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General questions
What are the user id and password?
We have not received the pre-census letter from CES
I'm new to the census. Please can you talk me through the process?
How do I send my file to the CES?
We sent our census in early. Do we need to send it again?
Do we count Education Health Care Plans?
Who is in the leadership team?
What is my school's Unique Reference Number (URN)?
How do I know my Census return has been received by the CES?
Do we include staff on maternity leave and long-term sickness?
How do I complete questions asking for headcount numbers (eg total catholic/non-catholic teachers) if some staff work part-time?
Do all schools and colleges have to collect data on the ethnicity of pupils and staff?
Are any other qualifications equivalent to CCRS?
Non-SIMS (Excel form) questions
How can I check my Census form?
What should I call the file?
Do I include dual registered pupils?
Should a pupil with an EHCP be counted as SEN with statement?
SIMS questions
The report shows the wrong number of pupils.
The report shows the wrong number of Catholic pupils.
Why are corrections to religion and ethnicity not showing?
Panel 12 shows the wrong number of support staff.
SIMS crashes when I press 'Create'.
When I press 'Create & Validate' I get an error message.
When I press 'Save' and 'Create & Validate' no changes are saved.
Which file do we send and where is it?
We can't find the XML file to upload.
The school uses SIMS, but does not have the CES Census. How do I now obtain this application?
The CES Census options appear on screen but nothing happens when I click on them.
The reference date in panel 1 shows last year's date.
What are the user id and password for the upload page?
The user id and password for the upload page are included in all census emails sent to schools. If you have not received the December letter to schools and other email correspondence please contact the CES helpdesk at census@catholiceducation.org.uk or phone 020 7901 1909. The helpdesk can tell you the login details and will also update the contact details for your school in order that you receive further correspondence.
We have not received the pre-census letter from CES
Copies of all correspondence can be downloaded from the Census website.
I'm new to the census. Please can you talk me through the process?
The website contains extensive guidance documents covering all aspects of the census. This includes single page 'quickstart' guides for SIMS and non-SIMS (Excel) schools that summarise the census process and link to more detailed information. If you need further help then please email or call the helpdesk.
How do I send my file to the CES?
- Go to http://www.cescensus.org.uk
- Click on the Upload menu option
- Enter the user id and password
- Upload your file using the web form
We sent our census in early. Do we need to send it again?
No, you only need to send it once unless any details have changed that affect the census information.
Do we count Education Health Care Plans?
Yes, EHCPs are gradually replacing SEN statements and should be added to the total number of SEN students with a statement.
Who is in the leadership team?
Although several roles are included in most schools leadership teams the CES Census asks for details of only these roles: head teachers; executive head teachers; deputy heads; assistant heads.
You should only include these roles in answers to questions about the leadership team.
What is my school's Unique Reference Number (URN)?
Please follow these steps if you wish to find your URN, Local Authority Number or Establishment Number:
- Go to get-information-schools.service.gov.uk
- Enter your school's postcode in the box labeled 'Enter a town, locality or postcode'
- Click on the 'Search' button
- Select your school from the list on the next page
- You will be taken to a page where all three numbers are shown.
How do I know my Census return has been received by the CES?
If your file is uploaded successfully then a confirmation email will be sent to the email address that you supplied in the upload form. You can check whether we have received your file by looking at the return rates page. Please wait until the return rates on the website have a date on or after the date that you submitted your file.
Do we include staff on maternity leave?
You should not include any members of staff who are on extended leave (greater than one term).
You should include all staff, including supply staff, who are continuously employed for a term or more.
How do I complete questions asking for headcount numbers (eg total catholic/non-catholic teachers) if some staff work part-time?
If you are asked for a headcount figure, you count staff the same way, whether they work full- or part-time. Eg If there are three welfare assistants (members of the support staff) who are Catholic, of whom one works part-time, the answer to question 67 is still "3".
Do all schools and colleges have to collect data on the ethnicity of pupils and staff?
This information is collected to assist schools and colleges in meeting their duties under the public sector equality duty.
Are any other qualifications equivalent to CCRS?
One other qualification is equivalent to CCRS (Catholic Certificate in Religious Studies) and may also be included:
- CTC: Catholic Teachers Certificate
Non-SIMS (Excel form) questions
What should I call the file?
You should rename the Excel spreadsheet so that it includes your 7 digit local authority number and establishment number. For example, if your school's LA and Establishment number is 823/4321, change the file name from RenameMe-CESCensus2024_9999999 to CESCensus2024_8234321.
How can I check my Census form?
The Excel form includes a data validation sheet. When you enter your responses in the Census form the Data Validation Form will be automatically populated with your responses. You can check your numbers by clicking the check button at the end of the Census form under the heading Submitting your form. This will take you to the validation sheet.
The validation sheet contains four tables. The first table is a checklist of the questions answered in Sections A & B, and any that have been missed will be highlighted. The next three tables show whether or not your answers to the questions relating to the leadership group (by size and by ethnicity), teacher numbers (by Catholicity and by ethnicity), and pupil numbers (by year group and by ethnicity) match.
Do I include dual registered pupils?
You should only include dual registered pupils if your school is their main school. If your school is their subsidiary school they should not be included.
Should a pupil with an EHCP be counted as SEN with statement?
Yes. SEN statements will be replaced with EHCPs (Educational Health Care Plans) and both should be counted together.
SIMS questions
The report shows the wrong number of pupils.
SIMS extracts data for the Census date of 18th January 2024 in England and 16th February in Wales. If pupils have joined or left the school since that date then the totals will be different.
If a pupil is dual registered and your school is their subsidiary school they will not be included in any part of the CES Census.
The report shows the wrong number of Catholic pupils.
Go to Tools | Statutory Returns Tools | Update CES Census Lookups. Under 'Pupil Lookups Related' check the value for Catholic Religion. If this is set to an incorrect value, eg Christian, set it to the correct value and press 'Save'. Return to the census and press 'Save' then 'Create & validate'. If the lookup value is correct, or if the report still shows an incorrect figure, please see the answer to the previous question before calling the helpdesk.
Why are corrections to religion and ethnicity not showing?
If you make corrections to pupil data that should be reflected in the census, you must ensure that the changes are made with an effective date before the census reference date. After making corrections you must ensure that you press the 'calculate all details' button and then 'save' and 'create and validate' for the changes to appear in the reports.
You can check the data that SIMS has used for your Census by running the staff and student detail reports.
Panel 11 shows the wrong number of support staff.
The Census guidance documents contain a complete list of all the support staff categories that are included in the CES Census. The Support Staff Detail Report lists all the staff counted as support staff in the Census.
SIMS crashes when I press 'Create & Validate'.
There are three possible solutions to this problem:
- Import the latest fileset
- Run 'Tools->Validate Memberships'
- Change the CES Census Folder
If you still cannot create your census, please contact the CES helpdesk.
When I press 'Create & Validate' I get an error message.
If you see the error message 'The CES return cannot be generated without gathering the data' you need to press the button 'Calculate all details' in Panel 1 and check the details in the panels before saving and creating the census.
When I press 'Save' and 'Create & Validate' no changes are saved.
If there are any fatal errors in the data these will be displayed at the foot of the screen and the census will not be saved. These errors include failure to select a diocese from the list in panel 1.
Which file do we send and where is it?
Your Census return created several files with CES in the middle of their filenames. Most of these files are reports and end with the html file extension. The file that should be submitted to CES has the extension xml and will have a name similar to this: 3903313_CES_390XX24_001.xml.
If you cannot remember the exact location of the folder containing the census files, you can find it in SIMS by going to Routines | Statutory Returns | Schools CES Census and looking for the 'CES Census Folder' field at the top of the screen (you may need to click the Browse button to see it).
We can't find the XML file to upload.
See the answer to 'Which file do we send and where is it' above. If the file is not in this location, check that the census has been authorised. The XML file is created when the census is authorised.
The school uses SIMS, but does not have the CES Census. How do I now obtain this application?
Go to Tools | Statutory Returns Tools or Routines | Statutory Returns. If there is no mention of CES Census, complete the online form to request the Census patch from Capita.
The CES Census options appear on screen but nothing happens when I click on them.
Ask the System Manager, or whoever provides computer access to new staff, to ensure that you have the appropriate levels of access to complete the CES Census. You should be given access to Personnel Officer and Returns Manager sections of the SIMS software.
The reference date in panel 1 shows last year's date.
Your school has not updated SIMS with the latest autumn release.