School workforce census: who to include

Find out which members of staff you should include in your annual school workforce census return.

Last reviewed on 23 December 2022
School types: All · School phases: All
Ref: 45875
Contents
  1. The school workforce census happens annually
  2. Who to include
  3. Who not to include
  4. What about staff working in multiple schools?

The school workforce census happens annually

The 2022 census date was 3 November and the deadline for returning your census file to the the DfE was 2 December. 

Maintained schools: you'll likely be required to submit files to your local authority (LA) before the DfE's annual deadline, so check with your LA when you need to do this each year.

Multi-academy trusts (MATs): you'll need to submit a separate census return for each academy in your trust.

Who to include

The census covers all full-time and part-time staff employed by your school (including pupil referral units).

MATs: this includes staff employed by your trust who work in schools that are part of your trust.

There are 2 levels of data collection

School workforce level data for all staff members who are in 'regular service' at your school. This means submitting individual data for all staff who:  Have worked in