Completing the Welsh School Workforce Annual Census (SWAC)

This guide walks you through generating and submitting the mandatory School Workforce Annual Census (SWAC) data return in Arbor. The SWAC data collection is a statutory return for all maintained schools in Wales (Nursery, Primary, Middle, Secondary, Special, and Pupil Referral Units) and local authorities.

The census provides information crucial for developing, monitoring, and evaluating key educational policies, such as workforce planning and forecasting future demand for newly qualified teachers.
 

Permissions

You'll need the School: Data Returns: Administer permission to access this feature. 

If you don't have the relevant permission, ask your admin team to give you permission using these instructions.
 

Key Dates for the SWAC 2025 Collection

The SWAC submission window is a critical period:

• Census Date: Tuesday, 4 November 2025. Snapshot data (current staff, roles, and characteristics) must be accurate as of this date. This date is the first Tuesday in November, unless it conflicts with a half-term break.

   

• Submission Period Starts: The Data Exchange Wales initiative (DEWI) website opens for submissions on Tuesday, 4 November 2025.

   

• Submission Deadline: The final deadline for data submission (School Return and Pay, HR, and Absence Return) is Wednesday, 17 December 2025.

   

• Historical Data Period: Historical modules (Recruitment, Retention, Supply, Pay & Contracts [ended], and Absences) capture data from the previous academic year: 1 September 2024 to 31 August 2025.

   

The SWAC Data Return Components

The SWAC 2025/2026 academic year collection is split into two main components, outlined in the following sub-sections:
 

School Data Return (Mandatory for all schools)

The School Data Return comprises two types of data: snapshot and historical.

• Snapshot data must be accurate as of the Census Date (Tuesday, 4 November 2025). This data is grouped into three required modules: Workforce Identifiers (a minimum data set), Workforce Characteristics, and Roles. Only staff employed on the census date are included in this data.
• The second type is historical data, which captures information from the previous academic year, specifically covering 1 September 2024 to 31 August 2025. The historical modules submitted by all schools include Recruitment (details of posts advertised), Retention (details of staff who left), and Supply (aggregated data on supply days and cost).
   

Pay, HR, and Absence Data Return (Local Authority or School Submission)

This module covers pay, contracts, and absences (with Pay & Contracts having both snapshot and historical elements, and Absences being purely historical).

• Local Authority (LA) Submission: Typically, the LA submits this element for staff on their payroll.

   
• School Submission: Schools that have opted out of LA Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for HR and/or payroll must submit this return themselves directly to the Welsh Government via DEWI.
   

Accessing the SWAC Return

To access your Census Return Overview Page:

1. Navigate to School > Data > Export > Data Returns
2. Ensure the Academic Year dropdown is set to the correct year
3. Select the relevant census (School Workforce Census (School) or School Workforce Census (Pay, HR and Absence) in the table 

The banner on the Homepage

Once the School Annual Workforce Census Return date (also known simply as Census Day) has passed, staff will see a warning banner on their Homepage as a reminder to submit the Return. The banner includes a useful Census Help button that links to our Help Centre for further guidance on completing the census.

The banner shows on homepages from the opening date of the return until the return is marked as Submitted or the Return closing date has passed. 

You can find the return and closing dates for a specific return by going to School > Data > Export > Data Returns, clicking on the census/return you are interested in and referring to the Return Details section at the top of the page.

Once you have submitted your return to the Welsh Government, you have the option to add a submitted date and time to your Return Details, which marks your Return as submitted in Arbor and removes the warning banner from your homepage. To add a submitted date:

• Head to your return's Overview Page
• Click on the Submitted datetime in the Return Details section
• Add a date on the slide-over
• Press Save 

Submitted datetime only shows if you have a return listed in the Active tab. If you have only generated Dry Runs so far, you do not see this field. Adding a Submitted Date will not prevent you from generating a new version of the Return.
 

Generating a return

Dry Runs vs. Live Generation

• Dry Run Generation: Allows you to generate the census before it formally opens, enabling you to identify and correct errors early. Dry runs are not intended to be submitted. Once the census date has passed, a Live Census needs to be generated to capture the day snapshot data.
• Live Census Generation: Becomes available after the census opening date (November 4, 2025) and is identical to the dry run, but also contains snapshot data.
   

Generating a Census

• Head to your Census Return Overview page
• On the left-hand side, click the Generate (Dry Run) button

The system will then create the census XML file and a PDF Summary. You'll receive a notification (the bell icon on the left-hand side of Arbor) once the generation is complete.

Checking and Submitting

1. Errors and Queries: After generation, check the list of Errors and Queries generated by the Welsh Government validation rules. For many errors, you can click directly through to the problematic record. You should correct these data problems and Generate a new census to include these changes in the census and check if the issue is resolved.
2. Download Summary: Download the Welsh Govt. Summary (a PDF) to verify some numbers. Download this using the green Download Welsh Govt. Summary button on your Census Overview. You, the school, must physically sign a copy of this summary, which is generated with the Census XML.
3. Complete Hours Data Entry: The Welsh Government requires the total number of hours spent by staff on completing the census for each role. Use the Completer Hours Data Entry feature to record this information.

4. Download and Submit: Once satisfied with the return:

   • Download the final Census XML file using the green Download button on the Return Overview page. Once your file is ready to be downloaded, you will see a notification on the left-hand side (represented by the bell icon). Exercise care with this file as it contains personal information.
   • Submit the XML file and signed summary PDF to the Welsh Government via DEWI (or follow your LA's submission instructions).

   

5. Mark as Submitted: To hide the automatic homepage banner reminder, mark the census as Submitted by entering a submitted date. This process is the same as hiding the Homepage banner.
    

Census Completer hours

The return requires a list of the roles of the staff members who have spent time completing the census, along with the time spent (in whole hours). This can be recorded with these steps:

• Go to your Return Oveview School > Data > Export > Data Returns > [your return]
• Click Completer Hours in the left-hand menu

• Click +Add
• Enter the number of hours and the role of the staff member
• Click Add Cenus Completer

You can add multiple entries for any role(s), or edit (or delete) an entry by selecting it from the Census Completer Log table. Note: The hours will be automatically summed per role and included in the next census generation.
 

Data Included in the Return/Things to Check

Snapshot Data 

These modules collect information about all staff members employed on the Census Date:

• Workforce Identifiers: Collects the minimum data set required for staff identification.
• Workforce Characteristics: Includes personal and professional details for staff. This covers information such as:
   
  • Names, Sex, and DOB. More on this here.
  • National Insurance (NI) Number. More on this here.
  • Ethnicity, Disability Status, and National Identity. 
  • Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and Date obtained, along with the QTS Route. More on updating this here.
  • (Higher Level Teaching Assistant) HLTA Status. More on updating this here.
  • (National Professional Qualification for Headship) NPQH and Date Obtained. More on this here.
  • Welsh Ability and Ability to Teach or Work in Welsh. More on this here.
  • Long Term Absence Status and Third Party Staff Member Status. More on this here.
• Roles: Includes the Main and Additional Roles undertaken by each staff member, along with the calculated weekly Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) value where required for Main Roles. More on this here.
• Curriculum (Lessons Taught): This is automatically generated for Primary, Middle, and Secondary Schools and details the subject taught, subject hours, National Curriculum Year Group, and Lesson Medium over a typical 10-day period. More on this here.
   

Historical Data 

These modules capture activity from the previous academic year:

• Recruitment: Records job roles that were advertised during the previous academic year (known as Vacancies in Arbor). More on this here.
• Retention: Captures details of staff members with a teaching or teaching assistant type role who left during the previous academic year (known as SWAC Leavers in Arbor). More on this here.
• Supply: Provides aggregated data on supply days used and their cost. More on this here.