Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many civil servants were employed by the Department for Education in (1) 2011, (2) 2016, (3) 2021, and (4) 2024.

Data on the number of civil servants employed by the Department for Education (including its executive agencies), as at 31 March, are available in the published Civil Service Statistics in Table 20 of the respective statistical releases for 2011, 2016, 2021, and 2024. These statistics are published by the Cabinet Office and can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statistics.

Data by year requested is available below (numbers are rounded to the nearest 10):

• 2024: 8,600
• 2021: 7,930
• 2016: 3,550
• 2011: 2,780

The role of the department has changed over this period. The increase in headcount reflects organisational growth, such as the transfer of the higher and further education briefs to the department in 2016, the creation of the Education and Skills Funding Agency in 2017, and the expansion of delivery responsibilities in areas including academies, skills and further education.