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Navigating Around Keypas

Will Veevers
Will Veevers
  • Updated

This article covers the basics of navigation in the Keypas module of Nexus. 

Who this is for

New users who will be working with importing and processing data in Keypas (or those who need a refresher following a period away from the system).

Before you start

Keypas access requires the 'Can Access Keypas' permission in user privileges. Once access is provided, log in to Nexus and click Keypas on the main toolbar. If you don’t see this option, please speak to your administrator or refer to the Nexus Users & Permissions guide.

Summary of the main Keypas menu options

The options under the Keypas menu link on the - black - main toolbar (subsequently displayed as a lower level menu bar once you click an option) are as follows: 

Please note, your screen may look different to the above image, depending on your access rights and what modules your Local Authority has subscribed to. 

  • Dashboard - Clicking this will display both shortcuts to the data and admin menus but also the Keypas Import Indicators widget which is described more fully in the Video introduction to Keypas Import Indicators tool. (The same video also covers the LA Imported Data Details reports)
  • Tree View – Clicking this will take you to the Keypas tree view, from which you can select any report from any Key Stage along with those for Maintenance, CLA, Census and Absence reporting. For more information, refer to the Navigating around Keypas: Tree View article.
  • Imports – Begins the data import process, which allows you to load any of the data required for reporting from the system. This includes your assessment, school census, pupil premium and extra pupil data Keypas. When Import is clicked, you are taken to the Import Queue where you can see a history of your LA imports. This may take a few seconds to refresh when opened. The process is described more fully in the Importing data overview
  • DfE Returns – begins the data export process, which exports your data out of Keypas so you can submit your data to DfE in the required format. By hovering your mouse cursor over ‘DfE Returns’, a further set of menu options appear allowing you to select an option (e.g. EYFSP or KS1). See the DfE Returns article for more detail
  • Search Pupils – will take you to the Search function of Keypas. Here you can find individual pupils that match a given criteria or search for groups of pupils with similar characteristics.
  • Admin – Various Admin options, see the separate Keypas Admin Guide for more detailed information on the functions in this menu. Care should be used with some of the available options. 
  • Help – The help menu contains all the need-to-know information about Keypas. Training and user guides can be found in this menu.

More information on each area

Tree View

Tree View allows you to see the raw data that has been imported by your LA, and provides error-checking reports and tools to help you ensure that the data you send to DfE is valid and accurate. While Collect does include its own error-checking process, it is a lot easier for LAs to clean and correct the data in Keypas first as the tools within Collect are not as user-friendly.

Start by selecting the relevant phase or dataset from the menu on the left:

  • EYFSP Data – assessments provided directly to the LA by schools
  • Phonics – assessments provided directly to the LA by schools
  • KS1 – assessments provided directly to the LA by schools (statutory up to and including 2023, then only available for subsequent years if the LA/Schools opted to submit and collect)
  • Multiplication Table Check - assessments results can be loaded as an optional file if your LA opts to collect from schools and they choose to contribute. NPD data for the MTC is provided by DfE and loaded centrally at a later point in the year
  • KS2 DfE (July) – initial test results and teacher assessments provided by DfE through Key to Success in July
  • KS2 TA – teacher assessments provided directly to the LA by schools (many LA will not use this option as schools can submit direct to STA)
  • KS2 DfE – revised test results and teacher assessments provided by DfE in the autumn term
  • KS4 DfE – GCSE results summary provided by the DfE through the Tables Checking exercise.
  • KS4 Results Day - examination board files provided to the LA by schools (and CSV files for those exams not supplied in the EDI format)
  • Pupil Premium – Pupil premium import
  • Maintenance – provides a list of ethnicity codes and known first names and sexes used in error checking
  • CLA (SSDA903) – Children Looked After return to DfE that identifies which children are looked after by your LA
  • Current CLA cohort – taking the most recent SSDA903 data as a baseline, this allows LAs to update the CLA cohort with changes during the course of the year
  • SEN2 - SEN2 statutory return for Special Education Needs that can be imported into Nexus for cohort analysis (note that this does not influence the SEND cohorts in the rest of Nexus which are derived from Census)
  • CIN – Children in Need return to DfE that identifies children referred to LA social care services because their health or development is at risk
  • Census – contextual information about pupils from the termly census. Note that only relevant fields from the census are retained.
  • Attendance – termly absence data for pupils derived from the termly school census.
  • Exclusions - termly exclusions data for pupils derived from the termly school census
  • Weekly Attendance - weekly absence data published by DfE on View Your Education Data
  • Weekly Attendance Social Care Cohort - for LA's that import weekly attendance data, they can also create a simple file indicating which children are subject to a Child Protection Plan, CIN Status or are Children Looked After. 

Once you have selected the phase you are interested in, select the appropriate year at the top-right. We recommend you make your year selection before choosing any further options as sometimes reports may use different data sources for different years and so changing the year will reset any options you have chosen. Further filters may be available by clicking on 'Options' at the top of the main panel (depending on the report selected).

Within each phase, there are a number of options (not all options are relevant for all phases):

  • Data cleaning – this section includes various tools to check that data submitted is valid, for example that every child has a compliant UPN and date of birth within the expected range, and that every child has a mark or combination of marks that is allowed. This is important as many MIS systems allow invalid data to be submitted.
  • Exports – this section includes summary data at LA and school level and a flat file that includes all pupil-level data. Reports can be filtered using the filter options at the top of each column
  • Imported data – this section provides an editable grid if LAs need to make amendments to the data submitted* or to mark queried data as correct, and gives an audit trail of any changes that have been made in Keypas.
  • Reports – this section provides audit trails for imported and amended data, and provides a summary of any unresolved errors or queries in the data.

* We advise LAs to avoid making amendments to the data in Keypas where possible, and to instead ask schools to resubmit the corrected data in most situations. See 'Responsibility for importing data' section of the Importing data overview guide for further details.

See 'Importing attainment results into Keypas' for further details on cleaning imported assessment data.

Imports

At busy periods of the year, there can be large numbers of LAs trying to import multiple files from their schools into Keypas at the same time for EYFSP and Phonics (and possibly KS2 TA). To minimise waiting for LAs, a "queue" system is used, whereby LAs load their files to import into a queue that is then processed in turn, allowing the user to continue to use other parts of Nexus or to add more imports to the queue without having to wait until the first file has been processed. Multiple users in the LA can add files to the import queue at the same time, but there is a limit - per LA - to how many files can be in the queue at any one time.

At the top-left, you can click "Import new file" to add a new file to the queue. You can either import a single file from a school or a ZIP file of multiple files for a particular phase. See 'Importing attainment results into Keypas' for further details.

On the left-hand side in blue, you can see the files that your LA has added into the queue, where they are in the queue and how quickly they are progressing towards the top of the queue.

On the right-hand side, you can see the files that your LA has recently imported.

  • You can click on the filename or where it says (eg) "3 files" to see whether the import was successful for each school, and how many boys' and girls' data was included in the import. It is useful to check that these numbers look roughly right to make sure that the school has given you a complete dataset.
    NB the success check on this view only checks whether the file has been imported into the system, it does not mean that the data in the file has no errors in it.
  • If the upload has a green arrow icon then the data passed the validation checks in Keypas. You can click on the arrow to see the relevant grid (which shows all schools' data, not just those in that import).
  • If the upload has a red bell icon then the data contains errors or queries. You can click on the bell to see the relevant grid (which shows all schools' data, not just those in that import). Note that even when you have corrected the errors, the icon for that import doesn't update - it will still show a red bell.

DfE returns

Keypas creates the files needed for statutory returns to DfE for EYFSP, Phonics and also for KS2 teacher assessment where LAs choose to submit that data on behalf of their schools.

Select the phase you need and the year, then either tick the 'Select all' box at the top of the list or tick individual school(s) as needed. The list identifies schools whose data has previously been exported, and any schools that have suspected errors in their data.

Queries that have been marked as 'correct' in Keypas, such as date of birth out of range for a child who has been held back a year, will still be counted as errors at this point.

Search pupils

A facility to search for results from pupils by forename, surname, date of birth and/or UPN. This will retrieve results imported into Keypas from any historic year from EYFSP up to KS2, but not those obtained from NPD files.

Admin

Contains advanced settings for batch reports, and options to add individual pupils to Keypas data or delete user-defined data. These facilities are provided for exceptional circumstances; we recommend that LAs ask schools for corrected submissions instead of manually adding pupils wherever possible.

Last reviewed / owner

Last reviewed: July 2026 / Owner: Technical Support Director