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This page shows how the number and share of pupils at state-funded selective (grammar) secondary schools in England have changed, and how pupil ethnicity compares with non-selective schools. It also shows where selective provision is located and the religious-character designation of the schools pupils attended.
The Department for Education identifies selective (grammar) schools from their admissions policy. Area results use the school's location, not the pupil's home.
The share of pupils at selective schools rose from 5.4% in 2015/16 to 5.8% in 2025/26, an increase of 0.4 percentage points.
Selective schools enrolled 193,747 pupils in 2025/26, 26,965 more than in 2015/16. With the number of selective schools broadly unchanged, at 165 compared with 163, average enrolment rose from 1,011 to 1,189 pupils per school.
In 2025/26, the largest major-group composition difference was for White: its share was 17.7 percentage points lower in selective schools than in non-selective schools.
Selective provision was located in 35 of 152 local authorities in 2025/26; the other 117 contained no selective-school pupils in the school-location data.
The White British share of selective-school pupils fell in every year shown, from 65.8% in 2015/16 to 44.4% in 2025/26. That was a decrease of 21.4 percentage points.
The broader White major-group share also fell in every year shown, from 69.5% to 50.3%, a decrease of 19.2 percentage points. White pupils nevertheless remained the largest of the five named major ethnic groups in 2025/26.
The White share was 17.7 percentage points lower in selective schools than in non-selective schools in 2025/26. This difference widened from 7.1 percentage points in 2015/16; over the same period, the White share in non-selective schools fell from 76.6% to 68.0%.
Not every detailed White category moved in the same direction. DfE's “Any other White background” category rose from 3.2% in 2015/16 to 5.5% in 2025/26.
Choose pupil share, pupil count or school count. Each line shows the selected measure for selective and non-selective state-funded secondary schools.
The major-group view shows every DfE major ethnicity category plus unknown or unclassified ethnicity as a share of pupils in the selected admissions category. Detailed mode follows one selected detailed group.
Each value shows how much higher or lower an ethnic group's share was in grammar schools than in non-selective schools. A positive value means the group made up a larger share of grammar-school pupils; a negative value means it made up a smaller share. The five named major groups are shown initially; use the legend to hide or show groups.
The ranking shows the share or number of pupils at selective schools in each region or local authority in the latest year. Areas are based on school location.
Each bar shows the religious-character designation of schools attended by pupils in the selective or non-selective category. This is a school designation, not pupil religion.
The Department for Education's January school census covers state-funded secondary schools in England. This page shows pupil shares, pupil numbers and school numbers from 2015/16 to 2025/26. DfE's earlier “Selective (grammar)” label and later “Selective” label form one grammar-school series; Comprehensive, Modern and Non-selective schools form the non-selective comparison.
Ethnicity percentages show each group as a share of pupils in the selected admissions category. The difference chart subtracts the non-selective percentage from the selective percentage. Pupils whose school admissions policy was unknown or not applicable are excluded from those two categories, while unknown or unclassified ethnicity remains visible. “Other ethnic group” is DfE's published major category, not a site-created remainder and not unknown ethnicity.
Regional and local-authority results use school location rather than pupil residence. The religious-character comparison covers 2021/22 to 2025/26 and describes the designation of the school attended, not the religion of its pupils.
The page uses official DfE “Schools, pupils and their characteristics” releases. DfE published national ethnicity totals through 2021/22; from 2022/23, this analysis adds the same totals from individual school records. The two sources matched exactly in 2021/22, when both were available, but the chart still marks the change in source method.
Area results describe school location, so they do not show how many pupils travel across local-authority or regional boundaries. Religious character is a school designation, not pupil religion. National composition differences are descriptive and do not compare equivalent local pupil populations where grammar-school availability and admissions arrangements differ.