Summing up
Official statistics on numbers of pupils on roll in the AP sector under-estimate the true number on roll as pupils with subsidiary registrations are not included.
The number of pupils on roll with current or main registrations in the AP sector in Summer 2023 was lower than in 2019. So it remains something of a mystery why there should be reports of the sector being full now. 352 to 335 over the same period, which may explain some of it.
We also don’t know about whether the number america rcs data of places in each school has changed. Perhaps capacity was reduced following the pandemic. Alternatively, it could be that increased demand for places is a local issue, i.e. there are too few places in some areas and an excess in others.
Publication of data on the number of places available at each AP school (as well as numbers of those attending) would be helpful.
It is also worth remembering two things regarding AP schools.
Firstly, that not all pupils who end up in AP have been excluded.
Secondly, that not all AP schools have pupils with current or main enrolments. In fact, if you look at DfE’s published school-level statistics (ZIP), you will see that there are apparently some AP schools without any pupils at all.
However, if data on subsidiary and other registrations were published we would have a better idea of how many pupils are attending each school.
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