Data items
Details about the information that you must submit.
The UPN is a 13-character code in the format Annnnnnnnnnnn that identifies each pupil.
You should not calculate it manually as the UPN would either be:
- generated by your management information system (MIS)
- transferred from another school in a common transfer file (CTF)
A UPN in the format of ‘AnnnnnnnnnnnA’ is a temporary UPN that you should only use as an interim measure. For further information, see UPN policy and practice guidance.
It is important that if a ULN has been assigned to a student, it is included in the alternative provision (AP) census.
ULNs are assigned to pupils aged 14 or over in publicly funded education and training.
If a student does not already have a ULN assigned to them, local authorities can sign the learning provider agreement, which will provide local authorities with access to the learning records service (LRS). This will enable them to issue and manage ULNs for those pupils only receiving alternative provision and who are not associated with a school or provider with a UK provider reference number (UKPRN) and LRS access of its own.
This is the pupil’s full legal surname as local authorities believe it to be. There is no need to verify birth certificates or any other legal documents.
This is the pupil’s first name. Provide it in full. Do not use a shortened or familiar form.
Provide all middle names in full. Do not use shortened or familiar forms.
Leave this field blank if a pupil does not have any middle names.
This is the surname that a child may be most commonly known by. Only use this if it’s applicable.
Use the YYYY-MM-DD format, for example, ‘2011-01-31’.
We (mandatory) require data on sex for all pupils. For census purposes ‘sex’ is the sex of a person as recognised in law:
- F – female
- M – male
- U – unknown (for use when, for example, the question has not been asked)
Record ethnicity according to the wishes of parents or pupils. Do not ascribe ethnicity to any pupils. Instead, use:
- NOBT if you have not received ethnicity information
- REFU if a parent or pupil refuses to record or return their ethnicity
The ethnicity codeset reflects categories used in the 2021 national population census.
This data is only collected for pupils in an open placement on census day.
From the start of the 2026 to 2027 academic year, all pupils in households receiving Universal Credit (UC) will be eligible to receive a free school meal (FSM).
Schools should record FSM eligibility periods for pupils when:
- a claim has been made by them or on their behalf
- the relevant school or local authority has confirmed their eligibility
The Education (School Lunches) (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Order 2003 describes an additional requirement for children below compulsory school age who receive education in a local authority maintained setting. These children must be registered pupils and receiving full-time education, or education both before and after lunch.
Children in an academy or free school nursery are also eligible if they meet these conditions.
Schools or local authorities do not need to calculate a family’s annual taxable income. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) perform this income calculation and this figure is used to determine FSM entitlement.
Free school meals eligibility will be split into 2 categories:
Pupils with FSM periods issued from another UK Country (Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland) should be recorded as ‘targeted FSM’.
FSM data items
The following data items are required for FSM:
- eligibility start date
- verification date
- eligibility end date – where applicable
- country of UK – unlike previous years this data item must be returned
- eligibility category
Recording FSM eligibility
Keep the original FSM start date if a pupils qualified for FSM before the autumn 2026 term and is reconfirmed as eligible under the ‘targeted’ category.
If a pupil moves from the targeted to the expanded category, you must close their targeted FSM period and record a new expanded FSM period, with the earliest start date of 1 August 2026.
If a pupil qualified for FSM before the autumn 2026 term but is no longer eligible for either category, you must record an end date for their targeted FSM period.
For new FSM claims under the expanded criteria, the earliest start date is 1 August 2026.
FSM eligibility verification date
This is the date the pupil’s FSM eligibility was last verified.
From the start of the 2026 to 2027 academic year, you must check each pupil’s eligibility, at least annually, before the January census, to receive funding.
For the 2026 to 2027 academic year, all pupils need to have been rechecked on or after 1 June 2026. For the ‘last verified date’ to be valid, the eligibility must be checked between 1 June 2026 and 21 January 2027.
For new claims the verification date may be the same date as the FSM start date.
Without a valid verification date, pupils will not be counted as eligible, which will result in a loss of funding.
Schools should retain any evidence of eligibility for audit purposes.
Collection periods
These data items will be collected for pupils within the scope of the collections with any periods of FSM eligibility since the last census, those with either:
- an FSM eligibility start date on or before the current census day and no FSM eligibility end date (eligibility ongoing on census day)
- an FSM eligibility end date from the first day after the previous census and on or before the current census day – the FSM eligibility end dates are between 16 January 2026 and 21 January 2027
Return multiple FSM eligibility start and end dates falling within the period where applicable – this will only be where a valid exception applies.
Only record pupils as FSM eligible if they meet the FSM eligibility criteria (in respect to family income) and make a claim.
Do not record pupils who are only in receipt of a free school lunch due to the universal infant free school meal entitlement as FSM eligible. They will not be eligible to receive pupil premium.
If a pupil is flagged as eligible for FSM in a local authority’s system, they must include a free school meal start date for collection in census
You can return multiple free school meals eligibility start and end dates where they fall within the periods above.
Illustrative examples for how the FSM module should be completed
| Example | Record |
|---|---|
| Pupil who is not eligible for free meals under the targeted or expanded FSM criteria. | Do not complete an FSM module. |
| Pupil who is eligible under targeted FSM |
FSM start date: enter the date when the pupil first became eligible for targeted FSM. This is when eligibility was first verified after the application for FSM was submitted. FSM eligibility verification date: enter the date when the eligibility for targeted FSM was last verified on the Manage eligibility for free school meals service. This should be any date between 1 June 2026 and 21 January 2027. If you enter a date before 1 June 2026: an error message will appear, prompting a recheck for FSM eligibility. If you do not recheck, the pupil will not be considered FSM eligible and will not attract FSM funding. FSM end date: do not complete this field. UK country: enter the applicable UK country. FSM category: enter the targeted FSM (TFSM) code. If you leave this field left blank, an error message appears stating that this information is compulsory. |
| Pupil who is eligible for targeted FSM based on the separate NRPF, immigration or pension credit criteria. |
FSM start date: enter the date when the pupil first became eligible for FSM. This is when eligibility was first verified after the application for FSM was submitted. FSM eligibility verification date: enter the date when the eligibility for targeted FSM was last verified. This should be any date between 1 June 2026 and 21 January 2027. Pupils eligible for FSM through these circumstances cannot be verified via the Manage eligibility for free school meals service. You will need to reverify eligibility in other ways and keep appropriate records of how you have done that for audit purposes. If you enter a date before 1 June 2026: an error message will appear, prompting a recheck for FSM eligibility. If you do not recheck, the pupil will not be considered FSM eligible and will not attract FSM funding. FSM end date: do not complete this field. UK country: enter the applicable UK country. FSM category: enter the targeted FSM code. If you leave this field blank, an error message appears stating that this information is compulsory. |
| Pupil who becomes eligible for FSM for the first time in the academic year 2026 to 2027 under expanded FSM. |
FSM start date: enter the date when the pupil first became eligible for expanded FSM. This should be any date from 1 August 2026. FSM eligibility verification date: enter the date when the eligibility for expanded FSM was last verified on the Manage eligibility for free school meals service. This should be any date between 1 June 2026 and 21 January 2027. If you enter a date before 1 June 2026: an error message will appear, prompting a recheck for FSM eligibility. If you do not recheck, the pupil will not be considered FSM eligible and will not attract FSM funding. FSM end date: do not complete this field. UK country: enter the applicable UK country. FSM category: enter expanded FSM (EFSM) code. If you leave this field blank, an error message appears stating that this information is compulsory. |
| Pupil who was eligible for FSM under the targeted FSM category between the previous and current census. Or has had a period of expanded FSM between 1 August and census day. This pupil does not have an open FSM period on census day. | Following the end of the transitional protections, we only require schools to check FSM annually for funding purposes. In rare instances, you may be aware of a pupil being eligible for FSM in between census periods. This can happen when a pupil was eligible: a. under targeted FSM between census periods but is not eligible at the time of the census. b. for FSM under the expanded FSM category between the 1 August and the current census. This means they do not have an open FSM period on census day. In the case of a, the following applies: FSM start date: enter the date when the pupil first became eligible for targeted FSM. This is when eligibility was first verified after the application for FSM was submitted. FSM eligibility verification date: do not complete this field. Only complete the ‘last verified date’ in ‘live’ periods of eligibility. FSM end date: enter the date when you found out the pupil was no longer eligible. UK country: enter the applicable UK country. FSM category: enter targeted FSM (TFSM) code. This will ensure that the pupil is counted towards the FSM6 cohort even though they are no longer eligible for FSM. In the case of b, the following applies: Do not complete the FSM module for this pupil since expanded FSM is only used for the purpose of meal funding. We only provide meal funding in respect of pupils eligible at the time of the census. |
| Pupil who moved from being eligible under targeted FSM in the previous census to being eligible under expanded FSM at the time of the current census. | Enter both periods of eligibility, starting with the live period. FSM start date: enter the date when the pupil first became eligible for expanded FSM. This is when the first eligibility check was carried out, showing that the pupil had moved to expanded FSM. This will be any date from 1 August 2026. FSM eligibility verification date: enter the date when the eligibility for expanded FSM was last verified on the Manage eligibility for free school meals service. In this case, that is likely to be the same date as the start date and will be any date between 1 June 2026 and 21 January 2027. If you enter a date before 1 June 2026: an error message will appear, prompting a recheck for FSM eligibility. If you do not recheck, the pupil will not be considered FSM eligible and will not attract FSM funding. FSM end date: do not complete this field. UK country: enter the applicable UK country. FSM category: enter expanded FSM (EFSM) code. If you leave this field blank, an error message will appear stating that this information is compulsory. FSM start date: enter the date when the pupil first became eligible for targeted FSM. This is when eligibility was first verified after the application for FSM was submitted. FSM eligibility verification date: do not complete this field. You should only complete the ‘last verified date’ in ‘live’ periods of eligibility. FSM end date: enter the date when you found out the pupil was no longer eligible for FSM under targeted FSM. UK country: enter the applicable UK country. FSM category: enter targeted FSM (TFSM) code. The first entry for this pupil will ensure they are accurately captured as currently eligible for expanded FSM. The second entry will ensure that they are captured as part of the FSM6 cohort by DfE. |
| Pupil who was eligible under targeted FSM at last census but is no longer eligible for FSM (under either threshold). |
FSM start date: enter the date when the pupil first became eligible for targeted FSM. This is when eligibility was first verified after the application for FSM was submitted. FSM eligibility verification date: do not complete this field. You should only complete the ‘last verified date’ in ‘live’ periods of eligibility. FSM end date: enter the date when you found out the pupil was no longer eligible. UK country: enter the applicable UK country. FSM category: enter targeted FSM (TFSM) code. Even though this pupil is no longer eligible for FSM, DfE will still record them as part of the FSM6 cohort. |
Free school meals eligibility checking service
We rolled out the new Manage eligibility for free school meals service during the 2025 to 2026 summer term to all local authorities that can run checks on behalf of schools and determine which category of FSM a pupil is eligible for. It is replacing the existing checking system made available by DfE.
From the 2026 to 2027 school year, this service will be extended to provide a more flexible model for local authorities or schools to make checks, including a model where schools can make checks directly on the system.
Pupil premium funding
The pupil premium directs extra funding to children from disadvantaged backgrounds based on their eligibility for free school meals under ‘targeted FSM eligibility’ as recorded in the school census.
Pupils aged 4 and above in reception to year 11 (or aged 4 to 15 as at 31 August, where national curriculum year groups do not apply) are eligible for pupil premium funding.
The terms under which the payment of pupil premium operates are set out in the pupil premium conditions of grant.
Pupils who are not eligible for pupil premium include children:
- who are solely in receipt of a free school lunch due to universal infant free school meals entitlement
- who are eligible for expanded FSM
- attending nursery schools or classes
Refer to pupil premium for more information.
We collect the service child in education indicator for all pupils.
You must only record this information if it has come from the parent, guardian or child. Valid codes are:
- ‘Y’ for yes
- ‘N’ for no
- ‘R’ for refused
- ‘U’ for unknown – to indicate no response given or other reason for no information
This field defaults to ‘N’, so you only need to change it for entries for children from service families.
It is essential that you record this data item correctly, as we use this to determine the pupil premium allocations.
A ‘service child’ has a parent or parents – or person or persons with exercising parental responsibility – who is/are service personnel serving in:
- regular HM Forces military units
- full commitment as part of the full-time reserve service
- the armed forces of another nation and stationed in England
Reserve units are not classed as the regular armed forces and such pupils are not recorded as service children on the AP census. However, where a reserve soldier is acting in a full-time capacity, this is classified as regular service.
The service children indicator is only relevant to children whose parents are designated as personal category 1 or 2. All parents will be aware of their personal category.
This data item records pupils who are on roll on census day and who have left local authority care in England and Wales immediately before adoption, or prior to being subject of a residence or child arrangement order, or special guardianship order.
We have extended these options to include code ‘O’ – children adopted from state care outside of England and Wales. ‘State care’ is care provided by a public authority, a religious organisation, or any other organisation whose sole or main purpose is to benefit society. It is intended these pupils will also attract the pupil premium in 2026 to 2027.
It will be up to those who have parental responsibility (adoptive parents, special guardians and carers) to decide if they wish local authority or provider to know whether such children have been adopted or are under a special guardianship order or a residence or child arrangements order.
Where parents choose to declare their child’s status as being adopted from state care from abroad, the local authority must be satisfied that the child has been in state care outside of England and ceased to be in state care as a result of being adopted. Parents will be expected to provide documentary evidence of their child’s adopted from abroad status.
The local authority or provider will be able to record the information using the following codeset; only one of the values will apply to each pupil:
Use:
- N for not declared (default setting)
- A for ceased to be looked after through adoption from within England and Wales
- G for ceased to be looked after through a special guardianship order (SGO) from within England and Wales
- R for ceased to be looked after through a residence order (RO) from within England and Wales – residence orders were superseded by child arrangements orders in April 2014
- C for ceased to be looked after through a child arrangement order (CAO) from within England and Wales
- O for ceased to be looked after through adoption from state care outside of England and Wales
A template letter (DOCX, 20KB) is available for local authorities to adapt and send out to AP providers to help assist with the identification and allocation of the pupil premium to pupils in alternative provision who have left care under an adoption, special guardianship or residential or child arrangements order.
The early years pupil premium (EYPP) is additional funding to improve the education provided for eligible 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds (all 3- and 4-year-olds are entitled to up to 15 hours per week of government-funded free early education for 38 weeks of the year).
Early years pupil premium data is required from all children aged 9 months to 3 years old included on the AP census (those born between 1 September 2022 and 31 March 2026 inclusive).
Children aged 4 at the start of the academic year are eligible for the school age pupil premium. They are not eligible for early years pupil premium funding.
Children are eligible to receive EYPP if they are taking any of the following:
- universal (15 hours) funded entitlement
- early learning entitlement for 2-year-olds
- expanded entitlement for children aged 9 months to 3 years old
And meet one of the following eligibility criteria:
- meet the benefits related criteria equivalent to those for free school meals (meals delivered as part of the universal entitlement are not free school meals) – receipt of FSM does not automatically qualify a child for EYPP[footnote 1]
- are in the care of the local authority (in England or Wales)
-
have left care (in England or Wales) through:
- adoption
- special guardianship
- a child arrangement order (formally known as a residence order)
Only children in receipt of EYPP in census week should be recorded with early years pupil premium receipt equal to “true”.
For those pupils in receipt of the early years pupil premium, the reason why is also required against the basis of eligibility field. Record the reason why a pupil is eligible by using:
- RE for in receipt through economic reasons (where they are in receipt via the benefits related (targeted) criteria for FSM)
- RO for in receipt through other reasons (where they are in receipt due to being in care or due to leaving care through adoption, special guardianship order or a child arrangement order)
- RB for in receipt through both reasons (where they are in receipt through both economic and other reasons)
- RU for in receipt through unknown basis (where the school or AP provider knows the child is in receipt of EYPP – due to receiving funding from the local authority – but does not necessarily know the reason why)
The data collected via the AP census will be used by DfE to determine the early years pupil premium allocation that we provide to local authorities to fund their early years providers.
Special educational needs (SEN) provision is collected for all pupils using the following codes:
- E for education, health and care plan
- K for SEN support
- N for non-SEN provision (this is the default value)
If no longer in placement, the SEN provision and type should reflect that at the time of the most recent placement.
Pupil SEN type
The ‘pupil SEN type’ data item records the nature (type) of the pupil’s special educational need for pupils with SEN provision of education, health and care plan (code E) or SEN support (code K).
Only 2 pupil SEN types may be returned in the AP census. These are ranked using the pupil SEN type ranking:
- SPLD for specific learning difficulty
- MLD for moderate learning difficulty
- SLD for severe learning difficulty
- PMLD for profound and multiple learning difficulty
- SEMH for social, emotional and mental health
- SLCN for speech, language and communication needs
- HI for hearing impairment
- VI for vision impairment
- MSI for multi-sensory impairment
- PD for physical disability
- ASD for autistic spectrum disorder
- DS for Down syndrome
- OTH for other difficulty or disorder
- NSA for SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need
Pupil SEN type ranking
Record:
- the primary need as 1
- any secondary need as 2 (if needed)
If a child has 2 types of SEN need, the most significant one must be the primary need and the other as a secondary need. Do not record more than 2 SEN needs.
There is no change to the way address information is held in the MIS. You should be able to provide address details, including a postcode for pupils with non-UK addresses.
In extreme cases, where you have no address information, leave fields blank, ignore any validation errors and add a notepad explanation. You should, however, always try to provide valid address information.
Record the pupil’s current address as it appears in your MIS by using any of these:
- SAON
- PAON
- post town (BS7666 address) – record the SAON and street, and at least one of town, locality, administrative area or post town if you use this format
- address line 1 to 5
- the pupil’s most recent address if they are no longer in placement
- both addresses if a pupil has multiple addresses (for example, they live with both parents at different stages in the week)
For boarding pupils, record all addresses, including their:
- home address (this is the address where they reside during school term time – it may also be the provider’s address)
- second or non-UK address if they live abroad (ignore validation errors on the postcode)
SAON
This is the secondary addressable object name to refer to the flat, apartment name or number or other sub-division of a dwelling
PAON
This the primary addressable object name to refer to the dwelling name or number
Street
This is the street name or description.
There will be a validation query if you enter a dwelling name or number but no street. You can ignore this query if the address has no street.
Locality
This is the neighbourhood, suburb, district, village, estate, settlement, or parish that may form part of a town, or stand in its own right within the context of an administrative area. Industrial estates that contain streets are defined as localities in their own right.
Town
This is the town or city name that is not an administrative area, a suburb of an administrative area that does not form part of another town or a London district.
Administrative area
The administrative area is a geographic area that may be the highest level local administrative area, which may be a county or a unitary authority, an island or island group or London.
Post town
The post office usually assigns these based on the sorting office.
Postcode
This is the code allocated by the post office.
Always try to provide a postcode. If you cannot enter a postcode, you can change this field from ‘error’ to ‘query’ but this should only be done in exceptional cases.
Unique property reference number
A unique property reference number (UPRN) is a unique integer identifier for every address in Great Britain and can be found in the ordnance survey (OS) AddressBase products. It provides a comprehensive, complete, consistent identifier throughout a property’s life cycle – from planning permission through to demolition.
The UPRN is a voluntary data item to be returned alongside the full address (in either BS7666 or address line structure). However, where UPRN is not populated within systems, the data is not required to be submitted.
Address line 1
This is the first line of address.
Address line 2
This is the second line of address.
Address line 3
This is the third line of address.
Address line 4
This is the fourth line of address.
Address line 5
This is the fifth line of address.
Only one format is required for addresses. Care should be taken not to mix the 2 formats. Where the BS7666 format is used then the SAON and street must be provided and at least one of town, locality, administrative area or post town. In addition, the postcode must be provided. For a line address, the minimum of postcode and one address line must be provided. However, up to a maximum of 5 lines are available for the address, if required.
This section lists, in detail, the placement-specific data items required for the 2027 AP census.
This module records information about the latest or last placement within the ‘census period’. This will either be the:
- current placement
- last placement, where the child is no longer in AP
Any placement commissioned and funded by an English local authority (in a setting other than a school or a PRU, AP academy or AP free school) is in scope – this can include placements in Scotland and Wales.
URN (unique reference number) (used for funding)
This records which AP establishment a pupil is attending or is registered with. If you record a URN, do not record the UKPRN or AP type of setting.
Record and submit the GIAS unique reference number (URN), where available, of the establishment within which the AP placement has been arranged.
If the provider does not appear on GIAS, you should leave this field blank.
If you leave the URN and UKPRN blank, record the ‘AP type of setting’.
UKPRN (UK provider register number)
This records, where available, which AP placement a pupil is attending.
If the placement does not have a UKPRN, leave this field blank. If you record a UKPRN, do not record the URN or AP type of setting.
If you leave the URN and UKPRN blank, record the ‘AP type of setting’.
Type of setting
The ‘AP setting type’ data item records, where the placement does not have a URN or UKPRN (left blank), and is the type of setting within which the pupil has taken up an alternative provision placement.
Use:
- NFE for non-maintained further education provision
- OOT for one-on-one tuition
- OTH for other unregistered provider
- WBP for work-based placement
Where type of setting is completed, URN and UKPRN must be blank. If URN or UKPRN are completed, type of setting must remain blank.
Primary reason for placement
This records the main reason why a placement was commissioned rather than what the needs of the pupil are.
Example
If a pupil has a mental or physical health need, but has also been permanently excluded, the primary reason for placement would be the permanent exclusion that triggered the commissioning of the alternative provision.
Use:
- EHC for setting named on EHC plan
- MHN for mental health need
- NEW for new arrival without a school place
- OTH for other
- PCC for pregnancy or childcare
- PEX for permanent exclusion
- PHN for physical health need
- YOI for pupil in young offender institutes or secure training centres
Date of entry into AP
Record the date a pupil entered alternative provision.
If a pupil entered AP more than once within the same census period, record and return the latest date that they entered.
Date of leaving AP
Record the date a pupil left alternative provision.
If a pupil left AP, re-entered and then left again, record and return the latest date that they left.
Association
This records whether the placement is associated with any other services that are not education or supporting the pupil.
Set the default value to ‘NO’ or use:
- YC for yes – provision linked to a children’s home
- YH for yes – provision linked to a healthcare setting
- YO for yes – provision linked to other service
- NO for no – provision is not linked
Attendance pattern
The ‘AP attendance pattern’ data item records the pupil’s planned attendance pattern at the alternative provision provider.
Use:
- FT if a pupil attends full-time
- PT if a pupil attends the placement part-time
Where the pupil is in part-time provision (attends less than 10 sessions a week in the alternative provision placement), the number of sessions must be provided. For the purposes of this data item, part-time is defined as being expected to attend fewer than 10 sessions per week at the placement.
Sessions per week
Record the number of sessions that a pupil attends if fewer than 10 session per week during the census period.
If a pupil is no longer at a placement during the census period, for example, because they’ve left, record the number of sessions per week the pupil was expected to attend.
Hours at setting
You do not have to record this data item. It is voluntary.
The ‘Hours at setting’ data item records the pupil’s planned number of hours in education provision during the census week.
If no longer in placement, for the most recent placement, we would expect the number of hours the pupil was usually expected to attend education provision to be returned.
URN of previous school attended
This should be the latest ‘previous URN’ on record that is held by the alternative provision provider.
‘Previous URN’ records the URN of the school that the pupil attended prior to entering an alternative provision placement. As this is only recorded once in the record, this should be the latest ‘previous URN’ on record that is held by the alternative provision provider.
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Further guidance on EYPP eligibility is available in the early years entitlements: local authority funding of providers operational guide 2026 to 2027. ↩