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This page shows how the recorded ethnic composition of pupils in state schools in England changed across the comparable 2017/18 to 2025/26 period and compares recorded shares across state-school types. Results for 2015/16 and 2016/17 are retained as earlier compulsory-school-age context.
The ethnicity series covers the DfE state-school pupil population. Independent schools report aggregate pupil totals but not pupil-level ethnicity breakdowns.
The combined share recorded in the Asian, Black, Mixed and Other major groups rose from 24.9% in 2017/18 to 31.0% in 2025/26, up 6.1 percentage points.
Asian or Asian British recorded the largest increase among the five named major groups, from 11.5% to 14.0%, up 2.5 percentage points.
From 2017/18 to 2025/26, White British fell from 66.9% to 59.7%, a 7.2 percentage-point decrease. The broad White share fell by 6.5 points, while Any other White background rose by 0.7 points.
In 2025/26, the broad White share ranged from 55.0% in nursery schools to 78.2% in alternative provision, a 23.2 percentage-point range.
From 2017/18 to 2025/26, White British fell from 66.9% to 59.7%, a 7.2 percentage-point decrease. The broad White share fell from 73.9% to 67.4%, a 6.5-point decrease.
Any other White background moved in the opposite direction, rising from 6.4% to 7.1%, an increase of 0.7 percentage points. This is why the broad White decline was smaller than the White British decline.
In 2025/26, the broad White share ranged from 55.0% in nursery schools to 78.2% in alternative provision, a 23.2 percentage-point range.
All state schools includes non-maintained special schools. The comparison also offers five separately named school types; those five do not include a separate non-maintained-special-schools series.
Each coloured segment shows one recorded major ethnic group as a percentage of the selected state-school population. Unknown or unclassified ethnicity remains a separate segment.
The percentage uses the full pupil population for each line as its denominator. DfE major groups combine its published detailed categories; unknown or unclassified records stay separate. All state schools includes non-maintained special schools and is an overall comparator, not a sixth individually plotted school type.
Each line shows the selected ethnic group as a percentage of pupils in one state-school type. All state schools is shown as an overall comparator, not as another school type.
Major mode shows complete DfE major-group compositions. Detailed mode compares one selected published category across the five school types; unknown or unclassified remains a distinct selectable category.
Each bar shows the complete major-group composition for one school type in 2025/26. Unknown or unclassified records remain separate.
The Department for Education’s January school census reports pupil headcounts and recorded ethnicity in England. The visual comparisons show five separately named school types: state-funded nursery, primary, secondary, special and alternative-provision schools. The published All state schools comparator also includes non-maintained special schools, which are not shown as a separate sixth type. Percentages use the complete pupil total for the selected population, including unknown or unclassified records.
The charts display 2015/16 to 2025/26. The comparable all-school-age period begins in 2017/18; the two earlier compulsory-school-age observations are retained as context across a marked method boundary. DfE major groups combine its published detailed categories. “Other ethnic group” is a DfE source category, not a residual created by this page.
Source: Department for Education, Schools, pupils and their characteristics, 2025/26, published 4 June 2026.
Independent and general-hospital schools do not report the pupil-level ethnicity breakdown required for these charts. Values before and after the 2017/18 coverage change are not directly comparable. Recorded ethnicity is not a measure of religion or nationality.