What action is the Minister taking to ensure that the Pupil Level Annual School Census captures information on service children attending Welsh schools and other places of learning?
There is currently no legal definition of a service child in Wales.
Definitions used by other government departments vary and include that used by the Department of Education in English schools for the purpose of a service pupil premium, which is set in English Regulations. A legal definition for Wales would similarly need to be set in Regulation.
As an interim measure the current definition in use by the Welsh Government closely aligns with that used by the Ministry of Defence.
A ‘service child’ has parent(s) – or person(s) with exercising parental responsibility – who is/are service personnel serving:
- In HM Regular Armed Forces
- In full commitment as part of the full-time Reserve service
- Is a veteran who has been in Service within the last two years
- One of their parents died while serving in the Armed Forces and the pupil receives a pension under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme or the War Pensions Scheme.
Supporting Service Children in Education Cymru uses a definition developed by the Service Children Progression (SCiP) Alliance: A person whose parent, or carer, serves in the regular Armed Forces, or as a Reservist, or has done at any point during the first 25 years of that person’s life.
Funded by the Welsh Government, Supporting Service Children in Education Cymru and the Regional Schools Liaison Officers in Wales have worked with all 22 local authorities to conduct a data collection activity that provides a snapshot of service children numbers in Wales.
As of October 2022, 1,894 children were identified as service children in schools in Wales using the Welsh Government definition and 2,663 identified using the SCiP Alliance definition
The first step in establishing a vehicle to collect data at a national level will be to agree a statutory definition of a service child and to consider what will be the most effective vehicle to collect data, ensuring that it is both robust and not overly bureaucratic.
The Welsh Government is continuing to work with stakeholders to explore how we can strengthen our alignment to ensure the highest quality service is provided to service children.