Use this guide to resolve School Census Query 2588
AUTUMN RETURN ONLY Summer Second Half Term Attendance
Query 2588Q:
- DfE Validation: If <AttendanceReason> = E there should be at least one exclusion or suspension record with a <StartDate> between 2026-05-25 and 2026-07-31 inclusive
- Pupil attendance for second half of summer term indicates they are suspended or permanently excluded but no suspension or permanent exclusion is recorded
- Explanation:
- If a Student has an Attendance Code E ( Authorised Absence as Pupil is Excluded) then they should have a suspension or permanent exclusion recorded with a start Date in the date ranges defined above for the Summer Second Half Term
- As an example for Autumn 2026 ;
- Suspensions/permanent exclusions date range is 2026-01-01 to 2026-07-31
- Attendance Collections date range is from Easter Monday 2026-04-06 to the Sunday 2026-05-24 before spring bank holiday AND from spring bank holiday Monday 2026-05-25 to 2026-07-31
So in the following example for Autumn 2026;
- Student is excluded before May half term (before 25/05/2026)
- Exclusion Start Date is before May half term (before 25/05/2026)
- E Attendance codes is recorded after 25/05/2026 so is returned in the Autumn 2026 Census
- Exclusion is not included as the Start Date is outside of the date range specified above.
- In this scenario this query requires schools to add a note to collect see here for DfE guidance on submitting your return on collect.
- To check for Attendance Code E go to Reports>Attendance>Attendance Certificate and select the Student(s) identified, then in the example for the Autumn 2025 Census choose the date range 25/05/2026 – 31/07/2026click Preview. If you then need to amend the Students attendance go to Modules>Attendance>Manage Attendance, see How to Manage Attendance
- To check if the Exclusion exists in the Student record go to Students>Student Profile>Behaviour Exclusions. If you need to view/edit an Exclusion see How to Add Exclusions to a Student
For further guidance on Bromcom Census see here and for Attendance Code Changes for 2024-2025 see here.
THE EXAMPLES AND SCREENSHOTS IN THIS GUIDE ARE FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY.
There are 4 areas that you may find useful in resolving this error:
Attendance Certificate
Go to Reports>Attendance>Attendance Certificate
You can use this report to review Attendance Codes
- On Report for move to Student and then click the Find button to choose the Student(s) this will open the Student Selector list for all Students that are currently on roll.
- Then for the Day Start and Day End refer to the Attendance Collection periods Summer second half term (from Modules>Census>School>Select Return) for the Census you are returning and then click Preview
- In the example below we are looking for Summer second half-term Attendance dates for the Autumn 2026 collection
In this example we can see the Attendance Codes in the table.
Attendance Details Report
Go to Reports > Census > Attendance Details Report.
In the table, select which Census Return you would like to run the report on, then click Go.
Then click Preview.
The report will display a count of how many of each Attendance code each student has received over the period of time included in the selected Census File.
Exclusion Details Report
Go to Reports > Census > Exclusion Details Report.
Select the return you would like to run the report on from the list and click Go.
Click Preview.
The report will display a list of any Exclusions included in the selected Census File.
Student Exclusion Record
To see Exclusions recorded or to add an Exclusion go to Student Profile>Behaviour>Exclusion
To add an Exclusion click the + icon in the top right hand side of the Exclusions Panel
To view/edit an Exclusion record double click on the Exclusion record in the Exclusions panel.
Remember to click Save/Save & Close if you make any amendments.
IMPORTANT in order for the resolved error/query to be removed from the list of errors/queries you would need to generate a new Census return and remember to use save & validate for the errors/queries to update/clear.