Guidance

Alternative provision census: technical specification

Business and technical specification for local authorities and software suppliers to prepare for the alternative provision census 2027.

From:

Department for Education

Published:

28 June 2024

Last updated:

26 June 2026

Show all updates

26 June 2026
Added the 'Alternative provision census 2027: business and technical specification' and 'Alternative provision census 2027: validation rules'.
18 March 2026
Updated the ‘Alternative provision census 2026: business and technical specification’ to reflect that the disadvantaged entitlement for 2‑year‑olds is now called the early learning entitlement for 2‑year‑olds.
17 December 2025
Updated paragraph 3.3 of 'Alternative provision census 2026: technical specification'.
27 May 2025
Added ‘Alternative provision census 2026: validation rules’.
9 April 2025
Added 'Alternative provision census 2026: technical specification'.
8 January 2025
Updated 'Alternative provision census 2025: validation rules'.
20 December 2024
Updated 'Alternative provision census 2025: technical specification'.
10 September 2024
Updated 'Alternative provision census 2025: validation rules'.
28 June 2024
First published.

Applies to England

PDF, 720 KB, 40 pages

MS Excel Spreadsheet, 47.4 KB

This is technical information about submitting data for the alternative provision census.

It is for:

suppliers of software for school and local authority management information systems (MIS)
local authority users of MIS software

The specification describes:

You should also read the common basic data set. This defines common data items that schools use in MIS software and we use in our data collections.

Previous specifications, including the specification for the 2026 census, are available in the National Archives.