Wales PLASC- The Classes Page

This guide explains how to complete the Classes section of the PLASC return. This is an "On-the-day" area designed to record a snapshot of your school's teaching groups as they exist on Census Day.

PLASC Series

This is the second guide in our series on completing the Wales PLASC. You can access the other guides in the series here:

• Wales PLASC - General Guide and Overview 
• Wales PLASC - The Classes Page (This guide)
• Wales PLASC - Meals and School Characteristics
• Wales PLASC - Pupil Counts
• Wales PLASC - Teachers and Support Staff
• Wales PLASC - Teaching of Welsh 

Permissions

• To access and edit this data, you must have the School: Data Returns: Administer permission.

If you do not have this permission, ask your office staff or administrator to add it to your profile for you.

What is the Classes Page?

The Classes page captures the details of the classes taught at your school on Census Day. It records the number of staff (teachers and support) present in the class and the number of pupils (home and guest) attending.

Navigation

• Go to School > Data > Export > Data Returns.
• Select the PLASC
• Select Classes from the left-hand menu.

Which classes and data should be included?

The requirements depend on your school phase:

• Nursery and Primary: Enter details for all registered classes running on Census Day.
• Middle, Secondary, and Special: Record details for all registered classes running during the third period of the school's timetable on Census Day.

Key Data Fields

For each class, the following data is collected:

• Class Name: The name of the teaching group.
• Year Group & Key Stage: The curriculum year and key stage the class belongs to.
• Teachers: The number of qualified teachers present in the class.
• Non-Teachers: The number of support staff present.
• Home Pupils: Pupils registered at your school (Single, Current Main, or Current Subsidiary enrolment).
• Guest Pupils: Pupils registered at another school but attending yours (Guest enrolment).
• Welsh Category: The level of Welsh used in teaching the class.

Visibility Logic

Not all fields are visible to all schools. Be aware of these rules:

• Time Selection: The prompt to select a time (e.g., 11:30 am) only appears for Middle, Secondary, and Special schools. Primary schools are assumed to include all classes on the day.
• Exception Section: The "Class Exceptions" input fields are hidden by default. They only appear if the calculated Pupil-to-Teacher ratio is > 30 and the Count Type is Infant (I) or Junior (J).
• Zero Students: Any class found to have zero home pupils AND zero guest pupils is flagged internally to be excluded from the final XML file, even if it appears in your list.

Generating Class Data

Using the Auto-Calculator

We strongly recommend using the auto-calculator to populate this page rather than entering data manually. The calculator uses your existing timetable and staff contract data.

How to Run the Calculator for all classes

1. Click the Add button at the top right of the Classes page. 
2. Select Time (Secondary/Middle/Special only): You will be prompted to input a specific Census Time (defaults to 11:30 am).
3. Confirm the action.

Warning: Running the "Add" (Full Recalculate) function will remove all existing Census Classes and any manually entered class size exceptions. It resets the return to the calculated state.

Recalculating a Single Class

If you have made changes to just one class (e.g., corrected a student's enrolment or a teacher's timetable) and do not want to reset the whole return, you can recalculate a single class.

1. Click on the specific class in the list.
2. Click the Recalculate button within the class slide-over.
3. Note: This will update the staff and pupil counts for this class only. However, it will remove any manual exceptions you have entered for this specific class.

Reviewing and Fixing Class Data

Once the auto-calculator has run, the class data will appear in a list. You must review each entry to ensure its accuracy. Selecting a row opens the "Edit Lesson / Class" slide-over, where you can check and fix the following mandatory fields:

• Home Pupils: The number of pupils assigned to the class for whom your establishment is their home school.

• Guest Pupils: The number of pupils with an enrolment status of "Guest" who are assigned to the class and present on census day.

• Teachers: The number of teaching staff in charge of the class. Exclude staff whose role is wholly or mainly to provide support to individual pupils.

• Non-Teachers: The number of support staff assisting the teacher. Similar to the teacher count, you must exclude staff providing one-to-one support.

• Class Size Count Type: This identifies if the class is Infant (I), Junior (J), Nursery (N), or Secondary (S).

Class Size Exceptions (Infant Class Sizes)

Legislation limits Infant classes (Reception, Year 1, Year 2) to 30 pupils per teacher. If you have a class exceeding this limit, you must provide a "Permitted Exception" reason.

How to Add Exceptions

• Check the Warning: If the calculator detects a Pupil:Teacher ratio greater than 30 (for Infant/Junior count types), it will display a warning.
• Open the Class: Click on the class with the error.
• Locate the Section: Scroll to the Class Exceptions section. This section is only visible if the class limit is exceeded.
• Enter Codes: You will see a list of valid exception codes (e.g., Code A for pupils with an IDP). Enter the number of pupils that apply to each code.
• Catchment Area: For certain codes (like moving into the area outside the normal admission round), you must also enter the number of "Pupils in Catchment".

Important: You must account for every pupil above the limit of 30.