Written question asked by Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 13 April 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 16 April 2026 (named day). It was answered by Josh MacAlister (Labour) on Wednesday, 22 April 2026 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Schools: Census

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will add data about young people's caring responsibilities to information collected as part of the school census.

Answer

The School Census requires schools to indicate if a child has been identified as a young carer, and if so, by whom. Young carers can be identified by parents, the pupil themselves or by the school.

The return of this data is a requirement for all schools, except nurseries, and data must be returned in the Spring Census each year. Schools do not need to seek the permission of the pupil or parent to return this data to the department.

Data on young carers has been collected since the 2022/23 academic year and is published each summer.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 126976
Session: 2024-26
Subjects: Children Carers Census Pupils Schools Young people
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk

Schools: Census

Secondary information

Librarians' tools