Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD) 2025 technical report - Education domain
Outlines important technical information for the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD) results report.
This file may not be fully accessible.
In this page
The purpose of this domain is to capture the extent of deprivation relating to education, training and skills. It is designed to reflect educational disadvantage within an area in terms of lack of qualifications or skills. The domain has a relative weight of 14% in the overall index.
Indicators
Key Stage 4 average points score for core subjects
Type of indicator
Points score
Numerator
The average points score of year 11 pupils based on the grades achieved in GCSEs in the core subjects of English or Welsh first language, mathematics and science (or equivalent qualifications).
Postcode data from PLASC is matched to LSOAs, using a postcode to LSOA look-up. A 2-year average is used to reduce the impact of having small numbers of pupils at LSOA level.
| GCSE Grade | Points |
|---|---|
| A* | 58 |
| A | 52 |
| B | 46 |
| C | 40 |
| D | 34 |
| E | 28 |
| F | 22 |
| G | 16 |
| U | 0 |
Results data for pupils domiciled in Wales but attending a school in England was provided by the Department for Education (DfE) and included in the calculation of this indicator.
| GCSE Grade | Points |
|---|---|
| 9 | 58 |
| 8 | 55 |
| 7 | 52 |
| 6 | 48 |
| 5 | 44 |
| 4 | 40 |
| 3 | 32 |
| 2 | 24 |
| 1 | 16 |
Denominator
Total number of pupils in national curriculum year group 11.
Source and time period
Pupil Level Annual School Census (PLASC), and Welsh Examinations Database (WED).
Two-year average for academic years 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024.
Comparability with WIMD 2019
Comparable.
Persistent absenteeism primary
Type of indicator
Percentage
Numerator
The number of primary school aged pupils in maintained primary, middle and special schools missing 10% or more of school sessions.
Postcode data from PLASC is matched to LSOAs, using a postcode to LSOA look-up. Data are based on all pupils of statutory school age attending a maintained school. Data on pupils domiciled in Wales but attending a school in England has been provided by the Department for Education (DfE) and included in the calculation of this indicator.
Denominator
Total number of primary school aged pupils in maintained primary, middle and special schools.
Source and time period
PLASC, Attendance Data Collection, and DfE.
Two year average for academic years 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024.
Additional information
Further definitions and quality information can be found in reports for our statistical series on attendance and absence from schools.
Comparability with WIMD 2019
New indicator.
Persistent absenteeism secondary
Type of indicator
Percentage
Numerator
The number of secondary school aged pupils in maintained secondary, middle and special schoolsmissing 10% or more of school sessions.
Postcode data from PLASC is matched to LSOAs, using a postcode to LSOA look-up. Data is based on all pupils of statutory school age attending a maintained school. Data on pupils domiciled in Wales but attending a school in England has been provided by the Department for Education (DfE) and included in the calculation of this indicator.
Denominator
Total number of secondary school aged pupils in maintained secondary, middle and special schools.
Source and time period
PLASC, Attendance Data Collection, and DfE.
Two year average for academic years 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024.
Additional information
Further definitions and quality information can be found in reports for our statistical series on attendance and absence from schools.
Comparability with WIMD 2019
New indicator.
Key Stage 4 leavers entering higher education
Type of indicator
Percentage
Numerator
Number of KS4 pupils who, at some point in the subsequent 4 years after leaving year 11, entered Higher Education.
Higher Education provision is defined for the purposes of this indicator as any programme of learning above level 3. This includes undergraduate degrees and higher level apprenticeships.
Denominator
Total number of pupils in national curriculum year group 11.
Source and time period
Pupil level data from PLASC matched to Higher Education Statistics Authority (HESA) Record and Lifelong Learning Wales Record (LLWR) data.
Four-year average based on pupils who left school between academic years 2016 to 2017 and 2019 to 2020.
Comparability with WIMD 2019
Indicator values not comparable due to change in period from 3 years to 4 years after leaving year 11.
Adults aged 25 to 64 with no or low qualifications
Type of indicator
Percentage
Numerator
Number of adults aged 25 to 64 with no qualifications or level one qualifications.
Denominator
Total number of adults aged 25 to 64.
Source and time period
2021 Census, Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Comparability with WIMD 2019
Not comparable due to the addition of low qualifications in numerator.
Domain construction
There are 5 indicators in the education domain, weighted as follows. Factor analysis was used to calculate the indicator weights.
- Key Stage 4 average points score (21%)
- Persistent absenteeism primary (16%)
- Persistent absenteeism secondary (20%)
- Key Stage 4 leavers entering higher education (15%)
- Adults aged 25 to 64 with no or low qualifications (28%)
The domain has a relative weight of 14% in the overall index.
Changes since WIMD 2019
KS4 average points score for core subjects
The 2019 indicator used a 3-year average, in 2025 a 2-year average has been used. An exploratory analysis of the data showed that there were sufficient pupil numbers for a 2-year average to give robust results.
Primary and secondary persistent absenteeism
WIMD 2019 included an indicator for repeat absenteeism which combined primary and secondary school attendance data to form one indicator. For WIMD 2025 there are separate indicators for primary and secondary.
The threshold for the repeat absenteeism indicator in 2019 was missing more than 15% of half day school sessions. For 2025, the threshold is 10% or more of half day sessions. This brings WIMD in line with the Welsh Government’s official definition of ‘persistent absenteeism’. The name of the indicator has been updated from ‘repeat absenteeism’ to ‘persistent absenteeism’ to reflect this. An analysis of existing repeat absenteeism data taken at a 10% and 15% threshold showed a high degree of correlation.
The 2019 indicator used a 3-year average, in 2025 a 2-year average has been used. An exploratory analysis of the data showed that there were sufficient pupil numbers for a 2-year average to give robust results.
Foundation phase Average Point Score (APS)
This indicator was included in WIMD 2019 but not in WIMD 2025.
For primary education, the regular collection of attainment data (at foundation phase and KS2) ceased after 2018/19 with a pause in collecting this data during the pandemic being immediately followed by the introduction of the new Curriculum for Wales in 2022. This means there is not sufficiently consistent or robust data to update the primary school attainment indicators used in 2019.
KS2 APS
This indicator was included in WIMD 2019 but not in WIMD 2025 for the same reasons as above.
Additional information
Key Stage 4 attainment
WIMD 2025 used the average point score for the core subjects (APS) when assessing achievement at KS4 (the same approach was taken for WIMD 2019). This is not the same as the ‘capped-9’ score that has been used by Welsh Government since 2019 to measure achievement at KS4. This decision to use the APS rather than capped-9 scores was made in order to limit the impact of the pandemic on the indicator. The rationale being that the core subjects would be less affected by variation in assessment practice during the pandemic period due to higher numbers of learners being entered for these qualifications.
Covid-19 pandemic and changes to curriculum arrangements
Since WIMD 2019, schools in Wales were impacted by the pandemic and also started the transition to new curriculum arrangements. Because of this some of the schools-related indicators used previously are not available or where data is available it is limited.
Data collected from schools during the pandemic was adapted to meet the challenges of the pandemic. For example, attendance data was collected weekly using different definitions of absence and there were variations in examination and awarding arrangements for public examination, including where grades were awarded based on a centre determined or centre assessed grade model. Data collected during this time may not be representative of deprivation relating to impacts on educational outcomes more generally due to the pandemic conditions. For this reason we have not used data collected during the height of the pandemic for the school-related indicators in WIMD 2025. Instead, for the three relevant indicators (KS4 attainment and both absenteeism indicators) we have used two years’ worth of post-pandemic data.
The level of qualifications of the working age population was collected via the Census during March 2021, just over a year since the pandemic was declared. However, data was found to be well correlated with Census 2011 trends used in WIMD 2019.
The remaining indicator considers KS4 pupils who, at some point in the subsequent 4 years after leaving Year 11, entered Higher Education. It is a four-year average based on pupils who left school between academic years 2016 to 2017 and 2019 to 2020. We can expect the pandemic to have had some impact both on the attainment of those leaving school in 2020, and on entry to HE for potentially all of these cohorts. This would be a real effect that is captured in the data, and we make no adjustment for this.