State-funded schools must submit a Headteacher authorised return to COLLECT by:

21 January 2025: Maintained schools & PRU deadline for submission to the Local Authority for validation.

12 February 2025: Maintained schools & PRU deadline for submission to be approved by the Local Authority.

12 February 2025: Academies and free schools deadline for validated and approved submission directly by the Department for Education (DfE).

Note: Following approval and final DfE checks, all state-funded school submissions must receive a final DfE ‘authorised’ status.

Note: COLLECT familiarisation test period (Optional): W/c 16 December 2024, a ‘beta’ release is available for testing purposes via COLLECT, and remains available until 4pm on Friday 10 January 2025, at which point the test area will be removed and cleared out in advance of the ‘live’ collection on Thursday 16 January 2025. 

The DfE strongly recommends, if possible, all schools use the period to upload a ‘test’ census XML return to COLLECT to check all required data is output correctly; and find out about any COLLECT validation errors or queries that can be resolved before the collection goes ‘live’.

The spring school census will be used to fund the early year’s block of the dedicated schools grant as well as pupil premium (for pupil referral units and alternative provision academies and free schools) and universal infant school meals. It is therefore essential that it is accurate.

There should be a Headteacher sign-off process within each school.

Schools should use their school MIS reports to quality check the data before submission. Once submitted to COLLECT, to ensure that funding allocations are calculated correctly, schools should run the COLLECT funding reports and check for accuracy.

Local authority guidance.

Department for Education (DfE) guidance

Schools should contact their management information systems (MIS) support provider for specific guidance about producing the CTF/XML return.

Here are links to SIMS, Arbor and ScholarPack MIS guidance.

State-funded schools must submit a Headteacher authorised return to COLLECT by:

20 May 2025: Maintained schools & PRU deadline for submission to the Local Authority for validation.

11 June 2025: Maintained schools & PRU deadline for submission to be approved by the Local Authority.

11 June 2025: Academies and free schools deadline for validated and approved submission directly by the Department for Education (DfE).

Following approval and final DfE checks, all state-funded school submissions must receive a final DfE ‘authorised’ status.

Note: COLLECT familiarisation test period (Optional): Normally 4 weeks prior to the collection going 'live', a ‘beta’ release is available for testing purposes via COLLECT, and will remain available until 4pm on Friday 09 May 2025. The DfE strongly recommends, if possible, all schools use the period to upload a ‘test’ census XML return to COLLECT to check all required data is output correctly; and find out about any COLLECT validation errors or queries that can be resolved before the collection goes ‘live’.

The school census is the DfE’s primary source of administrative data about pupils attending schools in England. It is therefore essential that it is accurate.

There should be a Headteacher sign-off process within each school.

Schools should use their school MIS reports to quality check the data before submission. Once submitted to COLLECT, to ensure that funding allocations are calculated correctly, schools should run the COLLECT funding reports and check for accuracy.

Local authority guidance.

Department for Education (DfE) guidance

Schools should contact their management information systems (MIS) support provider for specific guidance about producing the CTF/XML return.

Here are links to SIMS, Arbor and ScholarPack MIS guidance.

Monday 2 June to Friday 13 June 2025: MTC administration period

Standards and Testing Agency (STA) MTC guidance

2025 Key stage 2 assessment and reporting arrangements

Support: For queries regarding the MTC, contact the national curriculum assessments helpline on 0300 303 3013 or email assessments@education.gov.uk.

Monday 9 June to Friday 13 June: Schools administer the phonics screening check.

Monday 16 June to Friday 20 June: Timetable variation week for pupils who were absent for the phonics screening check.

TBC: Deadline for state-funded schools Year 1 and Year 2 re-check results to be submitted to the Local Authority (edu.performance@walthamforest.gov.uk) securely via Mimecast. 

2025 Local Authority Guidance (TBC)

2025 Phonics screening check: assessment and reporting arrangements (ARA)

2025 STA phonics screening check administration guidance 

Schools should contact their management information systems (MIS) support provider for specific guidance about producing the CTF/XML return.

Support links: Capita SIMS, Arbor and ScholarPack.   

Deadline for state-funded schools and early years settings to submit statutory EYFSP assessments for funded children to the Local Authority (edu.performance@walthamforest.gov.uk) securely via Mimecast. 

2025 Local Authority Guidance (TBC)

Early years foundation stage profile handbook (DfE)

Early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework

Schools should contact their management information systems (MIS) support provider for specific guidance about producing the CTF/XML return.

Support links: Capita SIMS, Arbor and ScholarPack.    

Monday 19 May 2025: ‘Submit TA data’ form is available on the Primary Assessment Gateway (PAG).

Friday 27 June 2025: Deadline for maintained schools, academies, special schools and participating independent schools must submit TA data for all pupils at the end of KS2, including those assessed using the pre-key stage standards and engagement model, directly to the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) via the Primary Assessment Gateway (PAG).

Schools must:

• not submit their data until the external moderation visit has taken place, if they were selected
• not re-submit data after Friday 27 June 2025, unless the original submission failed due to outstanding errors or when required to do so by STA or the local authority.
• include TA data for every pupil registered by the school to take a KS2 national curriculum test, even if they did not subsequently take it.
• include TA data for every pupil registered as working below the overall standard of the tests.

2025 STA Key stage 2 teacher assessment guidance

2025 STA Key stage 2: submitting teacher assessment data guidance (TBC)

2025 Key stage 2 assessment and reporting arrangements

Schools should contact their management information systems (MIS) support provider for specific guidance about producing the CTF/XML return.

Support links: SIMS, Arbor and ScholarPack.