Use this check list to tick off each of the tasks once they have been completed.
1. Early Years Portal – schools with early years children
- Complete the Early Years Portal Task as the pupils will be checked against your census. The Early Years portal collection is based on the same week as census which is from Sunday 12th to Saturday 18th January 2025.
2. COLLECT
- Check your COLLECT access by logging in to the DfE sign in page. If you have forgotten your password or username please contact the Department of Education immediately.
3. Sims
- Ensure you upgrade to SIMS version 7.220 or later as soon as possible to enable dry runs to be carried out. If you are a hosted school, Scomis will apply this automatically for you.
- Fileset 2903 is the most up to date fileset. If you are a hosted school the fileset will be applied by Scomis, please check the Scomis spring census webpage for updates. Non-hosted schools need to upgrade themselves and import the fileset, further details can be found on the Scomis Spring Census fileset webpage. (When published).
- Carry out a dry run to determine what information needs to be updated, check our Census Quick Guide for further information.
4. Preparing the census data
- Check school level information e.g. establishment details, school email address, URN etc.
- Ensure leavers and re-admissions are recorded and any student records created in error are deleted.
- Check students’ basic details, e.g. name, date of birth, gender, enrolment status, year taught in, UPN, home address, free school meal eligibility, first language, ethnicity & service child indicator.
- Special Educational Needs – check SEN status, member of SEN Unit / Resources Provision indicators and Top Up Funding indicator (plus for the spring census only SEN need and rank). The detailed ‘SEN Report’ in the census routine is useful to pass to your SEN co-ordinator for consideration.
- Exclusions / Suspensions – this census captures Summer and Autumn 2024 term’s exclusions/suspensions. Please ensure exclusion / suspension records have been added against pupil records. E codes in attendance need to match the associated exclusion / suspension record.
- Attendance – deal with any missing marks and investigate any ‘N’ codes (reason for absence is not yet known). Check your school’s use of the new attendance codes against the DfE’s regulations.
- Early Years children – check Hours at Setting, Funded Hours (2, 3 & 4 year olds), Extended Childcare Hours (3 & 4 year olds), Expanded Childcare Hours (9 months olds to 2 year olds), 30 Hour/eligibility Codes, Disability Access Fund. (Check 2 year old eligibility and basis for funding and early years pupil premium eligibility and basis for funding – this is now every census and not just the spring).
- Classes (Spring Census only) – ensure they reflect your selected period on census day. Primary schools: remember to record the correct Key Stage and activity for your class. Do you have any infant classes with 31 or more pupils? if yes, is there an admitted exception or teacher on PPA time?
- Post 16 Learning Aims (autumn census only) – check all student level data and learning aims data has been entered correctly, this impacts on your school’s funding.
- Learner Funding and Monitoring – have you recorded all pupils who are in receipt of tutoring, resitting or retaking up to one year of 16 to 19 funded provision?
5. Producing the census
- Run through the school census routine in sims, remember to ‘create and validate’, check and resolve errors and queries.
- Run the detailed reports and summary report to assist you with checking your data and resolving any errors and queries.
- Once your Head Teacher is satisfied the data is correct authorise the return (print reports for your records).
6. Return to COLLECT
- Upload and submit your return to the DfE COLLECT data collection website via the DfE Sign In Portal.
- Check for errors and queries in COLLECT and add the appropriate acceptable notes, which can be found on the DfE census webpages.