Centralise School Census Data: Insights for Multi-Academy Trust Leaders
Understanding School Census Data: Key Requirements and Importance
To evaluate and monitor the performance of the education system, the Department for Education (DfE) mandates the collection of school census data. School census data submission is a statutory requirement for primary schools, secondary schools, special schools, maintained nurseries, academies, and pupil referral units, collected three times annually. Independent or private schools are excluded. The summer 2025 census dates are:
Census date – Thursday, May 15, 2025
Return date – Wednesday, June 11, 2025
School census data includes pupil background details, such as personal data (name, home postcode, gender, age, ethnicity), special educational needs, free school meal eligibility, educational history, and attainment results. It also collects sensitive data on absences, exclusions, and their reasons, as well as indicators of armed forces families or children in care.
Collected three times annually for students aged 2-19, this data creates a "lifetime school record," tracking characteristics, assessments, and progress over time.
This centralised view of confidential pupil data, educational achievements, behaviours, and personal characteristics is core to the National Pupil Database (NPD), a linked database controlled by the DfE. According to the National Pupil Database (NPD) User Guide, it is "one of the richest education datasets in the world."
The Importance of School Census Data: Funding, Performance, and Equity
Accurate school census data is crucial for the DfE to assess the performance of the education sector. This data enables authorities to make informed funding decisions for schools, including pupil premium allocations, support for disadvantaged students, and funding for early years entitlements.
By analysing school demographics and student characteristics, the DfE ensures equitable funding distribution, prioritizing schools and students with the greatest needs.
Learn how Deesha's Learning module simplifies progress and attainment data submission:
In this article, we'll explore how Deesha's Student Information Module streamlines the submission of census data, including pupil characteristics, attendance, and exclusion information.
MIS Systems and School Census: Streamlining Data Submission, But What About MATs?
Modern school Management Information Systems (MIS) generally facilitate the capture and submission of census data in the required DfE format. Leading cloud-based MIS platforms, such as Bromcom and Arbor , offer features designed to simplify census data collection and submission. For instance, Bromcom has developed a module to streamline data compilation, assessment, and modification.
The Bromcom Census Dashboard provides a centralised platform for managing the entire census process, enhancing data integrity and eliminating manual data transfer. Similarly, Arbor offers resources such as a video tutorial on census data generation and a printable School Census Preparation Checklist.
While MIS providers are improving census data submission for individual schools, Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) face unique challenges. How do MAT leaders manage census data across schools using diverse MIS platforms or those with limited data extraction capabilities? Manual processes, like relying on Excel, are time-consuming and prone to errors. This is where Deesha offers a comprehensive solution.
Introducing Deesha: Streamlining Education Data for Insightful Decision-Making
Deesha (D-IY-SHA), meaning "insightful vision," was developed to address a common challenge in education: institutions often hold a wealth of data but struggle to translate it into actionable insights for strategic growth. Deesha streamlines manual data processes, enabling educational leaders to focus on their core mission: student education and development.
Deesha offers nine comprehensive modules covering the full spectrum of educational data and analytics:
Student Information
Admissions
Marketing
Learning
Survey
HR
Functional Evaluation
Estate Health and Safety
Student Health and Safety
Schools can implement modules incrementally, prioritising those that address their most pressing data challenges.
Discover how Deesha can transform your institution's data into actionable insights. Request a personalised demo today to see Deesha in action.
Overcoming MIS Challenges in Multi-Academy Trusts for Streamlined Census Reporting
For Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) with schools using diverse Management Information Systems (MIS) of varying capabilities, extracting census data can be a significant challenge, particularly for schools with less robust MIS platforms. Even with schools utilising MIS systems that effectively facilitate census submission, MAT leaders often lack a centralised view of this critical data. Deesha addresses these challenges by providing a unified platform for census data management across all schools within the MAT.
How much time does your team spend preparing census data reports? Imagine a system that automates census data generation from your existing operational systems, freeing up your team to focus solely on data validation.
Deesha's Student Information Module: Centralised Data for Streamlined Census and Performance Analysis
While Deesha offers nine comprehensive modules, this article focuses on the Student Information Module. A key advantage of Deesha is its seamless integration with existing school systems. Schools can leverage Deesha's data analytics capabilities without undergoing a complete digital transformation. Deesha integrates via API with any compatible system, as well as popular document management platforms like Google Drive, SharePoint, and OneDrive.
Deesha's Student Information Module provides detailed student headcount data, broken down by demographics such as ethnicity, gender, and service personnel status, along with attendance and behavior analytics. Deesha's customisable platform allows schools to track metrics beyond the standard offerings, tailoring the system to their specific needs. For MAT leaders, Deesha provides a centralised view of school census submissions, ensuring data integrity and accuracy across all schools. Deesha's dashboards include AI-driven insights, highlighting key influencers and correlations, such as the impact of behavior on attendance.
If your team spends significant time compiling student information for census submissions, Deesha's Student Information Module offers a streamlined solution. At the MAT level, Deesha provides an aggregated view of student data, demographics, and key performance indicators like attendance and behavior, enabling proactive support for individual schools. Comprehensive dashboards for student attendance and behavior analysis are integral to the Student Information Module.
Simplify Census Submission and Drive Data-Driven Decisions with Deesha
Deesha aims to alleviate the administrative burden on educational leaders by automating data collection and analysis, fostering a proactive data-driven culture for early gap identification and intervention. Deesha streamlines the statutory requirement of census data submission, particularly for schools with legacy MIS systems. It also empowers trust leaders with a centralised, holistic view of their schools' data.
Schools seek efficient solutions, and Deesha eliminates the need for manual data collation from diverse MIS systems. Deesha's Student Information Module provides centralised dashboards for attendance, headcount, and behavior, enabling schools to focus on enhancing student outcomes. Automating the extraction of census data points reduces compliance burdens, while a holistic view of submissions builds data confidence and facilitates fact-based decision-making. Deesha empowers trusts to embark on a data maturity journey through consistent data utilisation. Deesha's standard package automates census data preparation, requiring only validation. Experience the benefits firsthand – request a demo today.