How to use the TREND Function for projections

Hi everyone,

I am trying to get a projection of the relationship between births and when the child starts school (5 years later). I was told that the TREND function would be very useful for this type of answer, but I have no idea how to do it. Can someone please help me make the formula and explain it to me.

For some reason I can't attach so here is the sample: (Column A = Birth Year, Column B = How many born, Column C= 5 years later, Column D =children enrolled).

Year Births (5 years) Enrolled
2003 458 2008 338
2004 443 2009 308
2005 503 2010 366
2006 457 2011 ??
2007 ?? 2012 ??
2008 ?? 2013 ??
2009 ?? 2014 ??

Thank you!

You can use TREND or FORECAST for this.
Have a read of this link for a straightforward explanation of both:
http://www.excel-easy.com/examples/forecast-trend.html

See attached for both approaches implemented for your data.

Shout if you have more questions.

BSB

I understand the functions and how easy it is to manipulate. Thank you for the link!

However it looks like you did each data column separately. You did 2 separate equations for births and enrollment, but I thought that the Trend in Projected births would change the Trend for projected enrollment and not 2 separate equations. Am I wrong? or is this a different formula?

Thank you

Thank you so much! That is exactly what I was looking for. The attachment helped immensely. from both BSB and Jete!