How to Add/Update Students via CTF Import

In this guide, we will show you how to ;

• Add Students to your system via a CTF Import and how to update Student records with a CTF Import.
• Sibling Match

Access: The minimum permissions required to access CTF Import are found in the Framework Module of Config>Setup>Roles & Permissions.

See also: How to add a new student.

IMPORTANT: CTF Imports match based on UPN Number so if you are using the CTF Import to update information about Existing Students please ensure that the UPN is recorded correctly on the Student Profile before completing the CTF Import.

Note: Throughout this guide we refer to ‘Complete Missing Data‘ and ‘Overwrite Existing Data‘ when referring to using a CTF Import to update information for Students currently on roll. Overwriting will replace the data that is present for that Student in the system with the data included in the CTF where the information is different, so should be approached carefully. While Complete Missing Data will use the CTF data to complete any missing parts of the Student’s record.

To begin, go to the Student List page. You do not need to select any Students.

From the top of the page, select Actions then CTF Import.

Press Browse to select the CTF file from its location on your PC.

Once you’ve selected the file, use the Tick Boxes to choose which information you want to Import.

If you are using the CTF Import to update information for existing students, you will then need to choose whether to Complete Missing Data or Overwirte Existing Data.

This only applies when you are adding data for existing Students so this can be ignored if the CTF does not contain any information regarding your existing Students.

Complete the remaining information, if you are importing new Students pay particular attention to ensuring the Admision Date is correct, once you’re happy press Next

On the next screen, you will see a summary of the Students you will be importing information for, it will automatically fill whether to Match Existing, Create New or Don’t Import depending on the options you selected on the previous screen. You can change this using the dropdowns on the right hand side if required.

• Create New – This will create a new Student with a new Admission Number and add the Data contained within the CTF File.

• Match Existing – This will match to a Student on the MIS, if the data matches you can select the Student from the dropdown list shown bellow. If the MIS recognises matching Student information, it will match the Students automatically.
• Don’t Import – This does not create a new Student.

After you have selected your Import Option, click the Import button to complete the process.

Once the CTF Import is complete you will receive a Success message, click OK.

When a school imports a CTF that includes Free School Meals where a pupil has left another school, acountry badge displaying ENG, SCT, WLS, or NIR, will populate in the Meal & Transport section in the Free School Meals row in the Student Profile. The badge only shows if the UK country in the CTF is different from the receiving school.

The country badge will also appear in the Meal & Transport popup under the Free School Meals tab when users select Click to Edit FSM Eligibility.

Sibling Match

February 2025 Update: To streamline the student import process, both the ATF (Admissions Transfer File) and CTF (Common Transfer File) imports will now follow the same procedure, with the added benefit of automatically linking new students to existing potential siblings in the MIS.

The process will proceed as follows:

After selecting Actions > ATF Import or CTF Import, the initial popup will now include a Student Siblings checkbox, which is checked by default. When ticked, any students that meet three or more of the following criteria will be automatically matched as a potential sibling to the new student and users can decide whether to link the match when it comes to the import stage:

• Home phone numbers that match
• Parental addresses that match
• Parental email addresses that match
• Parental names that match
• Sibling match

Users will click Next to see the list of students in the file.

The following screen allows users to review the list of students in the file and decide whether to Match Existing (default), Create New or Do Not Import in the Import Options column for the individual students. Users will click Next to see the list of potential siblings for the students in the file.

In the third and final step, the students in the file are matched to potential siblings already in the MIS. The table displays the following information:

• ATF/CTF Student – Student in the ATF/CTF file.
• Potential Sibling – Existing student in the MIS with one or more Matched Criteria.
• Address – Existing student’s address.
• Matched Criteria – Score out of a maximum of five matches (click on the “i” to see the details).
• Matched Criteria Status – “Yes” in green (strong match) if the match meets three or more Matched Criteria, and “No” in red (weak match) if the match meets two or fewer Matched Criteria. 
• Import Options – This column determines whether a Potential Sibling will be linked when the Import button is clicked. The row will display either Link (highlighted green) or Do Not Link (highlighted red). Note: Users can also bulk Link/Unlink by selecting the row(s) and clicking the Link and Do Not Link buttons. 
• Actions – Update the Import Options column per row by clicking on Link or Unlink.

Users can also choose to Export As the contents of the table to Copy, Excel and CSV.

Finally users will click Import as current functionality.