School workforce census

You will already be aware of the requirements of the annual School Workforce Census day on 2 November 2023.

The census is an annual statutory collection of individual level data on teachers and support staff from local authorities, local-authority-maintained schools, and academies.

Census data should be submitted without delay. The deadline is 1 December 2023.

The local authority has a role in co-ordinating and approving the submission of census data from all maintained schools. As part of this function, returns from maintained schools will be checked for errors or queries and the workforce census team will inform your school of any required actions. Please ensure your data is submitted by Friday 10 November 2023 to allow for this checking process.

The DfE will not authorise submissions unless all queries and errors are resolved.

Academies are responsible for submitting and approving their own census data.

It is possible for schools to resolve errors and queries at source and you can do that by clicking on the "All ERRORS" box in the COLLECT system. This reveals the full list of all errors and queries. Clicking on the box marked "Queries" will only give part of the picture.

The DFE have provided guidance and information regarding the School Workforce Census (SWC) which is available at DfE's school workforce census guide (opens new window).

Submitting your school workforce census

Academies submit their census directly to the DfE via the COLLECT system.

Maintained schools submit their data via the COLLECT system. The data is then verified by the local authority (LA) before it is submitted to the DfE via the COLLECT system.

The deadline for returning the census information to the DfE is 1 December 2023.

Each maintained school must submit its data to the COLLECT system by no later than 10 November 2023 to allow time for the data to be checked and for errors and queries to be resolved. Previous experience has shown that some amendment is needed in every submission, so it is essential that the data is submitted by 10 November 2023 to allow sufficient time for resolution.

Under the regulations, it is the headteacher's responsibility to ensure that the return is both submitted on time and contains accurate data, particularly with reference to the correct pay details being held in your system and that the pay increases for all staff have been applied for 2023, together with increases if applicable to allowance values.

After producing the SWC xml file from your MIS, log into the DfE COLLECT system and upload your xml file using the 'Upload return from file' button. Note that COLLECT is accessed via DfE Sign in at DfE sign-in link (opens new window).

If you require assistance with DfE Sign In, local authority teams will unfortunately be unable to assist as the system is maintained by the DfE. This system should now be familiar as it is the same system used to access Key to Success and School to School (s2s) and you will have previously used it to access COLLECT when you submitted your school census file.

The approver within your school will be able to resolve any access issues (speak to your headteacher who should be able to advise who has the approver role within your school). They will be able to add COLLECT to your list of applications if you don't already have it.

If you are an approver and require assistance, you will need to contact the DfE. There is DfE Sign-in service request form (opens new window) which can assist you and help troubleshoot your issue.

Reviewing and amending errors and queries

Once your SWC file has been uploaded and validated in COLLECT, please open the return and click on the grey 'All Errors' button to review any queries or errors in your data. Any errors or queries that are generated in COLLECT must be investigated by the school and the data amended as necessary, either by manually editing or adding missing data items using the 'Edit' button within COLLECT, or by amending the data at source within your MIS and uploading a new census file. If specific queries cannot be resolved and have a valid reason, then schools may use the notes facility in COLLECT to write explanatory text, which must be detailed and worded as per the DfE guidance. Schools will also need to record explanations for validation queries relating to changes from previous returns.

Finalising your census submission

Once you are satisfied with your return, remember to click the 'Submit Return' button to finalise your submission.

For maintained schools, your file will be checked once it has been submitted in COLLECT and you will be contacted if there are any data quality issues that need to be addressed before the file can be authorised by the local authority.

The DfE have provided guidance for schools on how to use the COLLECT system which can be found at DfE information on how to use the COLLECT system (opens new window).

Management information system (MIS)

Please contact your software provider for queries regarding your Management Information System (MIS), including producing the xml census file and how to record staff information for the School Workforce Census (SWC).

Those schools using ICT Solutions for MIS support can find guidance and support pages at ICT Solutions website (opens new window), or contact the team via phone or email:

• Telephone: 01603 475603
• Email: ict@norfolk.gov.uk

DfE Sign-in

You will need to ensure you are registered with DfE Sign-in (opens new window). This system is maintained by the Department for Education (DfE) and therefore the local authority (LA) is unable to assist with this part of the process. DfE Sign-in allows access to the COLLECT portal to submit your census file.

The approver within your school will be able to resolve any access issues (speak to your headteacher who should be able to advise who has the approver role within your school). They will be able to add COLLECT to your list of applications if you don't already have it.

All queries, including those from approvers, should be directed to the DfE Sign-In team through their DfE Sign-in service request form (opens new window). Local authorities and non-maintained schools should use the data collections service request form only if they have a query about the DfE's data collections. Maintained schools should contact their local authority if they have any questions about data collections.

Help using the COLLECT portal is available on COLLECT guides for schools and local authorities (opens new window).

The guidance includes information on:

• Accessing COLLECT 
• Uploading and submitting data
• Error queries
• Matching and reconciliation for the school workforce census

Data requirement queries

If you have any queries about the data requirements of the SWC itself, please refer to the DfE guidance. A full and comprehensive explanation of every data item is included in the documentation. This is available on School workforce census: guide to submitting data (opens new window).

Schools are urged to take a look at the data items to be collected in SWC in advance of the collection to ensure data is entered correctly within their MIS.

The following are some useful links for completing the school workforce census.

• How to collect and submit data for the school workforce census (opens new window)
• Guides for schools and local authorities on submitting data for the school workforce census (opens new window)
• Guides for schools and local authorities submitting data using COLLECT (opens new window)
• Information on the scope and business rationale of the school workforce census (opens new window)
• Information on the scope of, and business rationale for, the school workforce census (opens new window)