The Pupil Referral Unit Census is a statutory return for all local authority maintained PRU's and alternative provision academies including alternative provision free schools in England.
The Pupil Referral Unit Census collects information about individual pupils and information about the pupil referral units themselves, such as their educational provision. The individual pupil information collected includes free school meal eligibility, ethnicity, special educational needs, attendance and exclusions.
The pupil referral unit census began in 2010 and was collected annually each year until January 2013. From January 2014 all pupil referral units, including alternative provision academies, will be required to submit termly data to the department as part of the School Census. Prior to the introduction of the pupil level Pupil Referral Unit Census, aggregated data was collected from Pupil Referral Units via the School Level Annual School Census.
