This page contains guidance for completing the Autumn 2023 School Census. It will be updated as and when we receive updates from DfE.
Access: The permissions required to run and troubleshoot the Autumn Census are found in the Census Module of Config>Setup>Roles and Permissions. Each tick box on the right determines which functions are visible/available on the page for users with the selected Role.
See also: How to get started with Roles & Permissions
Important Dates
Census Date – Thursday 5th October 2023
Return Date – Wednesday 1st November 2023
Read DfE Guidance
DfE guidance about the Census is published here including the main changes compared to previous years.
For DfE guidance on generating and submitting a return see here.
Book onto a Census Overview Webinar
You can book onto one of our free Census Webinars below, there are several dates available for each session.
Book onto Secondary Census Webinar
- Tuesday 12th September 9:30am-12pm
- Thursday 21st September 9:30am-12pm
- Wednesday 27th September 9:30am-12pm
Book onto Post 16 Learning Aims Webinar
- Thursday 14th September 9:30am-11am
- Wednesday 20th September 9:30am-11am
- Tuesday 26th September 2pm-3:30pm
Book onto Primary Census Webinar
- Wednesday 13th September 9:30am-11:30am
- Tuesday 19th September 2pm-4pm
- Thursday 28th September 9:30am-11:30am
Read the Bromcom Guidance
Watch Webinar Recordings
Click on a link below to watch a recording of our Autumn 2023 sessions that have taken place so far. You will need to enter your name and email address to view the recording.
Programme Aims and Learning Aims
Post-16 Preparation Tasks
How to set Student Prior Attainment
Additional Guidance
For Learner Monitoring and FAM Hours Bulk Update see Bromcom What’s New: Learner Monitoring and FAM Hours Bulk Update
For recording children receiving free school meals under the criteria for families with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) See DfE guidance Free School Meal eligibility.
For Census Reporting see How to View Census Reports
For Pupil Premium see How to Manage Pupil Premium Students
For Attendance Reporting see How to Access Attendance Analysis Exports and How to Access Attendance Reports
Known Issues
DFE Known Issues
Errors 2759, 2912 and 5165 – These errors all relate to the traineeship flag on programme and learning aims. Traineeship must only be present for programme or learning aims with a start date prior to 1 August 2023. Unfortunately the XSLT is triggering these errors where the data is correct in some instances. Incorrectly triggered errors will however disappear when returns are loaded to COLLECT unless the errors are genuine.
Error 2392 This error will not trigger if the pupil has more than one open school arranged placement record where the attendance pattern is not a valid combination. It will however trigger when the return is loaded to COLLECT.