Importing data overview & introduction to this guide

This guide introduces a series of articles covering the specifics of importing data through Keypas into Nexus, whether that is for attainment results, school census, weekly attendance, vulnerable child cohort data or any other data.

Who this is for

Nexus users who will be undertaking imports into the system. It may be in your LA that one team imports everything or you may be responsible for one specific element. In either case, these articles will provide the information you need.

Before you start

For use of the Keypas Import wizard, you'll need:

Import permissions
The data from whichever data source you're working with
Have a read through the Keypas guides

Purpose and community benefits of importing data

Local authorities import education results, vulnerable children and contextual data into Keypas for six main reasons:

To generate results in their Nova reports and Insight analysis for LA users in Nexus and (possibly) your schools through Perspective Lite
To create data files that can be uploaded to DfE for statutory returns
To facilitate cohort analysis whether based on school census or on social care returns
To provide analysis of DfE Weekly Attendance data
To contribute to the NCER National figures in Nova reports and Insight analysis for the entire membership community
To contribute to - and benefit from - cross border analysis around Children Looked After where children are educated outside the Local Authority borders. Your virtual school will benefit from other LA loading in their data and as a community of members each LA should do the same

We do ask all LAs to import full sets of data as early as possible - even in cases where they don't need to create a file for a DfE return and are not intending to use the NCER reports - because this helps us to build up more accurate NCER National figures that the entire membership can benefit from. These imports allow LAs to see national data months earlier than it is published by DfE and in much greater depth.

Local Authorities should also consider that even if they are not using some of the analysis and information at that moment, they may well have a need for the historical data in future years and may find it harder to secure from data sources after that period has elapsed. There have been examples of cases where DfE requested data from Local Authorities (or expected them to have it) several years after the fact and those LA who had loaded it into Nexus had access to files that were much easier to work with. Loading data into Nexus is a quick and easy task and we would recommend it just becomes standard practice when new data becomes available.

Weekly Attendance data

Nexus can provide analysis on Weekly Attendance files provided by DfE to Local Authorities. This adds another layer of analysis to that already provided by the Department, however it relies on regular update by as many LA as possible (ideally weekly).

NCER recognises that this is unusual in a system where most imports are annual or termly and we are in discussions with the DfE to secure a central file from them covering all LA. Until then, the success of the weekly attendance analysis functionality depends on LAs doing what they have told us they want to do - loading in that regular Weekly Attendance data. This has benefits not only for your own LA, but also across borders for virtual schools who may be educating children in your area (and vice versa for your virtual school). In that example, there is potential for the LAs involved to save money compared to paying third parties to gather it for them.

The social care cohort for the Weekly Attendance data is defined in another - separate - import that is not linked to the SSDA903 or CIN Census, a simplified dataset that allows your current vulnerable children cohort to be defined and kept up to date in order to access Weekly Attendance reporting for those groups.

Statutory returns and other imports

LAs have a statutory duty to submit data to DfE for EYFSP and Phonics on behalf of their schools. Once LAs have imported data submitted by schools, Keypas can generate files in the correct format to upload to DfE through the Collect system.

While LAs do not have a statutory duty to submit Key Stage 2 teacher assessment in writing (schools can upload their assessments directly to DfE via NCAP - the National Curriculum Assessment Portal) some LAs may still choose to do so for some or all of their schools (by agreement), and again Keypas facilitates this by generating the files needed.

LAs do not have a role in submitting Key Stage 2 test results or Key Stage 4 results, but Keypas also allows LAs to import these datasets in order to power Nova reports and Insight analysis. While use of Keypas is not involved in School Census returns to the DfE, LA loading school census data through Keypas allows all of that attainment data to be contextualised and ensures Nexus can provide census cohort analysis.

Finally, Keypas Imports also allows the import of the SSDA903 (Children Looked After Census) and the CIN (Children in Need) Census and SEN2 return. This allows Nexus to support vulnerable children oriented services within the LA with cohort analysis and educational results for these groups of pupils.

Responsibility for importing primary assessment data

Schools are responsible for submitting accurate data to LAs, and LAs are responsible for passing that data faithfully to DfE in the case of EYFSP and Phonics.

Keypas gives LAs the facility to check data that schools have submitted for common errors before they upload it to DfE. These errors can either be corrected by the LA in Keypas, or by the school in their MIS and an amended dataset submitted. For anything other than technical issues such as duplicate pupils, we advise LAs to ask schools to resubmit corrected data – this is especially true where marks need to be changed. Receiving a new file ensures that schools are taking responsibility for the correction and there is an audit trail to show this, with no risk that an LA officer could accidentally make the wrong change or that the school could dispute having been given an instruction for the change to be made.

It is also important to note that if you make an amendment to data in Keypas and then you re-import that school's data, it overwrites your amendments, potentially reverting back to the original error if the school has not corrected its own data.

LA officers should be aware that the Head Teacher of a primary phase school is required to sign a declaration relating to the accuracy of their submission. If the LA makes changes to the school's submission without it being matched in the school, the LA could inadvertently hinder - or cause - an investigation into maladministration in a school which, though rare, are extremely serious.

Realistically, we recognise that it will not always be possible for schools to provide a new file to the LA in time, but in that circumstance we strongly recommend that the LA covers itself by sending and retaining an email to confirm the changes it has made and asking the school to match that in their MIS.

Next steps for importing files

For a detailed guide on importing different types of files, see:

If you need additional details about file formats for some of the attainment and census imports please see the appendices below:

Checking what data you have imported

LAs can check what data they have imported – or more importantly, what data they haven't imported – and can see how many other LAs have imported data, using the Import Indicators widget on the home page.

Please note that the widget is updated overnight and so won't reflect any data that has been imported since then.

On the same timeframes, you can also view this for your LA (and any other LA) via the Admin > LA Imported Data Details screen. This view of other LA is useful when considering your regional or statistical neighbour reporting and how complete it is. It's also useful for Virtual Schools to review for the LA where they may have large proportions of their children being educated.

NCER National data tends to become reliable when at least 60% of the national cohort have been imported, below that there is a greater chance that the data that has been imported isn't fully representative and so LAs should be cautious about how they interpret it until that figure is reached.

It is important that LAs also import their census data and pupil premium files to ensure that all datasets and absence reports have a full dataset to work from. Vulnerable children datasets such as the SSDA903 and CIN census are important for the same reason.

Usually you will only look at the current academic year, but if the LA is new to using elements of Nexus or you are new to your role, it may be worth checking previous years just to ensure that there are no gaps that should be imported and filled.

In addition to the LA Imported Data Details help guide, there is a short video explaining the Keypas Import Indicators and LA Imported Data Details screens.

Your own data - alongside that of other LA - can also be viewed through the Admin > LA Imported Data Details screen as shown below.

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Last reviewed / owner

Last reviewed: August 2026 / Owner: Technical Support Director

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