Education, Skills & Learning

This section of the site provides information on Education, Skills and Learning in Somerset. 

Key facts for Somerset:-

• Somerset has 267 state-funded schools, including academies, special schools, free schools and pupil referral units (January 2018 school census)
• 69,786 pupils are in state-funded education and 8,317 in independent schools
• There are four Further Education (FE) colleges and no universities.
• In 2017, the proportion of five-year olds achieving a good level of development (GLD) at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) was 71%, up from 69% in 2016.
• 59% of Key Stage 2 pupils achieved the Expected Standard in Reading, Writing and Mathematics in 2017, in line with the national average.
• 64% of Key Stage 4 students achieved GCSE standard passes (grade 9-4) in English and Mathematics in 2017, in line with the national average.
• The January 2018 School Census identified 9,680 pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN), representing 13.9% of all pupils. 
• As at March 2018, 83% of state schools were judged to be good or outstanding by Ofsted, slightly below the national average (86%). 
• The proportion of Somerset pupils going into Higher Education (HE) is consistently below the national average (41% of state-funded mainstream pupils in 2015/16, compared to 51% nationally). (DfE)
• More than one in four (25.6%) of Somerset residents aged 16 or over have a Level 4 (degree or equivalent) qualification. This is slightly below the England and Wales average of 27.2% (2011 Census)

Pages in this Section

• School Attainment
• SEN&D
• Free School Meals
• School Transport
• EET and NEET
• Children and Learners Needs Analysis 2013