Post 16 Learning Aims in the School Census

Objectives Dealing with QANs Checking Post 16 Data DfE Specification School Census Autumn 2013 Revision of Key Post 16 Data Issues Links with Exams Organiser Dealing with QANs Checking Post 16 Data Autumn 2014 Heads Up Training Opportunities

DfE Specification

DfE Specification (1) EFA will use Census data for: Their business performance report Modelling the impact of new policies Assessing the costs of future provision

DfE Specification (1 - contd) EFA will use Census data for (contd): Ensuring the integrity of data used to calculate success rates Providing information on the mix of provision being offered Determining funding levels

DfE Specification (2) Learning aims taken in the current academic year will be collected for any learners who: Have been on roll in the school at any point between 1st August 2013 and Census Day Were in Actual National Curriculum Year Group 12 or above For whom the school wishes to claim funding from the EFA Single or Main-Dual Registration

DfE Specification (3) Learning aims that were taken in the previous academic year will be collected for any learners who: Have been on roll in the school at any point between 1st August 2012 and Census Day Were in Actual National Curriculum Year Group 12 or above For whom the school wishes to claim funding from the EFA Single or Main-Dual Registration This may include pupils who have left school prior to the Autumn Census day.

DfE Specification (4) Learning Aim Start Date The date on which the learner began the learning activity necessary to achieve the learning aim at the school reporting the learning aim. Learning Aim Planned End Date The date by which the school and learner plan to complete the activities related to this learning aim, as agreed when the learning commenced. The planned end date should reflect the length of the course being undertaken and should remain unchanged throughout the duration of the learning aim unless it has been entered in error. Where the learning aim finishes before or after the planned end date this would be reflected in the actual end date - the planned end date should NOT be changed. The planned end date should be on or before 31 July in the academic year in which the learning aim is planned to end.

DfE Specification (5) Learning Aim Actual End Date The date that the learner completed the learning activities necessary to achieve the learning aim or the date they withdrew or transferred from the learning activities. This should include time for examinations and assessments. Unless a learner has completed, withdrawn from or transferred to another learning aim prior to the Census Day then the Learning Aim Actual End Date should be left blank.

DfE Specification (5) Learning Aim Actual End Date: Are there situations where Actual End Date can legitimately be after Planned End Date: The date that the learner completed the learning activities necessary to achieve the learning aim or the date they withdrew or transferred from the learning activities. This should include time for examinations and assessments. Unless a learner has completed, withdrawn from or transferred to another learning aim prior to the Census Day then the Learning Aim Actual End Date should be left blank.

DfE Specification (6) Duration of Learning Aim The DfE has specified a minimum period for inclusion of Learning Aim records. Duration of Learning Aim Minimum Period for Inclusion Less than two Weeks One Day 2-24 Weeks Two Weeks (14 Days) One Year Six Weeks (42 Days) Two Years Three Years Four Years Five Years 11

DfE Specification (7) Learning Aim Status This should reflect the status of the learning aim at the time of the Autumn Census and should have a default value of continuing (blank in status) Learning Aim Outcome and Result These have been removed (but Result will remain in the Course Manager panel)

DfE Specification (8) Can you provide some scenarios that help explain further the NC Year students should be in? Scenario Included in P16 Census? NC Year Notes Dave, aged 16, has completed key stage 4 without getting 5 GCSEs but has continued into the school’s sixth form to do a NVQ level 2 course. Yes 12 NVQ level 2 course should be reported

DfE Specification (8 contd) Scenario Included in P16 Census? NC Year Notes Would Gary, aged 17, who failed his GCSEs last year and is now re-taking them have his learning aims included in the School Census? No 11 Louise has progressed into the sixth form to do two A levels but is also re-taking one of her GCSEs. Yes 12 Majority of learning at Level 3 / Post 16 Syllabus

DfE Specification (8 contd) Scenario Included in P16 Census? NC Year Notes Ian is 15 and in National Curriculum Year Group 11 studying for his GCSEs and has also started an A level No 11 Majority of learning at Level 2 / KS4 syllabus Gerry is 15 and is studying for 2 A levels and re-taking one GCSE Yes 12 Majority of learning is at Level 3 / KS5 syllabus

DfE Specification (8 contd) DfE Guide for the Post-16 Learning Aims Module – April 2013: “Note that any learner who is doing the majority of their learning at Level 3 or above would be expected to be in Actual National Curriculum Year Group 12 or above. Some students may, however, progress into Actual National Curriculum Year 12 (or above) even though they are studying Level 2 Qualifications (eg. NVQ Level 2). Learning aims should be returned for both these groups of students, regardless of their age. However, if a student is in Actual National Curriculum Year Group 11 or below studying towards some Level 3 (or above) qualifications with the majority of their learning at Level 2 (or below) learning aims should not be returned in the School Census. Contd/over

DfE Specification (8 contd) (DfE Guide contd) Funding will usually be agreed for learners who have completed their statutory education and hold qualifications at least equivalent to a full level 2. This means that EFA will agree to fund those aged under 16 in schools with sixth forms who are studying most of their courses at Level 3 – EFA’s Funding Guidance. Schools may need to exercise some judgement as to what is meant by the majority of a student’s programme at level 3 or above.”

DfE Specification (9) Exam Results and Outcomes are not being collected – Exam Results will still be included in Course Manager and Exam Award needs to be maintained to collect AO QAN Discount Codes are being collected for Autumn 2013 – these have been available in Course Manager but not submitted for 2012, now re-introduced Resit Status is not being collected

School Census Autumn 2013

School Census Autumn 2013 Need SIMS Summer 2013 Release Ensure have latest fileset (check EIS website Census pages) Census Date 3 October 2013

School Census Autumn 2013 Carry out a dry run before Census date – may do multiple attempts Ensure Update Course Memberships is run in both Academic Years

School Census Learning Aims Panel Learning Aims data collected from Course Manager 2012/13 courses (completed or otherwise) 2013/14 courses (continuing or otherwise) Summer 2013 - Manual entries protected (Capita: “as far as is feasible”) Summer 2013 - Able to Lock / Unlock without need for patch

School Census Learning Aims Panel Expected Manual Edits Census reports Planned End Date from Autumn 2012, therefore if two year course end dates were incorrect last year will need to edit Student Actual End Date may be later than planned End Date if not taking exam until after – Census will accept Exams Organiser does not hold result (either in Basedata or Non-EDI Results) so need to type in Exam AO QAN

School Census Detailed Reports Recommended to run following reports and save copy on server: On Roll Learning Aims Leavers Learning Aims Summer 2013 - Learning Aims by Status Do not know name of final report and have not seen sample Get staff to check these Export to excel for sorting Learning Aims by Status – compares the status for this year with last year and should identify discrepancies

Revision of Key Post-16 Data Issues

Starting Next Year’s Curriculum Early 2013/14 Timetable - Early Start (June/July) DfE – “Schools are unlikely to receive any extra funding if they start activity for year 13 students before the start of the academic year”. Schools should consider level of learning for these courses and whether is “taster”. If so, should have General level on course and no QAN associated. 26

Sending the New Year’s Timetable (1) Before sending the new timetable for the first time: Most courses should have the box ticked for ‘Auto Update Class Links’ and “Auto Update Memberships” Memberships of all 2-year courses should be Protected ALL CLASSES must have the CORRECT LEVEL IN T6 – don’t assume last year’s were right!

Sending the New Timetable (2) Date range used for the send will create the new ‘working academic year’ – the dates the students start and finish (so don’t include staff training days in September or July) – DON’T USE AUGUST FOR THE END DATE, USE JULY New subjects will make new courses

Academic Management (1) Ensure in correct Academic Year!! (Tools | Academic Management | Set Academic Year) Ensure Effective Date Range is correct (including whether “From Today” tick is relevant) Run Update Course Memberships regularly

Academic Management (2) Date Range can always be changed once scheme opened

Leavers Use Routines | Students | Leavers Only take students off roll (before the Date of Leaving) if they are definitely not returning in September Enter leaving details BEFORE the Date of Leaving so that the Learning Aim Status will be Completed rather than Withdrawn Run Bulk Update Report to ensure Completion Tolerance taken into account

Re-admissions If students made to leave in July and then return in first week of September – in student record removing leaving date and reason for leaving If student rejoins later in year – re-admit through usual processes

Course Manager Settings Global (defaults): Ensure appropriate Minimum/Maximum Course Duration Check Default Tolerances By Level check: Duration Continuity Tolerance Completion Tolerance

Course Manager Settings

Bulk Update Course End Dates (1) Courses should NOT finish after July Bulk Update Course End Dates (after 31 July) Set Actual and Planned End to 31 July if Planned End Date in August Sets Planned End Date to Actual End Date if End Date in July Removes Withdrawn Status

Bulk Update Course End Dates (2) Bulk Update Use Completion Tolerance to Update Status Set Planned End to Actual End Date for leavers Removes Withdrawn Status

Bulk Update Course End Dates (3) Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Bulk Update Course End Dates

Two-year Courses IB, many BTEC courses, Diplomas Dates in Course Manager should be Sept 2012 to July 2014 for Y13 and Sept 2013 to July 2015 for Y12 The memberships in Course Manager should be Protected (otherwise Update Course Memberships will change them to one-year)

Component courses – IB & Diploma You must have a course for the overall qualification (if you use Diploma Management in Exams, the overall course also has a DAS Generic QAN) Components – last Census no requirement to report outcomes of these however good practice would be to have courses (no QAN) so can manage for own purposes. Some Diploma components, such as functional skills and projects, may not be linked to classes – add the course memberships manually and remove both Auto Update ticks Diploma Award (classification) Principal Line of Learning (2 years) Project (1 or 2 years) Functional Skills (en, Ma, ict – 1 year) Each need own QAN – Award also use DAS QAN if using Exams Org to manage

Separate A and AS Courses In Maintain Course, there should be separate Active courses for A and AS level in the same subject If not, likely to be due to incorrect Levels on classes in the timetable. If no Inactive course, add a new one, link the classes manually and remove them from incorrect Course. Remove tick for Auto Update Class Links on both. Update Course Memberships.

Exceptions Student does attend class but not doing Learning Aim Click Exception and set Status Will show as Withdrawn member If deleted from Exceptions will go back into Memberships panel – need to update Actual End Date and Status

Re-sits Student does not attend classes so no funding, not collected in Census Resit status not available in Course Manager from Summer 2013 Upgrade Not yet clear whether this status will be available – awaiting update from Capita

Retakes – Separate Memberships Student attends classes so teaching attracts funding Make sure course has correct duration so that multiple year memberships not joined incorrectly

Be Warned!! No course memberships or memberships with no QAN means no funding (because the data doesn’t get into the Census return) Include courses that don’t take place at your school but which your students attend

Links with Exams Organiser

Links with Exams Organiser – Basedata / Award Links Course Award Links continue to be managed through Course Manager where basedata exists. Basedata must be organised correctly - One to One Relationships: One Award linked to One Course One Certification Element per Award (split AS/A2) Information Notices 13-E47 and 13-E49

Links with Exams Organiser – Basedata / Award Links Where exams basedata is held in SIMS Examinations Organiser, the Award Link needs to be checked for all courses. This will ensure that: An appropriate Award Link is created for any new courses Existing Award Links are checked and updated for existing courses, as an Award Link that was appropriate last year may not be for the current year It should be noted that Award Links need to be in place that encompass all appropriate examination seasons within the 2012/13 academic year.

Links with Exams Organiser – Basedata / Award Links Check that the Award is still relevant – ie. same Board and Level is correct

Links with Exams Organiser – Basedata / Award Links Check that the Certification Elements are valid for the current exam seasons and are for appropriate level

Links with Exams Organiser – Basedata / Award Links If either Award or Certification Elements no longer valid then need to put end date on Award and create new Award Link. It is possible to have two Awards valid where different award used for different Seasons (Certification Elements)

Links with Exams Organiser – Basedata / Award Links Creation of new Award may require checking of Exams Basedata to ensure that the correct award is selected, this may require support from Exams Officers.

Links with Exams Organiser – Non-EDI Results New functionality (Summer 2013 Release) for Edit PI Data in Exams Organiser New File – Performance Measures XML provides information for each QAN on: Subject Code Level Awarding Body Title Grade Equivalence and Points Values

Exams Organiser – Non-EDI Results: Performance Measures XML File

Exams Organiser – Non-EDI Results: Result Entry

Exams Organiser – Non-EDI Results: Result Entry

Exams Organiser – Non-EDI Results: Result Entry

Exams Organiser – Non-EDI Results Results manually entered via Non EDI Result Entry will become available for the display of best result in Course Manager (and is used in determining AO QAN/Discount Code for School Census Autumn 2013 in England). Users who have non-EDI results ready to enter should postpone data entry until after upgrade to the Summer Release 2013. Regrettably, results entered via the Spring Release 2013 will have to be discarded, but Capita believe that the greater convenience of the new system will not make this too great a cost (Patch for Summer upgrade).

Dealing with QANs

QANs (1) - QAN Conflicts Maintain Course: Basic Panel QWS QAN displayed in read-only field Summer 2013 - highlighted in yellow if there is a conflict

QANs (2) - Courses without QANs / Student Courses, Dates & QANs Reports | Run Report | Focus | Courses for Student Students’ Courses without QANs Students’ Course, Dates and their QANs Preview rather than Run and Sort into Course order Exclude ineligible courses

QANs (3) - Missing QANs Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course Sort Active Courses in order of QAN (column labelled Active Status) Ensure each Post 16 course has a QAN attached

QANs (4) - Expired QANs Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course Sort Active Courses in order of Expiry Date End existing QAN (To date) and add New one

QANs (5) - Duplicate QANs Tools | Statutory Return Tools | Duplicate QAN report or Sort the Browse in Maintain Course into QAN order and/or Discount Code order No Student should have duplicate QANS, unless: Retakes Certain BTEC/IB where no unique QAN for components

QANs (6) - Update the QAN catalogue https://collectdata.education.gov.uk/qwsweb/default.aspx Download 4 XML files – Current QAN, Discount Codes, Awarding Bodies, Qualification Types Tools | Statutory Return Tools | Update DFE QAN catalogue Temporary Dicscount Codes of 0000 Temporary QANs still exist for IB Do have a helpdesk

QANs (7) - Manual import from catalogue Tools | Statutory Return Tools | Import QANs and Discount Codes for Course Manager If you can’t find the QAN, it may be imported already – check with Tools | Academic Management | Course Manager | Maintain Course Classification Must have imported QAN catalogue first Only shows those not already imported Need to know what QAN should be (syllabus document) Edexcel – now Pearson Education

Checking Post 16 Data No substitute for checking data Does take time Incorrect data affects funding and success criteria

Set the Academic Year / Update Course Memberships Tools | Academic Management | Set Academic Year Update Course Memberships only affect the academic year you are working in Ensure run Update Course Memberships in both academic years prior to running Census

Checking in the Course Browser (1) All Courses Present? AS and A2 have separate courses Ensure all Post 16 courses included IB/Diploma have appropriate elements included Consortium/Other Provider courses *Courses are made Active automatically – student members two weeks prior and two weeks from today AS must be cashed in = came in Autumn 2011

Checking in the Course Browser (2) Course not shown when should be? Date filter operates at membership level – ie. members active within date range Spring 2013 - Clear dates to find “Inactive” courses Summer 2013 - Change dropdown to “All” for date range to show all courses (will default to this when create new course)

Checking with Course Manager Reconciliation Reports

Reconcile with Exams Entries/Results (1) The Award-Course links in Exams must be in place, and there must be at least one entry in a season in the current academic year to run the Entries reports Tools | Statutory Return Tools | Reconcile Post-16 Course and Exam Entries or in Course Manager Browse Filter data in Excel

Reconcile with Exam Entries/Results (2) 1 Course Memberships with no Exam Entries / Results Learning aims exist that will be in the Census but there is no corresponding exam entry/result Will show Withdrawn/Transferred students 2 Exam Entries/Results with Course QAN and no Course Memberships Exam entries/results exist but there are no corresponding learning aims in Course Manager 3 Exam Entries/Results with Matching QAN Exam entries/results that are matched with learning aims on all factors other than QANs Should be Yes for all students 4 Exam Entries/Results with no Course QAN Exam entries/results exist with QANs that don’t exist for learning aims As make changes to data – run reports again Report 1 – bound to have some where exam not being managed in Exams Organiser Report 3 – largest report – QAN on award same as course manager – 1st QAN is Exams, 2nd is Course Manager – should be majority of Yes, filter on No

Checking Individual Courses Two Year Memberships (as earlier) Missing status (yellow cells in status column) Will need to manually check each course Enter appropriate status Withdrawn – dropped course and not take up another Transferred – dropped course and taken up another in it’s place

Census Reports Detailed Reports – Learning Aims Leavers and On Roll Learning Aims by Status (compare last year’s “continuing” with this year’s “completed) Copy to Excel and use filters to check data Check for duplicates

Census Validation Errors Panel Check for learning aims related errors/queries Just because there are no errors does not mean data is correct!! Need to have done the checking activities outlined today Information Notice 13-E48

Autumn Census 2014 (A Heads Up!!)

Autumn Census 2014 New data items Hours – PLANNED Qualification, Employability, Enrichment and Pastoral Part Time Student in Full Time Paid Employment Indicator

Autumn Census 2014 Core Learning Aim From beginning of 2013/14 academic year schools will need to identify and record the core learning aim for those students undertaking a study programme that includes vocational learning aims.

Autumn Census 2014 Core Learning Aim (contd) Student Record – Links Panel – Student Courses Available in Summer 2013 Release Not collected Autumn 2013 Census but will be in Autumn 2014

Training Opportunities

Training Opportunities Free Half Day Seminars S377 – Autumn 2013 Changes to Course Manager & the Post 16 Census AM and PM Slots – 10th, 12th and 16th September Full One Day Training Course (new users) E344 – Course Manager & Post 16 Learning Aims September onwards