Management Information Sheet
School and Pupil Census Spring 2022 - Quick Guide
Important dates
Familiarisation period for test files | Closes at 4pm Friday 14 January 2022 |
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Spring school census day | Thursday 20 January 2022 |
LA maintained submission deadline | Friday 21 January 2022 |
LA maintained schools must upload and submit to COLLECT no later than Friday 21 January 2022. Any LA maintained school that cannot meet this deadline must email the Intelligence and Analytics Team (I&A) at i&a@norfolk.gov.uk.
Academies please note that the Local Authority (LA) is not able to see or assist with your school census. Academies with any questions relating to completing the school census should contact the DfE helpdesk via email edd.helpdesk@education.gsi.gov.uk.
Why is this census important?
The census is a key source of data used to calculate schools' funding. It is essential that all schools complete the census accurately and in a timely manner to ensure they are funded correctly. Failure to do so could result in a school missing out on funding to which it is entitled or receiving more funding than it is due and having to repay any overpayment.
Changes since the last census
New data items
- Alternative provision module for single-registered pupils (PRU and AP only):
New voluntary module to collect data on alternative provision (AP) placements for PRU and AP only. This includes 'URN of previous school'; 'Alternative provision reason'; and 'Alternative provision placement SEN provision on entry'. The first collection of this data will be the Spring 2022 census. For full details, see the following data items: - Alternative provision (AP) module for placements arranged by schools (all schools):
New voluntary module to collect data on alternative (AP) placements for all schools, arranging an AP placement. This includes the following data items, preceded by 'Alternative provision placement...': '...URN'; '...UKPRN'; '...type of setting'; '...reason'; '...date of entry'; '...SEN provision on entry'; '...date of leaving'; '...SEN provision on leaving'; '...attendance pattern'; and '...sessions per week'. The first collection of this data will be in the Spring 2022 census. For full details, see the following items: - Learner funding and monitoring (FAM) hours:
This data item records the cumulative total number of hours the pupil has received of school-led tutoring as at each census day, in decimals to the nearest 0.5. For all schools except nursery with applicable year groups or age-ranges. The first collection of this data will be in the spring 2022 census. See the learner funding and monitoring section for full details.
Existing data items
- Addition to class activity codeset:
From Spring 2022, change to extend the codeset for class activity to include an additional code of 'RS' - relationships education, RSE and health education - to allow classes on relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education to be recorded. For more information on this topic, see the statutory guidance on relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education. See the codes for class activity for full details. - Update of the ethnicity codeset:
From Spring 2022, change to update the codeset for ethnicity to include one extended code, in line with the ONS national census. See the codes for ethnicity for full details. - Early years entitlements date of birth range:
The Childcare Act 2006 and the Childcare Act 2016 set out that children are only entitled to the free early education entitlements until they reach compulsory school age (the beginning of the term following their 5th birthday). Clarifying date of birth ranges ensures that free entitlement funded hours are not recorded for children who have reached compulsory school age in the Autumn, Spring and Summer school census. - EYPP and DAF indicator date of birth range:
Following the changes to clarify the free early entitlements date of birth (DOB) range for 4 year olds, as pupils are only deemed eligible for EYPP and DAF if receiving universal free entitlement, the date of birth range has also been amended for clarity.
There are no deleted data items for the 2021 to 2022 school census.
Important information - Reporting of Afghan children under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Programme (ARAP) and the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS)
LAs should have received a letter confirming the indicative amount of funding through the Afghan Resettlement (Education) Grant 2021-22 that they will receive, which includes funding to provide the early education entitlements for this financial year. In order to avoid double funding, LAs should record zero funded hours for children who are registered pupils of a school on school census; and not record children on early years census.
DfE sign in
Please remember to check you can login to COLLECT before Census day, using the following link: https://services.signin.education.gov.uk/
Census checklist
For extended checklist see separate document called Census Preparation Checklist.
Before census day
- Check you can log into COLLECT using DfE Sign-In
- Check your entry in GIAS is correct
- Ensure that all relevant pupil data is correct on your MIS
- Upload a file into COLLECT during the familiarisation period
This will enable you to check for any unexpected errors and queries that may not necessarily show up in your Management Information System (MIS). Please note this familiarisation period closes 4pm on Friday 14 January 2022, and the Census will not show up when you log into COLLECT. The blade will return on Census day ready for you to upload and submit your return.
Census day
- Upload to COLLECT via Secure Access
Once you have had your return approved by your Head/ Data manager then:
Login to COLLECT via the DfE Sign-in https://services.signin.education.gov.uk/ and upload your xml file. - Check for errors and queries
Open your return and check for errors and queries within COLLECT. To clear errors, amendments may need to be made within your MI system and a new file uploaded. Queries need checking and either data amending within COLLECT along with an appropriate note. Please see notepad guidance notes for acceptable wording. - Submit your file
Once you've cleared all errors and attached all notes to queries within COLLECT you can submit your file.
After census day
- Approval and authorisation
If you are an LA Maintained School, NCC will check through your Census looking for additional errors. We may contact you if we have any questions regarding this. Once we are happy with your Census file we will approve it and send it to the DfE to authorise. If there is a problem with the data, the DfE will not approve the file and we will be in touch. - Post approval checking
NCC will continue to run checks on the Census data and may still get in touch with you with queries even after the DfE have approved your file.
Guidance
Further guidance on submitting your school census can be found on the Norfolk Schools website or on the DfE website at www.gov.uk/guidance/school-census.