Hello my name is Helen Bowles and I work in the Education Data Division at the Department
for Education and I’m here to talk to you about completing your return.
These slides list the topic areas I will be covering during the presentation.
This presentation is designed to guide school users through the various aspects of COLLECT
from initial submission, data validation and final approval by the Department for Education.
The COLLECT portal is used by schools, local authorities and the Department for Education
for processing data collection returns.
Major benefits of the portal include real time data collection monitoring and progress
reporting, the ability of a school to view exactly the same information as the Department
for Education when queries arise, and being a website there are no installation issues.
The Department now collects data from a wide range of users; generic terminology must be
used within COLLECT. A provider of data is known as a ‘source’, an ‘agent’ is
someone who undertakes verification and checking of the data, and a ‘collector’ is the final
destination of the information. Access to COLLECT is through the Department’s
secure access system known as SA. Once you’ve successfully registered,
click on to home and then click on COLLECT to enter the system.
To proceed into COLLECT please click on the ‘continue’ button.
The data collections linked to your account can be seen under ‘My Data Collections’
as shown in the slide. Select the collection you wish to open by
clicking on the collection name to highlight it and then click on the ‘Select Data Collection’
button to open it. The ‘Source page’ provides a summary of
the latest position with respect to the selected data collection. You will see information
on the status of your collection return and will be presented with a number of options
as shown on the next three slides.
To load your return, click on the 'upload return from file'.
Use the browse button to locate the XML file,
which is generated via the schools management information system. Highlight the file name
and click on ‘open’ to select the return. Click on the upload button to load the return.
A progress message may be displayed while the upload is taking place.
Once the return has been loaded, the following message will be displayed on screen.
This indicates that the return has successfully loaded and is now placed in the validation
queue to be validated. Press the ‘ok’ button to return to the
source main page. Once the return has been validated, you need
to view the data and look at any queries or errors that have occurred.
Once the return has been validated, the return status section on the source main page will
display ‘loaded and validated’. The total number of errors and queries found in the
return will also be displayed. To view your data return click on ‘open
return’. Your return will then be displayed.
You can view the return details by clicking on the various ‘view all’ links at the
bottom of the screen. When you click on the ‘view all’ for pupils
on roll this takes you into the pupil section. This displays the ‘records list’, with
all pupils visible. You can use the filter bar to identify a particular pupil, or click
on the headers to sort alphabetically. To edit data within your return, click on the
‘edit’ button This enables data fields to be manually edited
within COLLECT. When a return has been uploaded, a number
of validation checks are run against the data in that return and will trigger errors or
queries. All errors and queries are highlighted in
red against the relevant data item. There are two levels of errors, ‘return
level’ and ‘data item level’. The breakdown of errors for a school return
is shown in the return status section of the school’s main screen.
Return level errors relate to a validation rule that applies to the return as a whole
rather than an individual data item within the return.
To view all errors and queries on the return, click on ‘all errors’ at the top of the
screen. You will then be shown a list of all errors
and queries relating to your return. Click on the details button to see which data items
the validation is checking. These will show to the right of the screen. If you click on
one of the underlined fields you will be directed to the corresponding data item in the return.
Identify which of the fields contains the incorrect value and return to the screen that
contains it by clicking on the field value in the details section.
Either: - Correct in your management information system
and re-load the school census file to COLLECT, overwriting the incorrect one.
- Change the mode of the form to ‘edit’ and then click on the data item that needs to be changed
and update it, ensuring that you reflect this change within the school’s MIS.
For individual queries you may be requested to provide explanatory information.
The next three slides will provide further instructions on how to add these notes.
The school is responsible for ‘submitting’ the return once the data has been checked
and any explanatory notes have been added. By submitting the return the school have indicated
that the head teacher has checked the return for accuracy and completeness, and therefore
authorising the submission to be used by the Department. Please see the following on how
to submit your return. A number of reports are available on COLLECT,
return to the source page and click on the launch reports button.
A drop down menu will be displayed and a report can be selected from that drop down list.
It is extremely important that you run all of these reports as they may highlight issues
within the data, which can impact on all funding calculations.
Duplicate reports will indicate pupils who are registered at more than one school and
therefore would indicate if the pupil should remain on roll or whether the registration
status has been recorded incorrectly. In some data collections duplicates would
be required to be resolved. Failure to resolve duplicates in these collections may impact
on the funding calculations for your school as each pupil is funded only once.
There will be individual user guides for reports on the website. The next nine slides will
guide you on how to select your reports and the various formats in which you can export
the reports.
If your file does not appear, you may need
to adjust your security settings please see the following slides for further instructions.
Before viewing the return, it is useful to understand some of the basic controls and
screen operations, as below. The next slide will help you to navigate through
the system. Mode buttons will determine which operation
mode the on-screen data form is in, and which operations are available, as laid out below.
Please see some useful hints on re-submission, navigation and amending errors.
The next slide will provide instructions regarding COLLECT access. In addition, if you are experiencing
any problems with COLLECT or have a data collection query, links have been provided so you may
get in touch with the data collections helpdesk.
I do hope you have found this presentation helpful and thank you for watching.