Service children
There is no strict definition of a service child. Some studies use the term to mean a person ‘whose parent or carer serves in the Regular armed forces, or as a Reservist, or has done at any point during the first 25 years of that person’s life’.
Data on Service Children held by the OfS is based on the Department for Education’s National Pupil Database (NPD).
This indicates if a pupil had parent(s) who were serving in regular military units (including pupils with a parent who is on full commitment as part of the full-time reserve service) of any forces and exercising parental care and responsibility, when the child was in Key Stage 4.
Key statistics
Continuation – Progression:
The Education and Skills Funding Agency’s (ESFA’s) individualised learner record (ILR), The Student Return, collected by the Designated Data Body (DDB) and The Student Alternative (SA) record, collected by the Designated Data Body (DDB).
On a provider level:
UCAS provides information on whether or not an applicant has identified as a service child. It can be matched to Individual Learner Records by a provider for internal database purposes.
On a national level:
The student characteristics data: Outcomes data dashboard has information on the profile, continuation, completion, attainment and progression rates by whether students are local or not.
The National Student Survey data: student characteristics data has information on the experience of students by proximity to the provider.
Note: Definitions and the quality of each study vary.
Atherton, G., Satchell, L. (2023) ‘Under the Radar: Service Children and Higher Education in England. The Service Children's Progression Alliance’ (Accessed 11/01/2024)
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