York’s education profile covers 37,725 residents aged 18 and under, or 18.0% of the local population. The latest available local-authority measures also show 13,645 primary-age pupils, 10,745 secondary-age pupils and high participation in funded provision among three-year-olds. Attainment varies substantially between pupil groups, while York’s average secondary Attainment 8 score is above the national average.
Contents
- York’s education population
- Early-years participation and additional needs
- School cohorts, disadvantage and inclusion
- Primary attainment
- Attendance, home education and exclusions
- Secondary and sixth-form outcomes
York’s education population
The latest profile context from Ofsted’s local authority area profile counted 10,028 children aged five and under, equivalent to 4.8% of York’s population. Within that group were 1,662 two-year-olds and 1,729 three-year-olds; each age group represented 0.8% of the local population.
York’s school-age population was larger. The profile counted 13,645 children aged five to 11, equal to 6.5% of the population, and 10,745 children aged 12 to 16, equal to 5.1%. These are local-authority profile measures. The profile brings together the latest available measures, so figures without a more specific label should be read as latest profile figures rather than as a single census date.
| York education population measure | Count | Share of local population |
|---|---|---|
| Residents aged 18 and under | 37,725 | 18.0% |
| Children aged 5 and under | 10,028 | 4.8% |
| Primary-age pupils aged 5–11 | 13,645 | 6.5% |
| Secondary-age pupils aged 12–16 | 10,745 | 5.1% |
The age profile provides context for service planning: early-years figures describe a younger population, while the primary and secondary measures describe the main school-age cohorts.
Early-years participation and additional needs
Funded early-years participation was strongest among three-year-olds. Take-up among York three-year-olds was 97.3%, according to the latest profile figures from Ofsted. Among two-year-olds, 229 children were eligible for funded early-years places and take-up was 78.6%.
The same profile recorded 396 children receiving early-years pupil premium, representing 3.9% of the relevant early-years population. Looked-after children included eight children under one year old and 33 children aged one to four; each figure represented 0.5% of the relevant age group.
Special educational needs measures increased across the early-years ages shown. SEN support covered eight children aged two and under in state-funded settings, or 0.2% of that group. The equivalent figures were 44 three-year-olds, or 2.5%; 104 four-year-olds, or 5.8%; and 176 five-year-olds, or 9.8%.
Education, health and care plan figures were also reported for the older early-years groups. Ten three-year-olds had an education, health and care plan, representing 0.6% of that group, while 57 four-year-olds had one, representing 3.2%.
These measures describe different forms of support and should not be added together. SEN support, education, health and care plans, pupil premium and looked-after status are separate profile indicators.
School cohorts, disadvantage and inclusion
Across York’s school-age pupils, 4,363 were eligible for free school meals, representing 19.2% of school-age pupils. Pupil-premium eligibility covered 5,087 pupils, or 22.7%. The profile also recorded 4,825 pupils with special educational needs and disabilities in state-funded settings, equivalent to 17.6% of pupils in those settings.
English as an additional language applied to 2,676 school-age pupils, or 10.7% of school-age pupils. The distribution of free-school-meal eligibility differed by setting:
| Pupil group or setting | Pupils eligible for free school meals | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Primary pupils | 2,283 | 18.2% |
| Secondary pupils | 1,848 | 19.1% |
| Alternative-provision pupils | 101 | 60.5% |
| Special-school pupils | 129 | 38.9% |
Pupil-premium eligibility was 18.0% among York primary pupils, covering 2,222 pupils, and 20.3% among secondary pupils, covering 2,039 pupils. The free-school-meal and pupil-premium measures are not identical: they use different eligibility definitions and therefore should be interpreted separately.
The setting-level figures show why an overall percentage can conceal differences in the composition of individual education settings. Alternative provision had the highest reported free-school-meal share at 60.5%, followed by special schools at 38.9%, while the primary and secondary figures were 18.2% and 19.1% respectively.
Primary attainment
York’s latest profile figures show an all-pupil Year 1 phonics screening pass rate of 80.6%, based on 1,392 pupils. The rate was 64.5% for pupils eligible for free school meals, based on 176 pupils; 37.6% for pupils with SEND, based on 82 pupils; and 80.0% for pupils with English as an additional language, based on 140 pupils.
The Year 4 times-table check produced an all-pupil full-marks rate of 44.8%, based on 851 pupils. The corresponding rates were 26.3% for pupils eligible for free school meals, based on 96 pupils; 17.8% for pupils with SEND, based on 58 pupils; and 49.8% for pupils with English as an additional language, based on 108 pupils.
At Key Stage 2, the combined reading, writing and maths expected-standard rate was 64.3% for all York pupils, based on 1,216 pupils. The subgroup figures were 33.6% for pupils eligible for free school meals, based on 137 pupils; 22.0% for pupils with SEND, based on 93 pupils; and 68.0% for pupils with English as an additional language, based on 153 pupils.
| Primary measure | All pupils | Free school meals | SEND | English as an additional language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 phonics pass rate | 80.6% | 64.5% | 37.6% | 80.0% |
| Year 4 times-table full marks | 44.8% | 26.3% | 17.8% | 49.8% |
| Key Stage 2 reading, writing and maths expected standard | 64.3% | 33.6% | 22.0% | 68.0% |
The denominators differ across the measures and pupil groups, so the rates are best used as separate indicators rather than combined into a single primary-attainment score.
Attendance, home education and exclusions
Attendance up to week 27 of the calendar year was 95.0% for York primary pupils, matching the national figure shown by Ofsted. York secondary attendance was 89.0%, compared with 91.0% nationally. Special-school attendance was 90.0%, compared with 87.0% nationally. These comparisons use the week-27 measure in the latest profile.
For the summer term 2024/25, attendance among York pupils eligible for free school meals was 89.7% in primary schools, 78.1% in secondary schools and 88.1% in special schools. The period matters: these figures are specifically summer-term 2024/25 results, not the week-27 figures above.
York recorded 80 primary-age children being home educated, equal to 0.6% of children in that age group, and 200 secondary-age children, equal to 1.9%. The total was 280 children, or 1.1% of children in York, in the latest profile figures. The profile also recorded 517 primary-school suspensions, a rate of 3.9 per 100 pupils.
Secondary and sixth-form outcomes
York’s average secondary Attainment 8 score was 50.8, compared with a national average of 46.0, in the latest profile figures. For pupils eligible for free school meals, York’s average was 35.7 compared with 35.0 nationally. For pupils with SEND, York’s average was 31.3 compared with 28.2 nationally.
These figures are group-level Attainment 8 averages. They do not describe every pupil’s result and should not be interpreted as a percentage of pupils achieving a particular grade.
Subject-specific sixth-form results provide another view of outcomes. The York SACRE annual report reported 2024 religious-studies Key Stage 5 results covering 40 entries. The reported A*-C measure was achieved by 95% of entries, with an average points score of 41. The entries included 27 girls and 13 boys.
Within the reported religious-studies Key Stage 5 assessments, all four disadvantaged York students achieved A-C grades, and all four students with special educational needs achieved A-C grades. These small subgroup counts should be read cautiously: they describe the reported entries, not every disadvantaged or SEND student in York.
The same 2024 SACRE analysis covered seven York secondary schools for its religious-studies Key Stage 4 results. Across 817 entries, the city-level grade-4-or-better rate was 79%. The SACRE figures are a subject-specific dataset, so their percentages and counts do not represent every York pupil or every subject.