The national pupil database (NPD) is one of the richest education datasets in the world, holding a wide range of information about pupils who attend schools and colleges in England. It forms a significant part of the evidence base for the education sector and supports a number of key priorities around accountability and school improvement.
The Secretary of State has specific powers to share pupil data from the NPD with named bodies and third parties who require access to the data to undertake research into the educational achievements of pupils under strict terms and conditions. This has provided invaluable evidence on educational performance to inform independent research, as well as studies commissioned by the Department.
We want to encourage more third parties to use the data for these purposes and produce secondary analyses of the data. Interested parties can find out how to apply to use the data, and the process for requesting extracts, in this article.
