need-to-know/.

Department for Education (2023a) “Children in need census: Guide to submitting data.” Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/children-in-need-census.

Department for Education (2023b) “Find and explore data in the national pupil database.” Available at: https://find-npd-data.education.gov.uk/.

Department for Education (2023c) “Individualised learner record (ILR) technical documents, guidance and requirements.” Available at: https://guidance.submit-learner-data.service.gov.uk/.

Department for Education (2023d) “NCCIS management information requirement.” Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nccis-management-information-requirement.

Department for Education (2023e) “Pupil absence statistics: guide.” Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/absence-statistics-guide.

Department for Education (2024a) “Alternative provision census.” Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/alternative-provision-ap-census.

Department for Education (2024b) “Apply for department for education (DfE) personal data.” Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-department-for-education-dfe-personal-data.

Department for Education (2024c) “Children looked after return: Guide to submitting data.” Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/children-looked-after-return-guide-to-submitting-data.

Department for Education (2024d) “Complete the school census.” Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/complete-the-school-census.

Department for Education (2024e) “Data collection and censuses for schools.” Available at: https://www.gov.uk/education/data-collection-and-censuses-for-schools#guidance_and_regulation.

Department for Education (2024f) “Early years census.” Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/complete-the-early-years-census.

Department for Education (2024g) “Get information about schools.” Available at: https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/.

Department for Education (2024h) “Statistics: Children in need and child protection.” Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-children-in-need.

Department for Education (2024i) “Statistics: Looked-after children.” Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-looked-after-children.

ECHILD (2023) “The ECHILD project.” Available at: https://www.echild.ac.uk.

Emmott, E.H., Jay, M.A. and Woodman, J. (2019) “Cohort profile: Children in need census (CIN) records of children referred for social care support in england,” BMJ Open, 9(2), p. e023771.

Etoori, D. et al. (2022) “Reductions in hospital care among clinically vulnerable children aged 0–4 years during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Arch Dis Child, 107, p. e29.

Gilbert, R. et al. (2017) “GUILD: GUidance for Information about Linking Data sets,” J Pub Health, 40(1), pp. 191–198.

Green, F. et al. (2017) “Who chooses private schooling in britain and why?” Available at: https://www.llakes.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/RP-62.-Green-Anders-Henderson-Henseke.pdf.

Harron, K. et al. (2016) “Linking data for mothers and babies in de-identified electronic health data,” PLoS One, 11(10), p. e0164667.

Harron, K. et al. (2017) “A guide to evaluating linkage quality for the analysis of linked data,” Int J Epidemiol, 46, pp. 1699–1710.

Health Data Research (2023a) “Innovation gateway: Hospital episode statistics accident and emergency (HES a&e).” Available at: https://web.www.healthdatagateway.org/dataset/101a7d68-1675-4b47-bfac-dde7b7b57877.

Health Data Research (2023b) “Innovation gateway: Hospital episode statistics admitted patient care (HES APC).” Available at: https://web.www.healthdatagateway.org/dataset/6599230a-df54-4615-937c-d724d239491f.

Health Data Research (2023c) “Innovation gateway: Hospital episode statistics critical care (HES CC).” Available at: https://web.www.healthdatagateway.org/dataset/d0eeba22-bc3f-4c40-be69-a99f916897a2.

Health Data Research (2023d) “Innovation gateway: Hospital episode statistics outpatients.” Available at: https://web.www.healthdatagateway.org/dataset/d4362d41-0838-4f41-bba3-c3268312c444.

Health Data Research (2023e) “Innovation gateway: Maternity services data set (MSDS).” Available at: https://web.www.healthdatagateway.org/dataset/0681a1e9-3778-4f43-88b3-6540515404b6.

Herbert, A. et al. (2017) “Data resource profile: Hospital episode statistics admitted patient care,” Int J Epidemiol, 46(4), pp. 1093–1093i.

Jay, M.A., Mc Grath-Lone, L. and Gilbert, R. (2019) “Data resource: The national pupil database (NPD),” Int J Pop Data Sci, 4(1), p. 08.

Libuy, N. et al. (2021) “Linking education and hospital data in england: Linkage process and quality,” Int J Pop Data Sci, 6(1), p. 13.

Libuy, N. et al. (2022) “Gestational age at birth, chronic conditions and school outcomes: A population-based data linkage study of children born in england,” Int J Epidemiol, 52(1), pp. 132–143.

Mc Grath-Lone, L., Dearden, L., et al. (2016) “Changes in first entry to out-of-home care from 1992 to 2012 among children in england,” Child Abuse & Neglect, 51, pp. 163–171.

Mc Grath-Lone, L., Harron, K., et al. (2016) “Data resource profile: Children looked after return (CLA),” Int J Epidemiol, 45(3), pp. 716–717f.

Mc Grath-Lone, L., Libuy, N., Harron, K., et al. (2021) “Data resource profile: The education and child health insights from linked data (ECHILD) database,” Int J Epidemiol, 51(1), pp. 17–17f.

Mc Grath-Lone, L., Libuy, N., Etoori, D., et al. (2021) “Ethnic bias in data linkage,” Lancet Digital Health, 3(6), p. e339.

Mc Grath-Lone, L., Etoori, D., et al. (2022) “Changes in adolescents’ planned hospital care during the COVID-19 pandemic: Analysis of linked administrative data,” Arch Dis Chil, 107(10), p. e29.

Mc Grath-Lone, L., Jay, M.A., et al. (2022) “What makes administrative data ‘research-ready’? A systematic review and thematic analysis of published literature,” Int J Pop Data Sci, 7(1), p. 1718.

Morris, H., Lanati, S. and Gilbert, R. (2018) “Challenges of administrative data linkages: Experiences of administrative data research centre for england (ADRC-E) researchers,” Int J Pop Data Sci, 3(2), p. 097.

Nguyen, V.G. et al. (2022) “SEN support from the start of school and its impact on unplanned hospital utilisation in children with cleft lip and palate: A demonstration target trial emulation protocol using ECHILD.” Available at: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.04.01.22273280v1.

NHS England (2023a) “About the maternity services data set (MSDS).” Available at: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-sets/maternity-services-data-set/about-the-maternity-services-data-set.

NHS England (2023b) “Birth notification process.” Available at: https://digital.nhs.uk/services/national-care-records-service/birth-notification-process.

NHS England (2023c) “ECDS guidance and documents.” Available at: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-sets/emergency-care-data-set-ecds/ecds-guidance.

NHS England (2023d) “Emergency care data set (ECDS).” Available at: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-sets/emergency-care-data-set-ecds.

NHS England (2023e) “Hospital accident & emergency activity.” Available at: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/hospital-accident--emergency-activity.

NHS England (2023f) “Hospital episode statistics data dictionary.” Available at: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-tools-and-services/data-services/hospital-episode-statistics/hospital-episode-statistics-data-dictionary.

NHS England (2023g) “Hospital episode statistics (HES).” Available at: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-tools-and-services/data-services/hospital-episode-statistics.

NHS England (2023h) “Hospital episode statistics (HES) data changes in 2021.” Available at: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-tools-and-services/data-services/hospital-episode-statistics/hospital-episode-statistics-data-changes-in-2021.

NHS England (2023i) “Hospital outpatient activity.” Available at: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/hospital-outpatient-activity.

NHS England (2023j) “Introduction to community services data set (CSDS).” Available at: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-sets/community-services-data-set/guidance/introduction.

NHS England (2023k) “Linked HES-ONS mortality data.” Available at: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-tools-and-services/data-services/linked-hes-ons-mortality-data.

NHS England (2023l) “Master person service (MPS).” Available at: https://digital.nhs.uk/services/demographics/master-person-service.

NHS England (2023m) “Mental health services data set (MHSDS).” Available at: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-sets/mental-health-services-data-set/about.

NHS England (2024a) “Hospital admitted patient care activity.” Available at: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/hospital-admitted-patient-care-activity.

NHS England (2024b) “Hospital adult critical care activity.” Available at: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/hospital-adult-critical-care-activity.

NHS England (2024c) “Mental health data (MHMDS, MHLDDS, MHSDS).” Available at: https://digital.nhs.uk/services/data-access-request-service-dars/dars-products-and-services/data-set-catalogue/mental-health-data.

NHS England (2024d) “Methodological changes.” Available at: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/find-data-and-publications/statement-of-administrative-sources/methodological-changes.

NHS Primary Care Support England (2023) “Adoptions and gender reassignment.” Available at: https://pcse.england.nhs.uk/help/patient-registrations/adoption-and-gender-re-assignment-processes/.

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University of Bristol (2023) “National pupil database user group.” Available at: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/cmpo/npd-user-group/.

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1. After KS4, the School Census Pupil Level module only contains information for young people who continue in full-time post-16 education in schools or colleges.

2. The census modules of the NPD are recorded at enrolment level. Children who are registered in more than one educational setting will have multiple records in a census. The census modules of the NPD contain information such as age, gender, ethnicity, special educational needs (SEN) support, first language and free school meals (FSM) eligibility.

3. The census modules of the NPD are recorded at enrolment level. Children who are registered in more than one educational setting will have multiple records in a census. The census modules of the NPD contain information such as age, gender, ethnicity, special educational needs (SEN) support, first language and free school meals (FSM) eligibility.

4. The Early Years Census only collects information for children who are taking up a government-funded place (Department for Education, 2024f). All 3- and 4-year-olds in England are entitled to government funding; however, funding for 2-year olds is only for specific groups of children, such as those who are in care, who have an education, health and care plan, or whose parents are in receipt of certain benefits. Early years settings that do not have any children who receive direct government funding are not required to submit information via the Early Years Census.

5. The census modules of the NPD are recorded at enrolment level. Children who are registered in more than one educational setting will have multiple records in a census. The census modules of the NPD contain information such as age, gender, ethnicity, special educational needs (SEN) support, first language and free school meals (FSM) eligibility.

6. The census modules of the NPD are recorded at enrolment level. Children who are registered in more than one educational setting will have multiple records in a census. The census modules of the NPD contain information such as age, gender, ethnicity, special educational needs (SEN) support, first language and free school meals (FSM) eligibility.

7. Attainment data are collected for all pupils when they complete nationally recognised assessments at KS4 and KS5, including those in private schools and further education state sector colleges (Department for Education, 2015).

8. Attainment data are collected for all pupils when they complete nationally recognised assessments at KS4 and KS5, including those in private schools and further education state sector colleges (Department for Education, 2015).

9. Absence data are not recorded for boarding pupils (Department for Education, 2023e). Schools provide information about the reasons for absences (e.g., due to illness, medical appointments, etc) though approximately 1% of schools are able only to provide overall authorised and unauthorised absences (Department for Education, 2023e). Absence data were first collected for 4-year-olds in the 2012/13 academic year. In 2012/13, the period of collection of absence data was also extended to the end of the summer term. In previous years, absence data were only collected for the first half of the summer term. Absence data include ‘persistently absent’ indicators (the threshold for which varies by academic year, though users can specify their own thresholds).

10. Compared to other modules of the NPD, there is a lag in data availability related to exclusions. Data are made available in the summer for the preceding academic year; for example, data for the academic year 2017/18 is released in summer 2019 (Department for Education, 2017).

11. Unlike the School Census Pupil Level module (which only contains information for young people who continue in full-time education post-16), NCCIS includes information about the post-16 activities of all young people aged 16 to 19 years (or aged 16 to 24 years for young people with a current Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan) (Department for Education, 2023d). This activity information is collected by local authorities and used by the DfE to estimate Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) rates for young people in England.