For a given reporting year, you will need to populate your Keypas system with both assessment and contextual data in order to run ‘full’ reports and make use of other Nexus features reliant on LA loaded data. This article covers each of the different types of data Nexus consumes.
Who this is for
Nexus administrators, new users and those who need to understand the scope of the data Nexus imports and presents back to users
Types of data
Broadly there are three different types of files that can be imported - assessment files, contextual files (including school census, pupil premium, CLA census, CIN census, SEN2) and Weekly Attendance files.
Assessment files
EYFSP, Phonics (and Key Stage 1 optional)
These assessment files are files containing pupil-level attainment results. These files are usually generated within a school’s MIS (Management Information System) as a CTF file, then submitted to the Local Authority for cleaning, before they are submitted to the DfE via COLLECT.
Keypas contains all the necessary tools for you to import individual files submitted from schools, check the submitted data for errors and clean it. Once you are happy that the data within Keypas is of sufficient quality and accuracy you can create the DfE return for each school which can then be uploaded to COLLECT.
You are able to import assessment files in both CTF (.xml) or CSV (.csv) format. EYFSP, Phonics and KS1.csv file imports must follow the DfE’s Excel spreadsheet template to be imported.
Key Stage 1 has been optional since 2024. It is no longer submitted to DfE, but can still be imported into Nexus by LA who wish to offer that facility to their schools (and the schools wish to participate)
Key Stage 2 - Teacher Assessments
Most schools submit their Key Stage 2 Teacher Assessment results from their school MIS directly to the DfE via the STA / National Curriculum Assessment Portal website, without the Local Authority having to be involved in the submission process.
However, Local Authorities can download these CTF files from the STA / National Curriculum Assessment Portal website and import them into Keypas, to view the data and run reports. (As previously noted the smaller number of authorities undertaking this step should be considered when looking at NCER emerging national results)
(There are a small number of Local Authorities that have made arrangements for their schools to submit their CTF assessment files to the LA, who then clean and process them before submitting to the DfE via the STA / National Curriculum Assessment Portal on the school’s behalf.)
Key Stage 2 - Test Datasets from NCAP
All LA are encouraged to import Key Stage 2 datasets containing pupil-level test and teacher assessment results into Keypas once these are made available for download from the National Curriculum Assessment Portal websites. This will usually be on the day in July that KS2 results are made available to schools (typically the first Tuesday of the month). This data can be used for attainment reporting and is also the final component of the KS1 to KS2 Early Progress data (see Early KS1 to KS2 Progress Reporting in Nexus guide)
Contextual Data
School Census files
The School Census files can be described as files containing pupil-level information on pupil characteristics and identifiers. These files are generated by each school each term and are submitted by the school to COLLECT, though many LAs collect the files directly.
Note: LA are encouraged to import all the school census files (autumn, spring, summer) - including those from academies and free schools that are downloaded from the DfE after the close of the census collection.
You are able to import the School Census files into Keypas. Once imported, you will be able to produce reports using pupil characteristics as filters. For example, you may wish to report against a certain set of vulnerable groups – contextual information held in the School Census file will allow you to identify pupil characteristics for further analysis.
Generally you will want to ensure that - at the very least - the January census file from the year of the assessment is loaded as this matches DfE protocols and includes ethnicity data for analysing educational outcomes. However, failing to load all three census means that analysis around Attendance and Exclusions will not be fully populated with data.
Both assessment and School Census files contain a lot of data, some of which is not used in Keypas. You do not need to edit the files received from Schools or the DfE in any way before importing them into Keypas. Keypas will automatically discard any information it does not need.
Developments of the system in the last few years means it is now the case that there is a single method of importing census files into Keypas which suffices for all the purposes to which school census information is put in Nexus. In addition, census files are retained and only need to be loaded once (previously they needed to be loaded after each update of the associated assessment records).
School census files contain sensitive information about pupils and should be protected accordingly during the process of preparation for loading to Nexus.
Pupil Premium Import
Pupil premium data, released by the DfE to Local Authorities via Get Information About Pupils is a key data element that Local Authorities will wish to load into Nexus. The process for obtaining and loading this is covered in the Pupil Premium Import Guide.
LA census files - CLA, CIN and SEN2
The SSDA903 (CLA Census) and the CIN Census are returns made by Children's Social Care in each LA to the DfE. For these returns the DfE make the return available in COLLECT for LA to download after submission. LA will wish to make sure they do this before COLLECT closes and should plan to get them as soon as the deadline for submission has passed in June and July each year.
The SEN2 is the pupil level collection for children with Special Educational Needs. The collection closes in March and can be imported at that point into Nexus.
Weekly Attendance files
Nexus allows Local Authorities to import the Weekly Attendance summary data files available from DfE's View Your Education Data (VYED) site into the system. In addition to providing a weekly update to school attendance for the Local Authority schools and academies, you also have the option to import a 'Weekly Attendance Social Care cohort' list. Doing so will extend the Weekly Attendance benefits to the children's social care cohort for children who are Looked After, subject to a Child Protection Plan or designated as Child in Need. See the Weekly Attendance guide for more information.
Other Data Sources
You may import additional, custom data items using the Extra Pupil Fields. Please see the Extra Pupil Fields guide for more help with this. There are also other imports available in Keypas such as Expected Cohorts, KS1/2 Prior Attainment etc. that are covered in other articles. KS1/2 Prior Attainment loading is covered in the Early KS1 to KS2 Progress Reporting in Nexus guide.
Last reviewed / owner
Last reviewed - July 2026 / Owner: Technical Support Director