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Live, Development, Technical Investigation, Assessment

DfE Explore Education Statistics - Live phase

Taking the DfE’s Explore Education Statistics platform from Public Beta to Live.

Department for Education logo, featuring the UK royal coat of arms above the text, on a white hexagon with a multicoloured abstract wave pattern background in yellow, purple, green, teal, and pink.
Client
Department for Education
Who they are
Responsible for children's services and education
What they do
The DfE are the Department for Opportunity, playing a fundamental role in delivering growth, whilst working to deliver better life chances for all, breaking the link between young people’s background and their chance of success.
Location
England
Requirements
To move Explore Education Statistics from Public Beta, through Live assessment, to an approved Live status.

problem

The Department for Education publishes over 70 official statistics each year. Local authorities, schools, media, central government and the public all use this data. It is used to help make the education system more transparent, show how education is being delivered and help guide decisions backed with evidence. The DfE’s Explore Education Statistics platform is where those statistics are released online. It moved into Public Beta on the 26th March 2020, just three days after the UK went into COVID lockdown. The platform remained in Public Beta mode for the next 5 years while it underwent development and improvement. The DfE now needed our support and assistance with the live assessment. An independent cross-government review to evaluate whether a digital service meets the GOV.UK service standard. Successfully passing the assessment would confirm that the service has successfully met all 14 criteria set by the Central Digital Data Office (CDDO) for the Government Service Standard. By passing the assessment, the government officially deemed the service to be a permanent, high-quality, and secure public service function.

result

We carried out the preparation and the official Live assessment with the Department for Education on 12th November 2025. The preliminary result, on the 24th of November, highlighted some areas where additional evidence was required. We then worked to address the remaining amber points and secure final sign-off. We removed the Beta banner from the platform on 25 June 2026. We are incredibly proud of this because it's rare for a government digital service to move out of Public Beta. It's a testament to eight years of hard work from both Hive and the DfE, from Discovery all the way through to Live.

The platform

Over the past 8 years, we’ve worked with the DfE through the phases of:

  • Discovery
  • Alpha
  • Private Beta
  • Public Beta

This platform is now where the DfE releases all of its statistical data, in line with the Statistics Code of Practice.

Users can access and find data in several ways:

  • Through a Data Catalogue
  • Downloading the data sets
  • A public API for direct access
  • AI-supported search
  • Table Tool that lets people build and share their own data tables

Within releases themselves, there is the ability to include maps, tables, and charts. Along with infographics, key stats highlights, featured tables and a structured, templated format for easy reading and accessibility.

Alongside the public interface, there is also a comprehensive administration platform which supports analysts in delivering their data via the public site and the public API. This is through a secure, well-managed review and approval process that meets the Statistics Code of Practice.

Development During Public Beta

Throughout Public Beta, we focused on making the platform easier to use, more reliable and more accessible to everyone.

Navigation

During the Public Beta phase of the project, we:

  • Built a public API, so people can access the data they need directly and get new releases pushed straight to them.
  • Updated the Release Pages to feature streamlined horizontal navigation, sticky section highlights, and direct signposting for featured tables and data downloads.
  • Made continuous improvements to navigation and page structure.
  • Transitioned to Azure AI Search to help users navigate thousands of publications.

Focused on accessibility

  • We commissioned numerous independent Accessibility Audits. This was to make sure the platform is accessible to everyone, regardless of their assistive technology.
  • We also created an accessibility checker. This was for content editors, including filter hierarchies and maps, to ensure that accessibility is considered throughout the entire development process.
  • We completed approximately 350 hours of user research sessions.

Much of the design work that we have done can be seen via the EES Design Histories.

This shows the platform's progression from the public's perspective. We have also made significant changes to the platform to enhance its security, scalability and stability. Here’s a summary of the key updates:

Improved permissions system - We’ve redeveloped our permissions system to better match analysts' day-to-day roles, making it more intuitive.

Streamlined data uploading - We have integrated a data screener into the platform’s import process. This helps streamline how analysts work while ensuring their data meets strict compliance standards.

Technology upgrade - We moved authentication over to DfE’s own secure sign-in service. (Migrated from IdentityServer to MSAL via DfE's Entra ID, unifying authentication across the Admin front end and .NET backend.)

Frontend developments - We upgraded the underlying frameworks analysts and users rely on, improving speed and how efficiently the system fetches and caches data. (Migrated to EF Core 8, React Hook Form and TanStack Query.)

Easier to find via search engines - We improved the search engine optimisation (SEO) of the platform. We added dynamic sitemaps and SEO specific redirects, so users can find the right information through a search engine, not just directly on the platform. 

Function apps development - We made adjustments to the technical foundations of the platform, so that it can handle more data and complex tasks reliably. (Migrated Function Apps to the isolated worker model and introduced Durable Function Apps.)

Database improvements - We improved how the platform's databases are queried and backed up, so releases stay quick even as the amount of data grows, with long-term retention in place. (Optimised Azure SQL and PostgreSQL Flexible Server databases; added Backup Vault retention.)

Scheduled maintenance - We automated routine database maintenance to run at the right times, so it doesn't get in the way of daily use for the users. (Used Data Factory for scheduled jobs, with reindexing paused during core hours.)

Performance testing - We strengthened our performance testing and monitoring, so we catch problems before users do. (Expanded K6 performance testing and added new Grafana dashboards.)

Build flexibility - Improved our build and deploy processes, migrating to new and improved YAML pipelines and Bicep templates for greater flexibility, speed and maintainability.

The codebase itself is open source and available for review on GitHub

Live Assessment

Having successfully delivered key features that were identified in Discovery, the DfE and Hive both felt that the service was now ready to undergo the Live Assessment.

A GDS (Government Digital Service) Live assessment means demonstrating how a team and service meet the 14 points of the government’s service standards.

This isn’t something that you can enter into without having built the groundwork through the previous phases. Through Discovery, Alpha, Private Beta and Public Beta, we have continually gathered evidence to demonstrate our commitment to working within this framework.

The Live assessment required us to gather evidence in a structured, accessible format and submit this to the Assessment Panel, followed by a presentation covering all 14 points. It included individual-focused conversations around Technology (security, architecture, infrastructure and disaster recovery) and User Research.

The assessment presentation was attended by members of both Hive IT and the DfE.

Shortly after taking the assessment, we were notified of a provisional pass, with 11 of the 14 standards rated Green and three rated Amber. Green means a standard is fully met and on track. Amber means it isn't quite met yet, but the gaps aren't serious enough to stop the service moving forward while we fix them.

The Amber points came down to needing clearer evidence, rather than anything being fundamentally wrong. There were a couple of slightly more involved changes that we needed to make, which included making sure we identified user types and characteristics more precisely in our user research.

The full report isn’t published yet, but should appear on the Government's Service Standards Reports portal soon.

Next Steps

Removing the Beta banner doesn't mean we stop improving; it means the service is now recognised as a permanent, high-quality, secure part of government.

We are already working on infrastructure changes to help the platform handle much larger volumes of data for future growth. We are also currently developing the natural language support for the table tool. There are still lots of exciting features on the roadmap, and we’re excited to see where the future of development on the platform takes us.

Let’s work together

Whether it's making data more accessible, creating tools for better decision-making, or helping innovative teams share their work with the world. We can help you turn complex challenges into clear, human digital solutions.

We’re here to help you create digital and service experiences that are user-friendly and genuinely meaningful.

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